PAUL MORELLO | VIC | CONTACT

Subway Restaurant patrons were treated to a pleasant surprise this afternoon as Alistair Granger clocked on for his maiden shift at the Victoria Garden Shopping Centre’s version of the carbs Guggenheim.

Fifteen minutes into his Sandwich Art career, Granger, was called into action when Ian Blake slinked up to the counter.

“He didn’t look rapt to see me” said the aspiring DJ Granger Danger, 18.

Blake, a Balwyn North electrician, confessed the rookie had read the play perfectly.

“Nothing shits me more than getting a trainee… It’s fucking amateur hour. Nothing personal, I’ve just been burnt in the past.”

He would soon learn though, it wasn’t just any trainee tending to him, as Granger’s colleague, experienced Sandwich Artist, Tim Putway, explained.

“Even the way he sliced into the sugar-infused wheat bread for was impressive… you could immediately tell there was something different about Alistair.”

Granger claims it was just “beginners luck”, but the recipient of the now famous footlong isn’t having it.

“I had him wrong, I’ll put my hand up. He’s a natural… I don’t know if he’s the smartest lad going around, but he has a good eye. I’d probably let him circumcise me, he’s that good”, Blake laughed.

But not everyone’s as excited about Granger’s debut. Store manager Clinton Walsh was quick to temper the fanfare, cautioning that his young star still had “a lot to learn”.

“That first sub, the one everyone’s talking about… the classic chicken with spinach and tomato, fresh – I wasn’t particularly happy with it. He applied the spinach far too liberally. That kinda stuff kills our margins.”

“We’ve got a rhyming motto for it… ‘if it’s lettuce they want, load ‘em, but if it’s spinach they select, a leaf or two they get’. Departing from that’s akin to forgetting the avocado tariff.”

For the man of the moment, he’s happy with how things started.

“A pretty senior woman from Sandwich Chef has apparently dug up an old resume of mine and called Mum, so who knows what’s next for me.”