Red Stag: WI Grilled Cheese

I ran over to the Red Stag to check out what they have to offer for lunch. Get the full review here.

Check back often for more sandwich reviews...

More Hell's Kitchen

Check out my full review of the Ham and Pear Crisp from Hell's Kitchen here.

Hell's Kitchen Ultimate BLT

I've been trying to get to Hell's Kitchen for quite some time and figured Sunday brunch would be a chance for me to gorge on a few different menu options. The local food scene has been oozing with buzz about he place lately so I jumped right on that train and ordered their Ham and Pear Crisp in addition to some Sausage Bread (some one had a few too many the night before). Jess decided on the Ultimate BLT (sounded pretty good to me, too) and we settled in to share a nice little smorgasbord. I'm going to focus on the BLT for this post as I'll have a full Ham and Pear Crisp write-up posted on City Pages the morning of 3/18.

I thought Hell's BLT was actually quite good. When executed well, a BLT can be extremely satisfying, yet at the same time, a weak BLT can be easily identified and called out immediately. Thankfully this wasn't the case at Hell's Kitchen. It's essentially your classically crafted BLT with no extra frills. No chipotle Mayo, no fried eggs, and no peppered bacon, although you can pay a bit more for a cheese upgrade.

The sandwich is built on a solid foundation of expertly toasted sourdough that gets a good splash of mayonnaise on top. They layer in nice crispy bacon, with just a bit of chew and enough salt to slap your hangover around a bit. They serve it with delicate butter lettuce, and layers of rich, sweet and perfectly ripe tomatoes of a quality that I haven't enjoyed in quite some time.

Sandwich Rating: Tasty. I'll be back to Hell's Kitchen to sample some other goodies in the very near future, but will probably bounce around the menu a bit more. Like I said, a good BLT is satisfying, but I like to try and push the envelope a bit more when I sit down to the table.

Happy Eating,

-Teddy

Epic Sandwich: Blackbird Cafe

Check out my latest City Pages post on Blackbird Cafe here. I've also got some fresh content below. Enjoy!

The Sandwich Club

I go out to lunch surprisingly little for someone who contributes to three food blogs. I stay pretty busy at work and don't have a lot of time to run out and eat. I also like having control over my meals so that I don't eat junk all the time or spend too much money. I love to cook and pride myself on being a frugal but adventurous shopper.

The only problem with making your lunch every day is the ease of boredom. Eating leftovers from the previous night may be tasty and convenient, but it doesn't do much for variety. I'm also a huge fan of sandwiches in case you didn't notice, but that gets old after a while. You buy a loaf of bread, some lunch meat, cheese and accompaniments and by Wed. you are sick of the sandwich you'll be eating the rest of the week.

That is until now. I work in a pretty creative environment and have identified a few other sandwich enthusiasts, and last week these colleagues approached me with an offer I couldn't refuse. They too, get bored eating the same thing several days in a row so we came up with and idea. We would each buy enough sandwich provisions for one person for the week and then share those provisions with eachother: The sandwich club was officially formed. We'll do this one week/month to not only help alleviate the boredom, but to also pick up on some creations we normally wouldn't on our own. Each guy brought in somerthing today I'd never had before. One was a wasabi sauce that when paired with roast beef was really good. The other added some sort of a cranberry mustard sauce that was awesome with some fresh turkey and toasted bread. I brought smoked Gouda and Virginia ham to round things out. Now for the next four days I have the choice of three breads, 3 kinds of meat and three cheeses from which to construct my sandwich in addition to a whole list of sauces and toppings as well. Variety is back in my lunch diet and sharing a good sandwich with some friends while saving some coin is pretty enticing too. Give it a whirl at your office, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Happy Eating,

Teddy