Attention all food bloggers and food blog groupies: If you’re in the D.C. area on Wednesday, March 2, get to American Ice Co. for a chance to drink alongside ES in-person.
American Ice Co. is a new bar in D.C.’s U Street Neighborhood, serving craft beers in mason jars and pulled pork sandwiches on paper plates. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
If you can make it, RSVP here.
– To be filed under Endless Simmer changes the world, we hear D.C. restaurant ChurchKey can barely keep up with the increased demand for its version of the Luther, ever since ES crowned it the best new sandwich in America. As We Love DC reports:
The Luther’s new-found fame, however, may be its undoing. By the time we ordered our second one (ed. note: bravo), around 1:30pm, the kitchen had already run out of donuts and was scrambling to make more. The manager assured us that we would get our second sandwich, but hinted that we were lucky, since they might not be able to serve them much further into the afternoon. Although reportedly served during an eight hour window on Sundays, the time frame for sampling this creation might be more like three or four hours. Go early to sample, but be prepared to hit the gym on Monday extra hard to work it off.
ChurchKey owners, just let us know what our percentage is for all these extra sandwiches you’re selling. By the way, I’m happy to report We Love DC backs up our adulation of the New Luther:
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It’s no secret that I’m a fan of bar food, my waistline can attest to that. However, the biggest conundrum I encounter when I find myself seated atop a bar stool with a pint of beer is what to order — there really are so many great choices. Chicken tenders, nachos, potato skins, how to choose!
From time to time I’ll have a light bulb moment and with what I’m about to tell you is, I think, one of my best light bulb moments ever, and just in time for the Super Bowl.
Potato skins loaded with nachos and topped with chicken tenders. Incredible.
Read on for the recipe.
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Fresh, diced tomato on a crusty, olive-oil-brushed toasted bread tastes great. Add in some basil, onion and garlic and we enjoy a classic appetizer: tomato bruschetta.
But don’t lie. The tomatoes fall off with every crunchy bite. This becomes messy. And wholly unenjoyable.
Enter the slice. Imagine instead of chunks, there are slices. It’s easier to eat. The bite more complete.
And forget the tomato. Cork, a neighborhood wine bar in DC, realized the slice could work with an avocado. Actually, it doesn’t just work, it kicks ass.
I was introduced to this simple and pleasantly pleasing appetizer at a recent press event. Thin avocado slices, topped with ground pistachio, toasted pistachio oil, and French sea salt combine for a rich, salty and satisfying prelude. Could it be more simple? More delicious? Could this make a more perfect union?
Forget who piles pastrami highest or fits the most varieties of cold cuts onto one hero roll. A great sandwich has come to mean more than just bigger, better and meatier. Across the country, a new breed of sandwich artisans are taking lunchtime to a whole ‘nother level. From California to New England, here are Endless Simmer’s top ten favorite new sandwiches.
Spuckie is a term used by old-school Bostonians to identify any sub sandwich, but it’s increasingly associated with this year-old Brookline shop. It’s also probably the one sandwich that most successfully merges the old-school method of overdoing it on Italian meats with the new world of artisan, veggie-centric goodness. Super-thin slices of fennel salami, hot capicola and mortadella are layered on an oversize ciabatta, then topped with gooey, hand-pulled mozzarella and a fresh olive-carrot salad. For even less traditional sandwich-lovers, there’s also an eggplant spuckie available.
At the risk of outraging an entire city, we’re going to say it: the Philly cheesesteak is boring. With no disrespect meant to the age-old art of slathering fake cheese on top of a mound of meat, we just think this is one classic sandwich that is ready for a creative update. Enter University City sandwich truck Koja, where the chewy cheesesteak meat is replaced with bulgogi, Korea’s signature thinly-sliced, spicy BBQ beef. It’s served on a hoagie roll that’s coated in sweet chili oil and accented by sauteed peppers and onions. Koja also offers bulgogi pork and bulgogi chicken variations, but the best part is the unbelievable price — $3. Read more about this amazing sandwich at My Inner Fatty.
Have you ever dug into a steamy styrofoam container of General Tso’s chicken and thought, “this is delicious, but it would be even tastier on a bun?” Of course you haven’t, that’s the most insane thing we’ve ever heard. But crazy is sometimes genius, as is proven at this tiny Seattle sandwich shop, where hunks of tender chicken are deep-fried and glazed in a tangy brown sauce, then served on a crispy baguette with caramelized onions and cilantro. The result is a supremely sticky, but utterly satisfying sandwich. (Photo: Sevius)
Another new West Coast outpost that achieves genius results by thinking outside the bun, LA’s great cheese-on-wheels purveyor offers several list-worthy grilled sandwiches, but none is more awe-inspiring than this. Sharp cheddar mac-and-cheese, strands of sweet BBQ pork and caramelized onions are all stuffed into two perfectly buttered-and-fried slices of white bread. Yes, it sounds like the horrifying 3 a.m. creation of a stoned college student. Yes, it actually works.
(Photo: Grilled Cheese Truck)
Upgrading Mexican street food has suddenly become a hot task of haute chefs around the nation, although the results often have us pining for the real thing. Not so at Rick Bayless’ Chicago sandwich shop, where tortas baked in the wood-burning oven take Mexican to levels we didn’t know existed. In this sandwich, silky strands of roasted suckling pig are served on crusty bread spread with black beans and achiote paste, then finished with a layer of pickled onions and habanero salsa. The Pibil may be one extra ingredient away from being a Top Chef disaster story, but as is, it’s perfection on bread.
Last week after a press dinner at Smith Commons (yes to the mushroom soup) Johanna and I checked out a few bars along H Street, NE, an area hard to get to from most of the city. We figured if we’re all the way out here already we might as well sniff out the scene.
We landed in Fruit Bat, a bar bursting with so much fruit that huge baskets hang low at the counter, blocking my view of the bartender (and the back mirror that I use to finger wave my hair back in place). I tried a pumpkin infused vodka, but when it didn’t taste like pumpkin pie I became upset.
Sometimes I just want a creamy drink. I was raised on Kahlua and cream (my mom would let me sip her’s during the last hour of our cousins’ bar and bat mitzvahs) and I sometimes I can’t shake the urge for liquid comfort.
A few nights later my friends Tim and Alice entertained. I didn’t have much to bring, but pulled together 2 bananas, a V8 and a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout (in fact, from my Smith Commons goodie bag). I knew cocktail master Tim would find a good use for my gifts – a dream of a shake with all the comfort a girl could want.
PB, Banana and Vodka
Blend: peanut butter, banana, milk, honey, Kahlua, Creme de Coca, Vodka and ice.
(Photo: Dalekwidow)
It’s no secret that we ES-ers are all for locally sourced, minimally processed food. You may remember forkitude’s post about how big food conglomerates have an outsize say in what America eats. Clearly, we’re wringing our collective hands about such things. But apparently, not everyone agrees. I had an interesting conversation on this matter last week and received the surprising response that I was anti-business and a “borderline hippie.” I find it interesting how divergent food views have become and how efforts at improving the quality of food are often ridiculed or even worse, politicized.
Surprisingly, it appears our government may actually be listening. The US Department of Justice and the USDA recently convened a series of public workshops exploring corporate concentration and competition in food and agriculture. The five meetings, led by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, included discussions about the dairy, poultry and livestock industries and how corporate food is affecting small farmers and consumers.
While we do not know yet if these meetings will yield any real change, it was impressive to see how many small farm and community groups made sure they were heard. The big industry voices were not present, but that may be because they can relay their opinions through other channels (like lobbyists). Here are a few of the topics touched upon:
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