By Bill Petzold
Editor
CARO — Intermission Deli co-owners Tricia Phillips and Mark Ransford hoped the Caro restaurant’s loyal customers would follow them last year when they made the move from their location on Burnside Street to a snazzy new restaurant at 157 N. State St.
Now they’re asking the lunchtime faithful to join them on an excursion into a whole new world of flavor, freshness and healthiness.
While The Intermission (theintermissioncaro.com) had already expanded its offering to include more coffee shop and made-from-scratch bakery items than before, Phillips and company rolled out a new menu July 14 featuring a new slate of sandwiches, subs and salads.
Gone is the big numbered board with it’s arcane listing of obscure Italian meats, replaced with a smaller, more streamlined listing of flavor-packed offerings intended to hit the spot, while allowing you to maximize your lunch hour by getting your food quickly.
Phillips and Ransford said they consulted with their loyal customers, their suppliers and food industry experts who told them if they were going to make a change, change everything and don’t look back. Phillips and Ransford felt The Intermission was a restaurant with a split identity — on one hand, a nice, attractive eating establishment where many local business people came for lunch every day. But at the same time, the food didn’t match The Intermission’s identity.
When it came time to build the new menu, Phillips and Ransford put a lot of thought into what they wanted the deli to be. They got rid of the lunchmeat, instead opting for in-house slow-roasted roast beef, oil-braised turkey breast, Dearborn ham and applewood smoked bacon. Instead of regular old condiments, subs now come slathered with house-made pesto mayonnaise, chipotle mayonnaise, house italian, pablano mayonnaise or spicy firecracker sauce.
Part of The Intermission’s new identity includes names for all the sandwich offerings. Phillips said she left the numbers off to prevent confusion between the old and new menus, noting a lot of thought went into the naming of the restaurant’s new signature specialties. “The Lizard King” features shaved roast beef, poblano mayo, swiss cheese, leaf lettuce, red onion and roma tomatoes — a tribute to music legend Jim Morrison. “The Godfather” features ham and salami with provolone cheese, leaf lettuce, red onion and romas with italian dressing.
There’s a bit of humor in the naming, Phillips pointed out, as the “Hello Dolly” features “an ample amount of chicken breast” — atribute to well-endowed country singer Dolly Parton.
The salad menu also has been revamped, with all salads now featuring a more nutrient-rich salad mix instead of shredded iceburg lettuce. Options include “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, a chicken salad with fruit and nuts, “One Night in Bangkok” — an Asian-themed salad” and “Simplicity,” a bed of crisp spring mix topped with roma tomatoes, cucumber and red onion.
The Intermission Deli is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The restaurant is closed on Sunday. For information or to place an order, call (989) 673-8200 or visit theintermissioncaro.com. Check out The Intermission on Facebook for daily specials and photos of the new menu items.