A sandwich is like a song, with each component playing an essential part in creating a satisfying bite. Just as a song relies on different elements like bass, drums, guitars and vocals to craft its rhythm and melody, a sandwich brings together layers of bread, condiments, meat and vegetables in perfect harmony. Much like the steady bassline, the bread provides the foundation. Condiments add a pop of flavor, akin to the punch of a drumbeat, while the protein plays the leading role like a main melody carried by vocals. Then come the veggies, adding crisp texture and bright notes, much like the subtle riffs or harmonies making a song memorable. Whether it’s a catchy tune or the perfect bite of food, together, these elements create something greater than the sum of its parts, If sandwiches are songs, then Nick Sammelman is making hits at Focaccia Sandwich & Bakery in Sarasota.
Sammelmann got his start in restaurant work washing dishes at the age of fifteen. He worked his way up the ranks and became a chef, working largely in fine-dining restaurants. Until a few years ago, Sammelman lived in St. Louis with his wife Danielle and their two children but they decided it was time for a change.“We felt like we kind of outgrew the area and were falling into this sense of complacency,” Sammelman says. “I had worked everywhere I wanted to work in the area and I had a great job, but we just needed to shake it up and put ourselves in an uncomfortable situation.”
The family put their house on the market and relocated to Sarasota. With his extensive background in fine dining, Sammelman was able to easily secure a chef position, but he had reached a point in his life where his priorities were shifting. “I love what I do, but fine dining just takes everything. You get up and leave in the morning and everyone’s asleep and you come home at night and everyone’s asleep,” Sammelman says. “We have two kids that are now 11 and 13 and I’ve always said that I am not going to be one of those chefs that works their entire kids’ childhoods away. I knew I needed to have much more balance in my life. I needed to be able to do what excites me and still be home for dinner.”
Sammelman found that balance at Focaccia Sandwich & Bakery which he opened in early 2024 with the help of Danielle who played a “giant role” in getting the business off the ground, particularly when it came to designing the space which is clean and organic while still warm and inviting. At Focaccia, Sammelman brings his fine dining sensibilities into the sandwich space, prioritizing high-quality ingredients and a house-made mentality.
“Our mission is to bring joy to people through clean, wholesome food,” he says. “We don’t use seed oils or deli meats, there are no nitrates or artificial preservatives or artificial sweeteners. We make every single thing in-house, from the mayonnaise to pickles.”
It all starts with the bread, which Sammelman personally bakes each and every morning. Focaccia is a traditional Italian flatbread, known for its tender texture and rich olive oil flavor. The perfect focaccia will have a crisp, golden crust and a soft, airy interior as well as a subtle hint of tanginess from the fermentation process. Sammelman uses organic flour in his bread, something that turned out to be surprisingly challenging as none of the major distributors carried it. He was ultimately able to get one of the companies he used to broker a deal with King Arthur to meet his organic flour needs, but until then he was routinely clearing out the shelves at every local Publix. At Focaccia, they use a 48-hour fermentation process so Sammelman is actually working with three different doughs each day, baking today’s dough, folding and decompressing tomorrow’s dough and making the batch for two days out. On weekdays he makes about 80 loaves of bread each day, and on Fridays and Saturdays that number rises (no pun intended) to 120 loaves a day. The focaccia comes in four standard flavors and there’s also a rotating monthly special. While the focaccia can be purchased individually, it’s also used as the bread for the eatery’s next-level sandwiches. And the ingredients inside the sandwiches are just as good as the bread surrounding them.
“We don’t do deli meats like turkey and ham, so we’re forced to be creative,” Sammelman says. “Instead we have porchetta that we do in-house, we do buttermilk-brined chicken thighs, we do shaved prime rib. We also do a fair amount of fermentation here. Our giardiniera is made with cauliflower, fennel, carrots, shallots, garlic and some red chilis that we pickle in this beautiful white balsamic vinegar from Italy. I’ve always had a hard time cooking super traditional. It’s just not very fun to me,” says Nick Sammelman. “It feels like you’re a cover band and I want to write originals.”
Focaccia continues to evolve. In October they expanded their hours of operation and their menu. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8am to 4pm, with breakfast available between 8am to 11am and lunch available from 11am to 4pm. The eatery has started offering catering services as well. The catering menu is available on the website, but Sammelman is always happy to discuss custom menus as well. After all, he has a lot of songs in him.
