Earlier this summer I fell in love. Head over heels! I just couldn't get enough of my beloved. It was, quite simply, love at first sight. Well, to be truthful, at first bite-yes, the object of my passion was, is, a sandwich. I discovered it at Finch's Tea House (353 West Pender Street, 604-899-4040), and I've been back a number of times since that first torrid meeting. Each time, my sandwich is as fresh and flavoursome as the last, loaded with slices of bocconcini and tomatoes, topped with basil leaves, seasoned to perfection; the baguette (from Fratelli Authentic Italian Baking, 1795 Commercial Drive) gets full marks too. For $6.75, this sandwich is my idea of bliss.

And because its flavours, textures, and aromas stayed in my heart, I decided to find out where else I might track down something comparable. Our city has any number of great little cafés serving a wide variety of big, gorgeous sandwiches, and the West Side and downtown seemed a large enough territory for the hunt, so I set out, taste buds tingling, in pursuit of my quarry.

Some of the cafés I phoned or visited have other good sandwiches, but not mine. Some promise a tomato-bocconcini-basil sandwich, or a close variant, as a seasonal special and don't yet have it on their menus. In fact, the closest I came to finding what I desired was the more ubiquitous Caprese panini, which contains the right ingredients, is usually made on a baguette, but is served grilled. Good exemplars of the genre have a beautiful balance of flavours and are always delicious, but because my preference is for a fresh sandwich, I tried some of the panini without grilling. Not a great idea: the made-ahead panini sandwiches need heating to counteract a chilled taste and texture.

Of the Caprese panini I ran to earth, my top choice is from the very recently opened and delightful Coco et Olive (3467 West Broadway, 604-736-7080). It's $6.25, gloriously juicy with roasted tomato chunks, plenty of bocconcini, and a delicate basil pesto. The baguette, from Pane e Formaggio, adds the extra zing of finely chopped green olives.

The Caprese panini at Pané From Heaven Bakery Café (1688 Cypress Street; full of good surprises and always busy) is a close runner-up, with plenty of bocconcini slices, sun-dried tomatoes, and a crusty baguette to soak up the tangy-sweet basil pesto. For $5.95, it's great value, big enough for two people if you're not too hungry.

Downtown at Caffíƒ ¨ Artigiano (763 Hornby Street and 1101 West Pender Street; for other locations and phone numbers, see www.caffeartigiano .com/), the fresh tomato-bocconcini baguette ($6.95) is one of an impressive selection of panini sandwiches. Although it should be eliminated from contention because it contains strips of roasted eggplant instead of basil, it's too delicious to be ignored: moist and juicy or crisp in all the right places, served with a small pot of creamy coleslaw.

Viva Fine Foods and Bakery (1555 Yew Street, 604-738-8482) does a variant of the TBB using its signature panini bun, and including spinach. At $7.25, it's a little pricier than the others here, but it was a good sandwich experience, with a soft yet crisp-edged bun and plenty of oozing bocconcini, although I'd like to crank up the basil flavour.

There must be other cafés out there serving TBBs. I'm going to keep looking. Meanwhile, I can build a very good sandwich at home with some time and effort to marshal the necessary ingredients. A first-class baguette will be completely fresh, crisp on the outside, chewy just under that crispness, and softly moist and tender in the centre. Basil so fresh it's still growing is readily available at this time of year.

I chop the basil, combine it with a tablespoon or so of high-quality balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt, and a grind of fresh pepper and leave it marinating while I slice a perfectly sun-ripened organic tomato and my ball of bocconcini cheese (unripened mozzarella, available at some supermarkets as well as specialty stores, water-packed). I split the baguette open, arrange the cheese and tomato slices along its length, and spoon the basil vinaigrette over them. Ready to eat.

And if, like me, you can't wait for summer tomatoes to ripen, you can always use oil-packed, sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh; the flavour is different, but still mighty good.