A friend recently recommended to me a place that had not turned up in my own searches for grinders in southeastern Connecticut: “Voc’s”. Apparently there are two such establishments in Norwich: the original Vocatura Bakery, and VOC’s Westside Pizza. I was told that both places used the same ingredients and were run by the same family.  My inclination was still to go to the original location, but my friend actually instructed me to go to the newer one instead and get a soppressata (“soupy”) grinder.

 

My brain must have left my head when I ordered, because when they asked me if I wanted everything, including lettuce and tomato, I said yes. Oops.

 

 

My fault entirely. The watery iceberg overtook everything, concealing even the bread, which was supposed to be their star attraction.

 

 

I took the other half home for further examination.

 

 

The bread, honestly, didn’t blow me away. It did have a distinctive, slightly sweet taste, but it clearly wasn’t their freshest loaf that day. Same bread or not, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have had a better experience at the original bakery. (Also, I had been advised to get a large grinder, but I wanted to sample the pizza too, so I opted for a small. Possibly this would also have made a difference.)

 

I had no complaints about the soppressata itself. The sandwich did improve after removing the vegetables, but still wasn’t anything too notable.

 

 

 

The pizza was competent for this style, but unremarkable. It’s touted alongside the bread and the grinders, but again, I don’t know if that’s just for the original location and/or if it’s truly good, or merely “good for Norwich”.

 

 

There does seem to be enough reputation involved here for me to give them another chance, so in the near future, I will go to the actual Vocatura Bakery, and be smarter about my order.