1: This is my own twist on a classic club sandwich. I've made it a richer experience: the bread is toasted sourdough, the bacon comes with a honey and soy celeriac wash, and the egg is devilled.
2: That looks good.
3: This is entirely the sort of thing we're after.
1: Well, you said you wanted pub grub with a sophisticated edge, so here we are. I have some other menu ideas we could discuss if you were able to give me the job.
2: Hang on a mo, we've not dealt with the sandwich yet.
1: Of course, silly me - I guess you want to taste it!
2: Well, we can come to that if we need to.
3: But only once we've got past the hideously glaring omission of this travesty of a meal.
1: Err...what might that be?
2: What's the one thing a sandwich needs?
1: Bread.
3: No! Crisps.
2: You absolutely cannot serve a sandwich without adding crisps.
1: Since when?
2: Since 1993. Never before then; invariably afterwards.
1: So, in addition to the meal they've ordered, you want me to give the diner a bag of crisps?
3: Not in the bag, you animal. This is a smart urban pub experience, not a Ginsters kebab cafe.
2: And not a whole bag anyway.
1: How many, then?
2: I'd say...nine.
3: Nine is about right.
2: Eleven, tops. We've conducted extensive studies, and nine crisps is the optimal accompaniment to any sandwich.
3: A lot of thought has gone into this.
1: Fair enough. So, what flavour?
3: Doesn't matter.
2: Just whatever you have laying around. Crisps are crisps.
1: I don't think they are.
2: You think crisps aren't crisps? Are you sure you're a chef?
1: What I meant was...no, sure, whatever, some crisps.
3: Nine crisps.
1: Sorry, nine crisps. And where do you put them, anywhere specific on the plate that your research has indicated?
3: No need to be pretentious, just scatter them around the sandwich.
2: It doesn't matter where. So long as they don't touch the coleslaw.
1: Is there coleslaw on the plate now?
2: Yes, there is now.
3: Only since 2002: coleslaw, and the tiniest possible salad.
1: And what if somebody orders a salad and coleslaw sandwich?
2: You still give them the coleslaw.
3: But, to make it clear it's not just a spillage, you put it on the side, in a ramekin.
1: In a ramekin?
2: A ramekin - you know, like you'd use to serve baked beans.
1: That is not how I'd serve baked beans.
2: Alright: like we'd use to serve baked beans.
3: Except we don't serve baked beans.
2: No, obviously. This is a high-end pub-angled refreshment nexus, we don't serve fry-ups, we only serve traditional ranchos huevos.
3: With refried beans.
2: In a ramekin.
3: But a terracotta one this time. Because, you know...Mexico.
1: OK, if I say that I agree to all your unexpected but clearly intricate local garnish conventions, do I get the job?
2: Oh, definitely.
3: You can start next week.
1: Lovely.
2: Oh, just one thing. As a neo-traditional bar-aligned lifestyle hub, we only serve pomegranate-glazed pistachios and artisanal Kerala scratchings.
3: So...could you bring some crisps?