Founded in 2018, Sandwich celebrates the inexplicable magic that happens between two slices of bread through cultural reporting, photo essays, and interviews with the food world’s tastemakers.

The magazine was originally developed as a collaboration between TCO London, the publisher/agency behind Huck and Little White Lies, and US condiments brand Sir Kensington’s, who sponsored the first four issues. When that partnership came to an end, TCO decided to take Sandwich in-house.

“The mission of the magazine is to champion the connecting power of food,” says editor Josh Jones. “Each issue takes an iconic sandwich and uses it as a lens to examine culture via essays and interviews, alongside beautiful photography and illustration. We then apply the same mindset to create entertaining food formats in digital.”

Each issue’s connection to the humble sandwich ranges from the obvious to the more obscure. For the recent Leftovers Sandwich issue, the team asked top chefs such as Matty Matheson and Ixta Belfrage to share their best leftover recipes, while the BBQ Brisket issue saw writer Oliver Keens discuss whether hip-hop beef has become marketing baloney.

“The editorial really can go in any direction,” says Jones. “We just want to make it as interesting as possible and throw in some curveballs along the way. It’s not your usual food magazine, that’s for sure. I tend to commission rather than receive pitches and all the feature ideas come out of my brain.”

For the seventh issue of the magazine, the team turned their attention to the delectable and decadent ice cream sandwich, which has “always been something we wanted to do”, according to Jones.

Led by TCO’s design director Tertia Nash and art director Oliver Stafford, the issue draws on the visual aesthetic of ice cream vans and parlours, featuring a pastel colour palette and hand-rendered typographic approach.

The cover shows super producer Benny Blanco, shot in the kitchen of his LA mansion by Matt Adam, as the issue take a deep dive into his relationship with music and food. “I flew over to LA to spend the morning filming, photographing, interviewing and making ice cream sandwiches with him, before covering him in $250 worth of edible glitter for the cover shot,” says Jones.

Another feature nods to the fact that eating ice cream sparks the same joy in parts of the brain as having sex and listening to good music, asking creative scientist Katherine Templar Lewis to explore and explain it in detail.

The issue is sponsored by Oatly, but in this case the brand was keen to do more than just a back page advert. Instead, the creative team worked with them to concept content series Brain Freeze, before heading off to New Orleans to film it with Dara Horenblas, who also directs Netflix series Ugly Delicious.

Featuring a tricked-out vintage ice cream truck, the series is hosted by Mason Hereford, founder of world-renowned sandwich shop Turkey and the Wolf. He was given the mission of taking Sandwich on a tour of his hometown and meeting his foodie friends, asking each of them to invent unique soft serve sandwiches inspired by the city.

As for what’s next for the magazine, Jones says “We’re always looking to expand the audience of Sandwich both through the print title, our socials and our events. The hardest part is thinking of the sandwich we’re going to feature. The rest of it is a joy to make!

Sandwich issue seven is out now; sandwichmagazine.com