Category Archives: DC Sandwiches

Into the Wild-ish in Search of Our Sandwich Tribe

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I heard it there first, at work for the Washingtonian, wrangling sandwiches in their boardroom. Community carries a first-rate club. So off we set, Did-You-Know-She’s-Canadian Michelle and I, across the river on a Saturday sandwich safari.

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Community’s dining room is attractive. Flawlessly so. Set down, whole plaid cloth.
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She took our order and was calm. We liked her and she seemed happy to be there communing with the customers.

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Nice wich. Well done. #notaclub

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So well done that it got me thinking. Is community formed gradually, or can it be sprung wholecloth? Is it created by a flawed journey, with as much to disdain and dislike as to admire and adore? Yes, I think so.

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The food was good. The name – Community – set my standards beyond capability for an establishment sans histoire. Or for any establishment. Community is deeply personal. With proper fairy dust, instant, although rare. More likely it takes time, weathering, fits and starts, adaptation.

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Michelle and I are community. The dictionary term is shockingly dry so I am upping the ante to include the sharing of sandwiches. The tip of the toast point. Venture down to find the sharing of stories, theories, flights and fancies.

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#shegotaclub

I wonder, has Community attracted a community? Is there such a thing as a regular anymore? We need to go there first thing in the morning and see if we can find tables of codgers drinking coffee and joking with the waitresses.

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Should you exit without satisfaction, there is a donut window. Or perhaps you have arrived without satisfaction. There is a donut window. Find your community in a sugar rush. It’s brief. It will tide you over till the real thing.

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Come On and Safari with Me

On a Happy-Global-Warming-the-Daffodils-are-Blooming-in-February kinda Saturday we dropped the teenager at Katsucon and beelined it for 9th Street. The buzz did not do Smoked and Stacked justice. No, it did not. Our city sandwich safari was smokin’ hot and stacked in our favor. And yow, did we eat! Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley has done a good thing by DC, creating a lunch encounter deluxe. screen-shot-2017-02-19-at-8-24-20-am

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Is pastrami not the king of cured meat? Do not answer that. We all have our prejudices. Is pastrami fat not the lily that gilds? Do not answer that either unless you are nodding vigorously. Maple-Leaf-Michelle did not feel the fat so much, but I like its effect on my lips. Slippery and porky and flavor-laden, it is the grease that wheels the sandwich. Pastrami and pork fat are unquestionably in Chef Meeks-Bradley’s wheelhouse.

After Smoked and Stacked, if you have the time, cross the street and duck down Blagden Alley to Colombe Coffee, the lights above the coffee-swilling beasts below. Any proper expedition deserves a cortado capper.

 

Stillness is the New Chase

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Chase the Submarine in Vienna makes a fine sandwich, laced with ambition, loaded with cool. Add a side of sass and you have an It Wich.

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The faster you chase, the farther away you get. That’s how it looks from here. Stand still for a sec and the world appears before you.

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Smilishly. In an apron. Ready for action. Action that splashes. Action that spills and greases your lips.

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Fabulous Claire from Brooklyn, True-to-HimSelf Teddy and I ordered. Actually, we asked nicely. Steak and Cheese, Pork and Pickles, Bulgogi. Around the world at the speed of the maillard reaction.

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Watching was happening. Doing is our preference. In lieu of doing, watching it done with expertise and vivacity is vicariously satiating.

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I like this place enough to go often were it in walking distance. I admire and envy Tim Ma’s sandwich sanctuary.

 

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Bread and fillings exponentially expand into sandwiches ad infinitum, starting with its bread ectoskeleton. Chase the Submarine explores the natural kingdom of all four hemispheres.

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The young people. We love them. So many sandwich safaris ahead. And dang they are snappy. Had to stand still, stand back and love them till my fist of a heart pounded deeply in its deep, still waters.

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Bubbling and Popping

It’s been real quiet around the Lunch Encounter lately and I’m feeling it. A quiet shop kinda kills me. Not to say the extracurlunchular hasn’t been madness cause it has.

IMG_2271I won’t mention the T word (teenager in the house), nor the W word (work) since saying “the T word” or “the W word” puts it in your head anyway. Same as outright saying it, doncha think, while skirting the responsibility of causing a deep cringe.

At any rate, stuff is catching up with me and I’m squashed here in middle age with a situation. Nothing a little planning ahead while IN MY TWENTIES could have prevented. I had plenty of time for sandwiches then. Could I not have put pen to paper while living another languorous afternoon and done the math on time, money and biological clock?!?

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Now, however, the chickens have come home to roost, and I  don’t mean as Chicken Parm. Every day, day in and day out, a thought streaks through the pandemonium of my brain, naked and on a bicycle, screaming, “Get me outta here!” At the very least, let’s lock up on Sundays.

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A daily dalliance to Bub and Pops would do me. I took one. A dalliance, with the fine, fine bf.

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And healed I was.  Quotidian reminder, “Enjoy every sandwich”, including the sandwich of the chaos. A mash up between yesterday and tomorrow.

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Bub and Pops sticks out like a thumb sore from happily painting, pickling, fixing up, punching a cash register, frying, trying, smiling and serving ridiculously delicious sandwiches, Philly style. Right here in DC, thank the lord.

IMG_2287On the left, behold, Bulgarian Feta Sandwich. One could barely hold it with both hands.

Sheep’s Milk Feta, Arugula, Eggplant Caponata, Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Caramelized Onion, Caramelized Mushrooms, Grilled Zucchini, Grilled Fennel, Balsamic Vin Cotto, Hazelnut Gremolata, and Pecorino Romano.

I kid you not. A true Texas (hipster Austin)  hold’em showdown and you don’t wanna let it flop…into yer lap that is.

And on the right, a whole in my estimation, masquerading as a half, Chicken Parmesan.

Marinara, Aged Provolone, Arugula, Caramelized Onion, Hazelnut Gremolata, and Pecorino Romano. There was chicken in there, too, tasty bird.

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Bub and Pops is DOWN THE STREET FROM HIS OFFICE. With all due respect, the man has a regular job, can you imagine?! I cannot. The calm of routine might cause a delirium of happiness, so let’s pretend we would wither from tedium while downing sour grapes in the break room.

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Kettle cooked. Lily gilded by homemade French onion dip with caramelized onions.

Bub and Pop’s supports No Kid Hungry, a well run and worthy outfit that feeds kids who need it. It doesn’t get much more essential, people. Click on the link below if you’d like to put some heat in your heart. And then dip it.

No Kid Hungry


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Smiling. Hell yeah. Bub and Pop’s is an ANumberOneHellYeah. As is the teenager and the cashflow, the bf, the time clock and all the bedlam in between. Not to mention the L word – the legs to get there on.

Now This is How You Slice It

NoVa Cover

The
Bubba Mike Sandwich
Is an
Oversized Sandwich with 1/2 lb. of Pulled Pork and a Texas Sausage Link, topped with Cheese Sauce, Creamy Coleslaw, and Original BBQ Sauce.
Find it at
Sweet Fire Donna’s.

Photo by Jonathan Timmes and Styling by Moi
Sandwich Saga in Northern Virginia Magazine
It’s a righteous reference.

It’s been a while since we were there and I’d forgotten the details on this legendary sandwich. To refresh my memory I called proprietess Donna and she gave me the Dagwoodian details.

Originally, Donna wanted to name her sandwich spot Bubba Mike’s, after her husband. He’s a Mike, all right, but he wasn’t comfortable being quite so publicly honored. They settled on Sweet Fire Donna’s.

When creating the menu Donna had her heart set on something mammoth, gargantuan, a “big mouth” sandwich.  The pulled pork, Texas sausage, cheese sauce, slaw and bbq sauce combo came to be. Perfect, she thought, but what to call her creation? Of course, she had just the name up her sleeve. The Bubba Mike!

“There’s a guy,” she told me, “who eats it three times a week.” She paused. “For lunch.”

Local Hero

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Capitol City Eats Talks About Shawafel

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Shawafel is refreshingly without gimmick. No horseshoes, mini golf, burlesque, craft beer, micro-bakery bread or other hipster touchstones.  The toum, however, is the difference maker and makes Shawafel a landmark. Immerse me in toum, please. Mark my soul with this glorious garlic cloud.

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The makings of chicken shawarma. Start with toum, end with fries, you can do no wrong.

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A few months back Chef/Owner Alberto  stopped by the photo studio of Renee Comet  with his chicken shewarma for a Washingtonian sandwich story. Renee was taking the pictures, I was wrangling the sandwiches, and Chef Alberto stayed for a bit of a visit. He impressed me. A former Jose Andres protege, Chef Alberto has struck out on his own and hit a home run.

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A person could hit a home run with one of these babies. They are rock solid and heavy  as hickory baseball bats.

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Mr. Walston, feeling the omniscent gaze of his vegan daughter, chose crispy cauliflower with tahini. She’s got him wrapped around her little finger, as it should be.

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Le French Fries doused gloriously with za’atar. We did not do a sludge test so I am taking an educated guess – sesame seeds, dried sumac, oregano and thyme. For sure on the sesame seeds and oregano.

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Lebanese cooks have a handle on the goods, folks. Sheeeeeewafel, sheeeeeebang, sheeeeeedoobeeeeeee. Do me!

 

 

Tied Up in Apron Strings

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Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.02.35 PM The pull IMG_7617 of the apron strings at Red Apron Butchery was powerful last week.   Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 5.51.42 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.15.07 PMPorkstrami with Tracy on Friday.Screen Shot 2014-01-18 at 12.47.48 PM    Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.27.30 PM   IMG_7635  Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 5.54.33 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.15.16 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 5.55.22 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 4.26.40 PM       Porchetta and Roast Beef with Doug on Monday. IMG_7591Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.15.25 PM            IMG_7621          Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.27.12 PM   IMG_7616 Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.27.30 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.15.38 PM  Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 5.56.00 PM    IMG_7622    Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 5.56.12 PM Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.21.21 PM      Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.15.45 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.26.54 PM Meatball,IMG_7639    Beef and Cheddar,    IMG_7630  Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.36.07 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.15.53 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.04.58 PM   Screen Shot 2014-01-20 at 6.44.11 AM   Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.29.50 PM       IMG_7622Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.21.11 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-20 at 6.54.53 AM  and Grilled Cheese with Niko, Teddy and Katrina on Saturday. IMG_7637 Screen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.29.39 PMScreen Shot 2014-01-19 at 6.21.05 PM   IMG_7642   Am I now free, strings cut with kitchen shears? Nope nope nope and nope.   Image

Miércoles Gigante

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The hoisting of the torta was surprisingly invigorating. Whew, it was heavy. Like, super heavy.

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All that stuff was in there, but it did not stay in there. Bits and pieces shot out onto my shoes, lap, arms, face. I believe the carne asada was the most egregious offender, although I can’t be sure.

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This half – a half bigger than most wholes – went home.

Taco Bamba Taqueria

Taco Bamba Tacqueria is in a little strip mall that notes all the mini-mall touchstones – karate studio, rug store, closed dry-cleaner – just behind the Tyson’s Corner Whole Foods. It’s a snap to reach off 66.

My hope is that Victor Albisu will choose South Arlington (my home) for a location to be opened soon. We could lug a torta on our shoulders and have a ‘hood feast. Bring your saw.

Easy is as Easy Does

TableTEE

We went. We ate. We wanted to love it. Me especially because Fast Gourmet gives a person the happy spins and a jumping jack appetite. The guys who made Fast Gourmet made TakEatEasy. I want to love anything that anyone makes with spiritfelt intentions. LCatTEE

It was, um, strange and strangely awkward. What did we miss? Why didn’t we get it?

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WichesTEEThe chivito was terrific which is a triumph and enough, making TakEatEasy a destination. Fries, too, good. The language spoken at TakEatEasy is something I only speak in pigeonsandwich. We tried hard. We wanted to take it more easy.

Please parse it out for me someone. Why is TakEatEasy better than Fast Gourmet? Who goes to the new place? And why? Even the where is a mystery to me. Sandwich whisperer, speak to me.

Trophy Smophy!

From JAF/MSMINY (Main Sandwich Man In New York)
Best Sandwiches in the USA

I doubt the list is accurate, but it’s interesting that your hometown is listed as the home to the best sandwich in the USA.

The Bayou Bakery Muffaletta

You know when you call someone on their cell and they have not recorded a message? (Of course they don’t pick up. How last century, Mr. Bell.) The phone says, “You have reached <insert stiff enunciation of the person you have called name’s> here.” Did you know you don’t have to say your name? Of course you know that, or you would if you thought about it. But who thinks about this stuff? Oh, for heaven’s sakes, let’s just get on with it, right? Right. Buuurreeep! Wrong. You have missed an opportunity – an opportunity, people! – to make the world a better place. One teensy step, people.

Let me paint the picture. My friend Janie teaches voice. Presumably her students think about their, ahem, voice when recording. Recording anything apparently. She called her favorite student. Don’t tell anyone she has a favorite. We ALL like everyone equally, do we not? Riiiight. No answer. He’s busy, man, everyone likes him. And why wouldn’t they? His cell phone picks up and says, “You have reached the best person in the world!”

He says he’s the best and I take his word for it. We all get a trophy if we take one. Put yourself atop a trophy doing whatever you do best. Whatever YOU say you do best.  I believe you.

Jean Shin sees you. At your best. Look closely, people.