Sandwich Chef Mason Hereford Absolutely Hated One Sandwich As A Child

Like many of us, chef Mason Hereford began eating sandwiches during his childhood. However, it wasn't the classic peanut butter and jelly that began his love affair with the popular lunchtime food. Rather, it was a gas station sammie called The Jefferson from Charlottesville, Virginia's Bellair Market that started it all. Consisting of turkey, cheddar cheese, mayo, lettuce, and cranberry relish piled high on a French roll, New Orleans says the sando had "a formative impact" on Hereford's life. "At a young age, he proclaimed he would, in fact, open his own sandwich shop one day," the outlet writes. And that's exactly what he did.

Today, Hereford — whom you may recognize from Netflix's "Iron Chef" reboot – is the owner of not one, but two restaurants in New Orleans that serve up some delicious sammies. He's also released a cookbook entitled "Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' In New Orleans," and for those wondering: Yes, there is a photo of a sandwich on the cover.

So what is it about the handheld that has Hereford hooked? The idea is that its ingredients are "preordained" in a specific order curated by its creator. "You've decided exactly how they're going to eat it, and every bite has to be absolutely perfect," he explained during an appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in June. Hereford even went as far as calling sandwiches the "perfect vehicle," but despite this accolade, the chef can recall at least one sammie from his youth that wasn't ideal.

There's a wide, wide world of sandwiches out there, but let's face it. Not every one of them can be a towering Reuben or a saucy meatball sub. Each one of us has our own hierarchy when it comes to the handhelds, and in his youth, there was one particularly sammie that fell at the bottom of chef Mason Hereford's totem pole: the bologna sandwich

"So my mom would give us two slices of white bread ... and it would just be yellow mustard, American cheese, and bologna, and it was really sad for all of us," the restaurateur said during his June appearance on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (via YouTube). "And in order to choke it down we would put potato chips right in the center, and that would give it some life," he explained, noting that it was "either that or no lunch.".

Despite being something that he couldn't stomach as a youngster, Hereford didn't leave the bologna sandwich behind. Instead, he transformed his least favorite sammie into a gourmet meal with a few major upgrades including the same heaping serving of potato chips he added to it as a child. The sando even made the menu at his restaurant Turkey and the Wolf, where New Orleans says it is one of the most popular dishes available.