A great chef returns with great sandwiches at Ed’s Delicatessen in Edwardsville

Heath and his former partner, Jenny Cleveland, made Cleveland-Heath a destination for diners from both sides of the Mississippi River. The restaurant followed the contemporary spirit: chef-driven and ingredient-conscious, with global influences. In 2015 and 2016, Heath was a James Beard Awards semifinalist for “Best Chef: Great Lakes,” a category that includes all of Illinois.

From Cleveland-Heath’s debut in 2011, though, Heath favored an unfussy style. In hindsight, he and Cleveland anticipated last decade’s turn toward upscale comfort food. Heath’s signature dish was a whopping pork chop topped with a sunny-side-up egg and served with cheddar-jalapeño bread pudding. Somehow, you saved room for the old-school cherry pie a la mode.

Cleveland-Heath has remained a draw since Heath and Cleveland sold the restaurant in 2017, and current owners Evan and Gina Buchholz have done a fine job of honoring its roots while adding their own touches. Still, when I sussed out from social media earlier this year that Heath was back in town, I promptly messaged him to ask about his plans.

Heath thought Edwardsville needed a sandwich shop. Ed’s Delicatessen satisfies that description, then surpasses it.

For this new venture, Heath has partnered with married couple Samm McCulloch and Rick Kazmer, both Cleveland-Heath veterans, and Tim Foley, who previously operated the Edwardsville wine bar and restaurant Erato on Main. Foley’s history adds to Ed’s auspicious vibes: Erato is where Kevin Willmann of Farmhaus first commanded attention as a chef.

Ed’s occupies the former storefront of 222 Artisan Bakery, which is in the process of relocating. The space is essentially divided in two. The first half features the kitchen and the counter where you place takeout orders. The other half includes seating at tables and the bar, which features beer, wine and cocktails.

The menu is as simple as the name: sandwiches, split between hot and cold, and salads. At a glance, this might not read as the work of an acclaimed James Beard Award semifinalist chef. Reuben. Roast beef. Ham and cheese. I mean this as a compliment.

In fact, that ham and cheese sandwich might be Heath’s most audacious creation, only because he cloaks a classic French jambon-beurre in an all-American name. A butter-slathered baguette cradles tender slices of ham gilded with Swiss cheese and accented with the bracing bite of cornichons. More sandwiches should feature butter as a condiment, though this example is more than enough to sate your craving for now.

Heath is a confident chef, willing to let ingredients and tried-and-true combinations stand on their own. He keeps his interventions subtle, but as vital as the wintery snap of sauerkraut and the smartly restrained tang of Russian dressing against the Reuben’s towering stack of thinly sliced corned beef. The crab roll is a (relatively!) more affordable riff on the lobster roll, with sweet, buttery chilled red-crab meat overspilling its toasted bun. It needs little more than the fresh crunch of butter lettuce and the crunchy, cumulating heat of chili crisp.

I might have described Ed’s banh mi as another audacious sandwich. Heath’s version features both a spread of chicken-liver pate and slabs of luscious pork belly. While this is undeniably meaty, Heath understands the inherent lightness of the Vietnamese sandwich. The garnishes of cilantro, jalapeño and pickled radish snap brightly against the pork, and an herbaceous, minty flavor lingered with me after each bite.

Can you taste the roast beef sandwich’s garnishes — melted mozzarella, arugula, Dijonnaise — after you’ve dipped the crusty hoagie roll in a cup of brawny jus? Does it matter? The garnishes, not really. The dipping, very much. The beef is juicy by itself, but the meat is somewhere between medium-well and well-done, so it needs a boost from the rich juice to achieve liftoff.

Pay attention when your server lists the day’s specials. Heath might decide to play the gyro, making both the meat (beef and lamb, with the ideal ratio of char to tenderness) and the pita in-house. His soup of the day could be a classic tomato-basil, rustic and ripe, or a hearty bean soup that hides a ferocious blast of jalapeño.

For a marginal upgrade of $2 or $3, you can substitute a cup of soup or a half-portion of any of Ed’s salads — I liked the crunch and autumnal savor of shaved Brussels sprouts with cashews, Parmesan and a spritz of lemon — for your sandwich’s default side of a bag of chips. In addition to the salads, the menu includes such vegetarian options as a falafel “burger” and a Reuben made with roasted beet instead of corned beef.

The baked goods from pastry chef Ben Rudis might have already caught your eye upon arrival. They fill a display case next to the ordering counter. Like the sandwiches, they appeal to comfort without relying on nostalgia to succeed. The lemon bar brought me back to elementary school — until I took the first bite. The lemon bars of the 1980s never zinged me with such bold citrus notes.

If you don’t already know Heath’s name or work, Ed’s is a delicious opportunity to catch up. Don’t risk falling behind any farther. Heath, McCulloch, Kazmer and Foley are already working on their next project, turning the current Corner Tavern at 1013 North Main Street in Edwardsville into Samm’s Last Chance Saloon.

The bar is open now. Heath and team hope to have the new kitchen program up and running early in the new year.