Today I come to you with another Waterbury gem: Ann’s Deli, a small, old, straightforward place along tightly-packed Baldwin Street.

Their roast beef had been recommended to me, and I was quite curious to see how it stacked up against Carbone’s.

Well, it wasn’t Carbone’s, but it did compare very favorably.  Soft, tender – not a ton of flavor on its own, but when combined with provolone, mayo, and oil and vinegar, some sort of alchemy happened that raised it several levels.

One thing about Ann’s: grinders and other items come sealed under plastic against a foam plate, the way a supermarket does it, as opposed to being wrapped in paper.  I’m not sure if it’s because they’re takeout-only, but it was the first time that I’d seen a deli do that.

The prosciutto and mozzarella pinwheels caught my eye.

I’m not sure if they were worth a dollar each, but I didn’t regret trying them …

… or the mac salad.

This being Waterbury, there were several products from Milite’s Bakery lined up against the counter.  I zeroed in on one in particular:

Just gorgeous.

And it had a smell that took me all the way back to the bread we once made in grade school.  Yeast, I guess.  Whatever it was, it was delightful.

If I wanted to be really thorough, I could go back and compare Ann’s meatballs against Santopietro’s.  I suppose I’ll get to that in a few months or years.