Most people can relate to having that regular special spot they go to that has their favourite meal, and the anguish they feel when that spot closes.
For Shawnigan Lake resident Nic Bokrossy, it was a pulled pork sandwich he’d get every Friday at Charelli’s Cheese Shop and Delicatessen on Oak Bay’s Foul Bay Road while working as a landscaper in the area.
Even six years after the chef disappeared, Bokrossy couldn’t let the sandwich go. So, his partner Sairuh Tonin went on a mission. “Hive mind – I need your help! I know this is a long shot, but ….” she posted in the Victoria Hospitality Industry Facebook group, describing the situation.
“To this day, he says it’s the best pulled pork sandwich of his life, and he can’t stop thinking about it,” Tonin said, noting Bokrossy tries sometimes four different recipes in a week to try to replicate it.
“Everywhere we go that serves pulled pork, he MUST try. Nothing compares!”
“I’m wondering if any of you remember the man in the window? It would truly mean the world to him if I could get them in touch, even just for a quick hello.”
Thanks to that post, Bokrossy finally found that long-lost recipe when a group member tagged Pedro Ingram, who used to be co-owner of Charelli’s Delicatessen with his now-ex wife.
When Bokrossy’s girlfriend of close to seven years gave him the little card with the name on it, it meant the world to him.
“It was one of those moments – it’s like she listens to the smallest, smallest thing and was able to use her connections and get it. It was pretty, pretty moving.”
Bokrossy told Oak Bay News that for years, he used to go to Charelli’s every Friday to have the sandwich, and he would chat with Ingram over the lunch hour, swapping life stories.
“I looked forward to it every day,” he said. Then, he started his own business in Cowichan and stopped visiting Victoria. When he returned months later, he found that Ingram was no longer at the delicatessen.
“It was shocking,” he said.
Knowing only that the recipe was from a dry rub, he tried unsuccessfully for years to recreate it. “It was like I was chasing a dragon,” he said.
Ingram said that he left Charelli’s after he and his wife got divorced, and he went back to working at the airport, a job he started when he was 16. Seeing Tonin’s message pop up on Facebook reminded him about how much he missed his passion for cooking and the community he found through it.
“It was kind of mixed feelings because I miss doing what I do food-wise. I love cooking,” he said. “But it felt good that somebody was trying to track me down to try to recreate that again.”
His pulled pork recipe dates back to when he worked in the government and would make the sandwich “for all the boys”. Charging by donation, he would always pick a charity to give the proceeds to, sometimes donating hundreds to a worthy cause.
Years later, when Charelli’s opened the deli for takeout, he decided to put pulled pork on the menu. “It just became a hit that it sort of had to be there.”
He estimates that Charelli’s donated over $100,000 towards charity over the years.
It’s that giving community, so evident through the “amazing” people in the Victoria Hospital Industry Facebook group, that made it all feel so special, he says.
“That’s what it’s about. It’s that mom who comes through the door for the $2 worth of ham who keeps your lights on.”
Ingram said he was glad to share the recipe with Bokrossy. When asked what he thinks makes the sandwich so special, he said he couldn’t be quite sure. It was a dry rub recipe he created through trial and error – one that he has written down, but that’s “not written in stone.”
Since the Facebook post, he said multiple restaurants have reached out to him to offer him use of their kitchen to do a pop-up. It’s something he is considering, though he says it would take some work as he no longer has access to discounts from suppliers and the price of food is much costlier than it once was.
Bokrossy said he and Ingram have yet to reconnect in real life, but he is coveting the recipe like a prized treasure.
“Even my mother was asking for a recipe. I’m like, absolutely not. There’s no way I would ever, ever do Pedro wrong,” he said.
However, he does plan to make it for his family on their patio once the weather gets nicer.
“I’m waiting for the time that we can all gather and I can share the experience with them.
“I’m very fortunate to have a partner who was able to track him down, and even more amazed that Pedro would reach back.”