These are a few of my favorite things at South Union Bread Cafe.

Not quite twelve years ago George Formaro's South Union Bakery ushered in a greater appreciation of fresh baked Italian breads in Des Moines. The South Union Bread Café', located in the Temple for the Performing Arts on the corner of Tenth and Locust, shows what one can do with a piece of artisan bread: make exceptional sandwiches. Here's my favorites…

The Hot Cheese Melt features three cheeses – pepper jack, Swiss and mozzarella – lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, banana pepper rings and mayonnaise on South Union's famous focaccia bread. The time spent under the broiler making the cheese all melty is just the trick to make this sandwich satisfying.

South Union's Monday special is a toasty Meatball Sub. With tender, savory meatballs, melted mozzarella and a bright, lightly seasoned marinara on a hoagie, its as meaty as a meatball sandwich can get! A darn shame its only available for three hours a week.