A brand new Tucson-style sandwich shop called Lorenzo California is making its way to Beverly Hills, located at 9529 S. Santa Monica Blvd.
The new 2,092 square-foot restaurant will move into the former home of Raphael’s 90210 Jewelry, according to Toddrickallen. Owner Renato Araujo tells What Now Los Angeles he hopes to open the new restaurant in about five months, sometime in Summer 2022. Limited information is available about Lorenzo California, other than a sign on the building that reads “Florence style schiacciata sandwich.” In other words, customers can expect regional specialty bread and various meats and cheeses.
These three elements are essential to the Florentine sandwich. To start, the bread will strictly be schiacciata, the focaccia-like bread most of the city’s panini are served on. Unlike the focaccia, this bread ferments and rises longer, making it much more fragrant and slightly more dense, which helps keep the sandwich from tearing.
The meats and cheeses found in these sandwiches will all be regional to the country of Italy. One example of meat commonly found in Florentine sandwiches is briciolona, a fennel-flavored salami made in southern Tuscany. In Florence, it’s shaped into an eye-popping foot-wide tube ideal for slicing onto sandwiches. Another popular meat found at these shops includes salsiccia cruda, raw sausage meant to be eaten as is.
This cheese is where you’ll find the most variety. Tuscany is Italy’s land of Pecorino, otherwise known as cheese made from sheep’s milk. As a result, the region’s cheese selection features everything from fresh and creamy (Senese) to aged and sharp (Toscano DOP). It’s unknown at this point which of these meat and cheese options will be Lorenzo California’s staple, but the 90210 will soon have a deluxe Italian sandwich shop around the corner from Rodeo Drive.
