Sausalito's Davey Jones Delicatessen
A hidden treasure trove of sandwich bounty made with clean, locally-sourced ingredients
The name Davy Jones can only be spoken in the deep, raspy, gravelly voice of a pirate. Said with a sneer, it is, and a whisper of fear. Davy Jones, if you’re not yet following, is the fictional pirate captain who first appeared in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The poor lad fell in love with a volatile sea goddess from Greek mythology named Calypso who had ruled the seas along with Poseidon. She gave him the job of ferrying dead sailors to the next world, and like a love-struck idiot, he went along with it.
As the original author Robb Kidd tells it in the book version, Calypso promised she’d come back for Davy in ten years and spend a day with him - a pretty shit deal, if you ask me. But love is love, so he goes with it. When she predictably stands him up (gods are notoriously flakey), he flies into a rage and convinces his pirate brethren to help him imprison her.
With Calypso under lock and key, bitter, angry Davy returns to the seven seas and transforms into a cruel, brutal monster of a man with a disturbing tentacled squid-face and a laundry list of supernatural abilities including immortality, teleportation, turning his ship into a submarine, surviving fatal injuries, tracking people as if he’d affixed a tracking beacon to them, and commanding the mythological sea monster called the Kraken (of “release the Kraken” fame). In one scene, he masterfully plays the pipe organ using only his face. It’s…unsettling.
Robb Kidd doesn't invent the character Davy Jones whole cloth, by the way. In fact, Robb Kidd isn’t even a real author, but merely a house pseudonym used by Disney. In other words, the real author’s name (Elizabeth J. Braswell) shall never be spoken. Arr!
How a man transforms into a myth (and Disney’s intellectual property)
The myth of Davy dates back to the 1600s and some theorize that he was a real actual human individual. Humans are funny that way. Each person who gets ahold of a story feels compelled to entertain their listener with flowery embellishments to the story they were told. Which is how you can go from, say, a London pub owner who once drugged a patron and sold him to a pirate as a slave (which is one theory) all the way to an immortal, octopus-faced satan who rules the seven seas. People do so love to spin their yarns. Always have, always will.
Davey Jones Delicatessen in Sausalito, CA
This is perhaps why in 2012, the owner of the bait shop/market in Sausalito saw fit to name his new delicatessen Davey Jones.
Okay, so his name is also Davey Jones.
And, sure, he spells it with an “e” in Dav”e”y.
Okay, so he named it after himself.
Nevertheless, with sandwich names like “Scallywag,” Davey does embrace the pirate theme to a certain degree. This might seem a little gimmicky to some, but themes, food-related or story-driven, do tend to make a delicatessen more interesting, memorable and fun.
Davey’s Four Meats
My favorite thing about this delicatessen is that they prep their own meats. Sandwiches are made with either their house-made pulled pork, bacon, brisket, or their oven-roasted turkey. No Boar’s Head or Molanaris meats. Don’t get me wrong, those are both decent brands of meat. But meat prepped in Florida and shipped to California is NOTHING meat prepped in the same place as the sandwiches.
For the record, Davey’s is also reputed to have a mean vegan wrap with no fewer than five proteins packed in as well as a host of vegetarian sandwich options.
Clean, Local Food
Everything at Davey Jones Delicatessen is clean and local. And he smartly trumpets this fact via his website and a chalkboard sign that reads, “No chemicals, corn syrup, msg, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, preservatives or processing of any kind.” The cheese comes from nearby Petaluma Creamery, award-winning olives & olive oil from Pacific Sun Gourmet in Gerber, CA, fresh daily bread from San Rafael’s Bordenaves, free-range local turkeys, veggies from local farms. It’s all from around here, which, by the way, is good for the planet, too.
One of the ways that nasty chemicals and other junky food thingys can creep into sandwiches (like the lily-livered scallywags that they are) is through the mustards, aiolis, and other condiments. So Davey Jones makes his own condiments, too. Everything except the mayo, that is.
Kimchi? Shiver me timbers!
That's right. like the pirate legend by (almost) the same name, Davey Jones does whatever the hell Davey Jones wants – including putting Korean kimchi on three or four of his sandwiches. Kimchi is essentially a mixture of vegetables fermented (pickled) in salt brine infused with spices. Davey Jones uses it on three sandwiches, including the one that I got, the PMP which stands for…I have no fucking idea and nobody explains it.
Sandwiches, prepare to be boarded
Like Alimento’s in San Francisco, the staff at Davey Jones scoops out the inside of the roll for a more balanced bread-to-ingredient ratio. I’ve said it before – more delicatessens and sandwich shops should do this. I ordered the “PMP,” which is made with BBQ pulled pork, almond pesto, kimchi, greens, carrots, onions and balsamic vinegar. It’s a seriously odd combination but turns out to be quite the booty. The BBQ pulled pork brings a big flavor and plenty of fat, but Davey manage to balance it on the strength of the kimchi and pesto. I’m not sure the balsamic was entirely necessary, by the way.
Nick, our 20-year-old college student, was home for Spring break and joined me at Davey’s. Sadly, I’ve now forgotten what he had and I can’t find my notes. Aaaaaargh! Aaargh! (But I do remember that he liked it.)
As I said, the delicatessen part of the bait shop which is mostly a convenience store for the houseboat crowd living astride the Sausalito shoreline. This is to say that the majority of floor space is taken up by corner store paraphernalia with its sunglasses displays, motor oil, candy, overly-salted nuts, and your choice of 137 disgusting, sugar-loaded, caffeine-maximized drinks. Ambiance-wise, I give it a D-minus. Overall, though, this delicatessen is a local treasure that should be on your hand-scrawled map of places to visit.
Note: Last night I had a dream that someone called me out for focusing way too much on North Bay and San Francisco joints and ignoring East Bay, South Bay and Penninsula favorites. Technically, that someone is me. So know that I am aware of this deficiency and am working on finding the drive-time to rectify it.
Love the myth and legend, will try this week!