You’re going to want to try this bread.

Bethesda’s AP Pizza Shop debuted a lineup of six sandwiches Thursday that will be available daily. They come by way of Fossette Focacceria, which was started in June 2024 by chef and owner Mike Friedman in Washington, D.C., and has two outposts there.

Friedman also crafts dishes at AP’s neighbor, Aventino, and his pizzas and pastas at D.C.’s All-Purpose and the Red Hen have been acclaimed by the likes of Michelin and former president Joe Biden.

Fossette is the most casual of these operations. He was inspired by his work as a teenager in a New Jersey deli and the mortadella sandwiches he and his culinary team ate in Italy while doing research for his restaurants, Friedman told The Banner.

The idea for these specific sandwiches was sparked by Tuscan offerings popularized by several foodie TikTok videos that highlighted popular focaccia sandwich shops in Italy and garnered hundreds of thousands of views in the past year.

But the reason Friedman’s sandwiches have landed in Montgomery County is simpler: His family kept asking. His mother and sister-in-law live around Bethesda and he has more extended family across the county.

“I was bringing them sandwiches from D.C. and my family were asking me about why we weren’t bringing it to Montgomery County,” said Friedman, who lives in Olney. “It was a personal requirement to offer it to my family.”

AP serves up Fossette’s core menu and has no immediate plans to bring other items from D.C., according to the restaurant’s spokesperson. The Banner split four sandwiches in total to sample the shop’s more unique offerings alongside some classics to see how they measured up.

Between the bread

The mortazza, highlighted in the video announcing Fossette’s arrival in Bethesda, contains the least ingredients in the six-sandwich lineup, but still packs a punch with a variety of flavors and textures, thanks to the thinly-sliced mortadella sausage and layer of stracciatella (the filling inside burrata). Both are rounded out by the pistachio cream, which is not entirely unlike a pesto sauce and adds some fun crunch thanks to some partially-chopped pistachios.

The tartufo plays with similar flavors as the mortazza. Both include savory, silky varieties of pork cold cuts and light, creamy stracciatella. Here, the stracciatella accompanies a prosciutto cotto, a similarly mild and pink ham. The standout flavors from this sandwich were a peppery hit of arugula and a black truffle honey. The drizzle of the latter hit a little too sweet of a note at first but melded nicely with the milder elements after a few bites with a sharp richness.

Fossette does Italian staples well. The chicken parm sandwich had a nicely breaded, parmesan-sesame crust on the cutlets that was accentuated by a bright marinara sauce.

The D.C. region has its share of standout Italian-style sandwiches, including Vace Italian Delicatessen not far from AP, and Fossette’s Italiano is a worthy addition. Three types of salami (Genoa, finocchiona and soppressata) are stacked along with mortadella. And the whole thing gets a tangy boost from a traditional blend of spicy peppers, oil and vinegar.

All the creations at Fossette are sandwiched between an in-house schiacciata. The bread is similar to focaccia but has a different water content and on our opening day visit had a great balance of lightness, crispiness and sponginess.

“For me, the best part about pizza is great dough and the best part of the sandwich is its bread,” Friedman said. ”I landed on a traditional focaccia recipe I had and melded in the fermentation time and crumb structure of the schiacciata."

It’s also worth noting that these sandwiches travel well — we took some leftovers to go, and found that the focaccia was still surprisingly crispy after spending hours in the refrigerator.

Our suggestion: Fossette might consider selling the bread separately down the line so customers can craft their own sandwiches at home. Until then, we’ll have to settle merely for great new sandwiches in Montgomery County.