Don’t be mistaken: Chef Gene Soto is not a supervillain. He’s quite the opposite, a mild-mannered gentleman who loves being in the kitchen.

But his new downtown Bend business, Supervillain Sandwiches, which he co-owns with Steve Barnett of Brother Jon’s Public House, has fun with the comic-book concept.

Located in the former digs of the New York City Sub Shop — directly across the street from the Deschutes Brewery Public House, where Soto was once executive chef — Supervillain is decorated with posters of some of the “bad guys” from Marvel Comics and recent movie spinoffs.

Many of the cafe’s specialty sandwiches carry appropriate names. The Green Goblin, the Punisher, Lex Luthor and the Joker, for instance, all have their places on the menu. But diners embrace these gourmet meals and wouldn’t think of pushing them away.

Soto, 40, was raised in the Yakima Valley and spent seven years in Bend before returning to his home state of Washington in 2007. For most of the subsequent years, he co-owned and operated a casual restaurant in Walla Walla called Someone’s in the Kitchen. But his heart was in Central Oregon, as were those of his children, now 16 and 14.

“I was looking to move back to Bend and I caught wind that Steve (Barnett) was looking to do something with this space,” he said. “It took a month to get up and ready for operation, and we opened our doors in early September.”

High-quality meats

“We both went into it with a vague idea of what we want, but with an open mind to change based on what the consumer wants,” Soto said. “But we feel very comfortable that we offer the best possible product and the best possible service.”

In several recent visits, that’s exactly what I’ve found. The meats, in particular, are locally sourced and of high quality. The soups — a selection of three each day — are wholesome and flavorful. The hoagies and other sandwich rolls are baked fresh daily at Sparrow Bakery or Big Ed’s Artisan Bread, two of the best bakeries in Central Oregon.

Patrons order at the counter, seat themselves and sip on a beverage or watch a corner television as they wait for the rapid delivery of their food. If they’re curious about the preparation of their meal, they can watch Soto or one of his cooks sauteing the meats and vegetables on a large grill.

My favorite of a trio of Supervillain soups is a blend of carrots and red curry with coconut milk. Tangy but not overly spicy, it is reminiscent of Thai cuisine but has a flavor of its own.

Also on the daily menu is creamy potato bacon soup, a chunky potage that employs sour cream and doesn’t scrimp on bacon. And on my most recent visit, the soup du jour was a hearty lentil brew that warmed my innards.

Sandwich menu

But it’s the sandwich menu that drives Supervillain. Each order comes with a thick slice of dill pickle and a choice of Tim’s Cascade Style Potato Chips or raw veggies — cucumber slices and sticks of carrot and celery.

Two of my favorites from the daily menu are the Reuben and the pepper-steak, both served submarine style on hoagie rolls. A thick layer of grilled pastrami topped with melted Swiss cheese is the Reuben’s main ingredient, dressed with hot sauerkraut and a spread of Russian dressing. The pepper-steak features a thick layer of roast beef, along with grilled onions and bell peppers, pepper-jack cheese, and dual spreads of mayonnaise and habanero sauce.

Frequent blackboard specials include the Fin Fang Foom and the Eric Cartman. In Marvel Comics, Fin Fang Foom is a Chinese dragon, among whose weapons is a combustible acid mist. Its namesake sandwich, however, is anything but toxic. In fact, it’s my favorite Supervillain sandwich that I’ve tried so far.

Soto describes the FFF as his version of a Vietnamese banh mi, a popular Asian baguette sandwich. Roasted pork loin with melted pepper jack, served on a hoagie roll, are just the first steps toward a great bite. The FFF is truly made by the condiments — a house-made jam of onions and bacon, orange marmalade, spicy sambal mayonnaise and a layer of coleslaw.

A close second in my book is the Eric Cartman, named for the fat, bratty kid in the TV cartoon “South Park.” I wonder if the sandwich was named for the drunken jerk sauce that dresses the hoagie, along with bacon-onion jam and sambal mayo. Pork and ham are paired with ample coleslaw in the Cartman.

Classic choices

The regular menu includes what Soto terms “the classics” — sandwiches like the BLT, an old-school club and a French dip. There’s one called the Meat Lover’s Sub, with four different meats; the Destroyer (pastrami) and Punisher (roast beef), meanwhile, both promise a full half-pound of meat.

Vegetarians are not forgotten. In addition to daily salads, a Garden Sandwich offers avocado, cucumber, pickles, lettuce, tomato, red onion and Swiss cheese on whole-wheat bread, while the Green Goblin presents a house-made edamame patty with lettuce, ginger-mandarin marmalade and chili-garlic mayo on a sandwich roll. “I’m surprised we don’t sell more,” said Soto.

Beer lovers will find a half-dozen craft beers from around the state: Hood River, Baker City, Central Point, Ashland and Salem as well as Bend.

“I enjoy what we’re doing here,” said Soto. “I’m basically able to produce what I would want to eat.” The menu, he said, is based on “what’s good, what’s not complicated.”

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com

SMALL BITES

The Caldera Grille has changed its name to the Bond Street Grill following the receipt of a cease-and-desist order from the Ashland-based Caldera Brewing Co. The name change became official Dec. 21. The Bond Street Grill, which replaced longtime downtown favorite Giuseppe’s in late 2010, is open from 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. every day. 932 N.W. Bond St., Bend; 541-389-8899, www.calderagrille.com.

The popular Sisters wine shop Cork Cellars reopened Tuesday in a new location and under new ownership. With previous owners Rick and Nadean Murray pursuing new opportunities on the East Coast, Jennifer Knowles-Seher and her husband, David Seher, are now the proprietors of the shop, located on U.S. Highway 20 at the corner of Pine Street. 391 W. Cascade St., Sisters; 541-549-2675, www.corkcellars.com.