Deli owner Salam Kahil is an art collector, amateur musician and a sandwich maker to the homeless in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, but his true passion is talking about sex, blow jobs and his life as a former male escort. Dubbed “The Sandwich Nazi” by his many fans, Salam will build you the biggest sandwich you’ve ever had for just under eight dollars, and entertain you (and the crowd) as you wait. Dubbed “Best Sandwiches in North America”, Salam attributes his delicatessen’s success to his genuine love for his customers; treating them as human beings, not open bank accounts.
Salam Kahil’s delicatessen door warns customers about coarse language and nudity. Instead of “No shirt. No shoes. No service,” he tells people to stay away if they can’t say “hello”, “please”, or are “anal and too sensitive.” Those who do enter find themselves enjoying lewd stories from a self-described “Arab/Muslim/Lebanese owner of a Scandinavian deli with a French name.” But beneath Kahil’s charismatically crass persona is a caring human with dedicated compassion who refused to be a victim of circumstance.
Funny, shocking and sincere, The Sandwich Nazi is a cautionary tale and philosophical paradox about a man who has lived entirely by his own set of rules without apology.
