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La Esquina Del Chilaquil, Mexico City

  The original spot for torta de chilaquiles, the line-up to La Esquina Del Chilaquil  was down the block by the time I arrived at 9:30AM. Workers ran back and forth from their corner pop up tent to an indoor kitchen out of sight to refill bins of red sauce, green sauce, fried meat, and chilaquiles. Only operating for about 5 hours a day from 8:30 to 1PM or whenever they sell out, the hype was strong, and the hype was real. While a torta is your run of the mill sandwich, chilaquiles is a popular breakfast dish of fried tortilla chips served with hot salsa. Some have called this dish a soggy nacho, but I don't think that this description does justice to the level of salsa involved. Yes, the chips are soaked in salsa, but if the salsa is fresh and deeply flavourful, then what's the problem? Apparently, this was the first place to load the torta with a heavy helping of chilaquiles. In my mind, this would be a mess, and in my hands, it was one of the messiest wettest sandwich exper
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Cherry Circle Room, Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

This blog has been neglected. I'm sorry, but not sorry, as life took me in a different direction for the last several years, and compounded with the global pandemic, I did not travel for about three years. Homemade sandwiches were made and enjoyed. Many a thick cut bacon and equally thick cut seasonal tomato sandwich on artisanal whole wheat was savoured with a cut of mayonnaise. I became my own favorite lunchtime deli counter, out of necessity. But of course, one tires of familiarity, and eventually, new flavours and textures are desired. In my first 24 hours in Chicago, a night was spent at the redesigned Chicago Athletic Association, formerly a private gentlmen's club. A decadent steak dinner was enjoyed off premise, but breakfast was sampled in its distinctive  Cherry Circle Room . As the original name for the private club's longstanding lounge, the redesign of room and menu plays off the old boys' vibe of exclusivity and Chicago's love for wood paneling, and to

Hen's Deli, Milwaukee

  My mini midwest tour continued to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a place known more for breweries and deep fried cheese curds, but my timing was fortuitously aligned with the recent opening of Hen's Deli . Located in the neigbhorhood of Walker's Point, in a former hole in the wall soup shop, Hen's began at the local farmer's market under the name Clark Street Sausage Co. Establishing a fan base with unusual items (for Milwaukee) such as ramen and a pork pastrami sandwich, their brick and mortar location offered a small, but mighty menu of established favorites along with some new offerings on rotation.  I was on my way out of town as I learned about Hen's, which is unfortunate timing for me. Stopping in with some locals in the morning, we got several breakfast bagel sandwiches to go on the everything bagel with sausage. Without a doubt,  their house made sausage patties served as the foundation that held it all together. Tucked on top was a slippery little muffin tin egg (

2018 was a terrible sandwich year, but here's hoping 2019 has better fillings

Not a single post was made last year. This wasn't done consciously, but looking back, I guess not a single author had it in them to share the joy we feel for the sandwich. It wasn't that sandwiches were not enjoyed, or eaten and critiqued with each mouthful. I know for myself, I ran out of mustard to share. Last year was full of lows and a handful of highs, and it took all the relish, ketchup, extra onions, and pickle out of me. I don't even think this post pictured above is from 2018, which if I am remembering correctly, was of a reuben, served automatically with sauerkraut on the side. It was more of a sloppy grilled cheese over buttered, and that quarter sliced pickle could barely cut through the fat of each mouthful, but its presentation was dramatic. Last year also saw my phone die and with it, many many photos of sandwiches long gone, but somehow this photo sums up a lot of last year, too. Eat well this year, my friends, and hopefully we can stay in touch bett

Some thoughts on the great breaded chicken sandwich, Toronto

Nowhere else in the world have I visited where the slab of breaded chicken or veal sits soaked in marinara on a round crusty bun. Usually hot or sweet peppers accompanies, with additional options of mushrooms, cheese, and onions. I have tried as many of these sandwiches as possible in the city, but more of them keep cropping up. Here is the latest batch, with some additional thoughts on their origins and varieties: Pictured above is a chicken sandwich from Bitundo's, located in Little Italy, Toronto, on a side street near the Monarch Tavern. I got mushrooms and cheese as my extras, and ate it on a frosty night in mere seconds. Lots of walk in pick ups for pizza were happening, which is pretty good business considering it sits directly across from another pizza + sandwich joint, San Francesco's. And while Bitundo's is more modest in appearance, their breaded meat offering was far more appetizing than the disaster I once had at SF's. While pizza seems be their big bu

assorted breakfast sanwiches, Toronto

Before catching a late AM train, I popped into one of the massive underground and overground foodcourts beneath the financial district for a bite to eat. Pumpernickel's may have been located on one of the second-floor food courts, if I am recalling correctly, as the place I initially tried going to wasn't ready for lunch orders. All in all, this was not a bad spinach omelette bagel. The bagel was just good enough to be edible, but nothing amazing, but the omelette was really hot and not too greasy and I felt quite full afterwards, which is harder to do than you'd think. Nothing like a bit of a cheese string to tug at the heart strings. Nothing fancy here, but consistent and tastes of care, I grabbed this hot egg and bacon sandwich from Sidebar on Spadina, just south of Camden, or Richmond, a real hole in the wall that most people never notice as it's also a few steps down from pedestrian level. Everything is always prepared fresh, but it's never overly seaso

homemade tuna melt