Go to Oakley. Try this mortadella sandwich. Thank me later | Highly Recommended

There's something reassuring about walking into The Wheel, a takeout spot and pop-up restaurant located in a residential neighborhood of Oakley. If you're Italian, like me, it might take you back to your grandmother's kitchen with its rustic wooden furniture and stacked cans of tomatoes. Then again, the framed Grateful Dead posters on the wall (this place is named after a Dead song, after all) might also remind you of that awesome college sandwich shop you turned to for comfort after one too many keggers.

Owner Chrissy Antenucci can often be found in a rear kitchen making red sauce classics like lasagna, cannelloni and stuffed peppers, all of which are available for takeout. Many of her recipes come from relatives, including her late grandmother, Norma Antenucci, a local celebrity who hosted "The Kitchen Show" on Channel 9 (WCPO-TV) in the 1950s. You can purchase a plastic-comb-binder book of Norma's recipes at The Wheel for $20.

While Antenucci's recipes are steeped in tradition, she is a more classically trained chef than her grandmother was. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, in New York, she honed her skills at a lot of restaurants you've probably heard of before: Gramercy Tavern and Vong, in Manhattan; Quince, in San Francisco; and Jean-Robert at Pigall's here in town.

She eventually moved back to her native Cincinnati from San Francisco, telling former Enquirer food critic Polly Campbell that the latter "just didn't feel like home," and that "I wanted to be around people who knew my grandmother." That last sentence knocked the wind out of me when I read it because it was so relatable. My father died in 1990, and part of the reason I moved back to Cincinnati after 20 years away was that I wanted to be around people who knew him, too.

On a recent Friday, I found myself craving something my father would have loved: Antenucci's mortadella focaccia sandwich ($12). The focaccia bread she bakes is thick, airy and squishy when you bite into it. The sandwich is slathered on one side with Dijon mustard aioli and on the other with peperonata, a traditional Italian side made with bell peppers, onion and garlic that are cooked down in olive oil until they're tangy and sweet. Those flavors help balance out the fatty mortadella and salty salami filling. A thick slice of provolone provides a subtle note of creaminess. This is not just a sandwich, though. It's a sandwich made by someone who cares. Someone who is paying homage to a person and a time she still longs for and wants to share with others.

I should note that The Wheel recently cut back its hours. The takeout counter is only open from noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, which is a shame since it used to be open Tuesday through Saturday. And while I still haven't attended one myself, I encourage you to sign up for one of Antenucci's pop-up dinners, which are held in an adjacent dining room. Visit The Wheel's website, where you can subscribe to the email list and receive a schedule of available dates.

The Wheel, 3805 Brotherton Road, Oakley, 513-271-0291, www.thewheeloakley.com.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Go to Oakley, try The Wheel's mortadella sandwich | Highly Recommended