They Call Me...

Yukon Cornelius!

Greetings, Readers!

With "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" and Yukon Cornelius trending worldwide on Twitter last night because of it airing on TV, I got to thinking: I would like to create a sandwich that lives up to the name of the North Pole's most famous prospector.

To start, the sandwich has to be hearty, a meal to get a person through the harsh weather of the North Pole.

For me, the the sandwich should consist mainly of corned beef, not only because it's hearty and rich, but also because it sort of shares its name with the character.

While I try to hack out a delicious dedication to this classic character, what would you add to make this sandwich as much of a legend as its namesake?

Until next week...

Spring House in Winter Weather

Greetings, Readers!

I hope the last two weeks of the holidays have left you satisfied, relaxed, and ready to start off 2014 with a bang.

2013 led to a lot of amazing sandwich experiences, and I'm looking to take you through another year of them.

Wrapping up 2013 with my visit to Philadelphia, I had a number of great experiences, and one of the top ones was my trip to Spring House Brewery Tap Room in Lancaster, PA.

Part of a full day of brewery tours in eastern Pennsylvania with my brother, Spring House was our first stop. To accompany the ten beer sampler, I decided to go with the Reuben. On a cool December day, this filling sandwich sounded like the perfect companion to some of the amazing house brews.

To be fair, every sandwich sounded excellent. I was also leaning towards the French Dip.

The Reuben is a straight forward affair at Spring House: Sliced Corned Beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and Swiss cheese on lightly grilled rye bread. Sometimes being simple is the best way to take it. For this Reuben, the corned beef was cooked well and full of mouth-watering flavor. The spices in the meat shone through even with all of the other flavors competing for the spotlight. The Swiss cheese was melted thoroughly and offered its smooth smoky flavor, a delicious contrast to the sour bite or the sauerkraut and the sweet taste of the Thousand Island.

My only complaint, and it's minor in this situation, is that I would have preferred the bread toasted/grilled just slightly longer. This factor should in no way deter you form this sandwich though.

This was a delicious choice to accompany the beer sampler we had and a great way to keep warm on a cold December afternoon.

If your'e able to swing by the Tap Room, I highly suggest getting this sandwich as well as their extensive ten-pour sampler so you can try every one of their offerings. My favorite was the Big Gruesome Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout. It's a real knockout and thoroughly delicious.

One more stop to go in my trip back to Philadelphia, but we'll continue that next week.

Until then, Readers...


Reuben Sandwich
**** Stars
Spring House Tap Room
25 West King Street
Lancaster, PA 17603

http://www.springhousebeer.com

It's Reuben Time

Greetings, Readers!

After my successful first day in Cleveland, which I wrote about in last week's entry, I was still up for seeing more of what this city could offer me in terms of delicious sandwiches.

But the question becomes, how do you really even attempt to beat one of the best pulled pork sandwiches you've ever eaten?

You take on a Reuben.


But the trip to get this Reuben was not exactly easy. I was taken on a tour of the backroads of a rural area outside of Cleveland and I'm not going to lie here, Readers, but this shop may be one of the hardest places to find.

Ever.

Having arrived at Columbia Beverages & Deli though, I was pleasantly surprised by their deli counter and the sandwiches offered, even though I may never have given any of the other sandwiches a second look as soon as I noticed the option of a Reuben.

This sandwich is stacked high with corned beef that honestly just melts in your mouth. It's full of spiced and briny flavor that just beats up your taste buds with every bite and there's just so much of it that it took me a little bit to decide how I should even take the first bite.

The Thousand Island dressing and melted Swiss cheese add a great smooth flavor to the sandwich that are more mellowed compared to the flavor of the corned beef. There's a good amount of both ingredients ont his sandwich, but not too much as to overpower the flavor of the meat.

Topped off with a dose of crunchy sauerkraut and lightly grilled rye bread, this sandwich was excellent. The bread was also thickly cut which helped the sandwich hold up with so much internal deliciousness.

I wish more sandwiches had this kind of thickly cut bread.

Overall, this sandwich was excellent. A great Reuben, filled with so much that holds together until the end and despite filling you, leaves you wanting more.

If I had to go on my own, I probably would have gotten lost, but it would have been worth it to find a sandwich like this.

That's 2 for 2 Cleveland...what will you have next week?


Reuben Sandwich
**** 1/2
Columbia Beverages & Deli
25011 Royalton Road
Columbia Station, OH
(Corner of Rt 252 and Rt 82)

San Diego Sandwich-Con 2012

Greetings and welcome back for another week of delicious sandwich profiling, Dear Readers.

This past week, I made a trip down to San Diego for something that I have been putting off far too long: Comic Con.

My group of comic book aficionados only had tickets for Saturday and Sunday, so having arrived on Friday evening, what could we end up doing?

For those that have not been to SD before, the Gaslamp Quarter, right next to the Convention Center where Comic Con was, is a great section of town for drinks and food, and that is where we found The Field.

This place was packed on a Friday night during one of the busiest nights of the year for the city, but it didn't take long for our drinks and food to come to us. The only thing that happened faster was my selection of a sandwich from the menu: a corned beef sandwich on rye.

Set between two slices of lightly buttered, and lighted toasted rye, this corned beef sandwich was one of the best ones I've had in a long time. It absolutely lived up to the standard that a true Irish pub should have for this kind of meal.

The corned beef was very thinly sliced, very warm, and piled very high between the slices of crisp bread. Lightly grilled onions blended in between the layers of meat along with melted Swiss cheese that permeated the sandwich a smear of dijon mustard.

Wow. Absolutely delicious. The flavors blended together to give a smoky and spiced sandwich that mellowed with every bite. The meat was tender and juicy, and overall well cooked.

An excellent way to start a fun weekend at Comic Con. For those of you who have yet to attend the event, it is an absolutely incredible time. Comics, artists, video games, movies, cosplayers, and fans all crammed into an area the size of two square miles can be a bit overwhelming, but if you have an interest in any of the things I mentioned above, it's a must see event for you.

I for one know I will be back next year...and I will have this sandwich again to kick off my weekend.

Until next week, Readers...



Corned Beef Sandwich
**** 1/2 Stars
The Field Irish Pub & Restaurant
544 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
http://www.thefield.com

The Great Burbank Deli Hunt - Part 3

 Welcome back, Dear Readers, for our third week of trekking through the city of Burbank, CA.

For this stop, Bryan (@818newguy) and I headed over to Moore's Delicatessen in downtown Burbank. This deli is a hot spot during lunch hour for people who work at Cartoon Network, which is just around the corner.

If you get to stop in here one time, definitely make sure you take a peek at the back dining room, as cartoonists from CN mark up the wall with sketches from the shows that they work on.

Talking to Ollie at the counter of Moore's we inquired about what their best sandwich was. It didn't take her long to suggest the City Hall, a customer favorite.

The City Hall is essentially a Reuben, although in this case, you have your option on which meat you would like to include. Your choices range from the typical corned beef to pastrami, turkey, ham, or roast beef. For this time around we went with straight up pastrami.

It had been a little while since my last pastrami sandwich, and I have to admit that I was itching to get some.

Generously added to the sandwich with cole slaw, Russian dressing, Swiss cheese and grilled rye bread (make sure you ask for it to be grilled), the City Hall is a real winner in Burbank.

This pastrami had some excellent flavor. All of the usual spices were in play, but without being overpowering. Pastrami really does have a fine line between perfect and sadly over/under flavored.

The other positive about the meat was its tenderness. Even some of the best pastrami tends to have a problem when its cools down (if you've cooked it) in that the fat re-congeals or becomes tough, making the meat somewhat inedible. This was not a problem here. If anything, the meat may have been a little dry, but overall was very well prepared for this sandwich.

The Swiss cheese and Russian dressing blended together in a creamy melange of smooth, smoky flavor which matched the pastrami well. The cole slaw added a sweet crispy crunch to the sandwich that contrasted well with its savory interiors.

And the grilled rye? Well that held together until the end with excellent rye flavor, brought out by the light toasting.

Let's face it, I have a true bias when it comes to pastrami, and in that sense I tend to judge those types of sandwiches on a tougher scale. Despite that, I have to highly recommend this sandwich. While the pastrami could be a little less dry, overall it is a can't miss sandwich in downtown Burbank.

I have to say that before this sandwich journey with Bryan even began, I knew of some great sandwich shops in Burbank, but I have to admit that I never thought there would be so many! So far, we've either hit all of the best places in town, or every sandwich shop should be on par with a five star restaurant.

It seems like the city of Burbank does not disappoint.

Until next week, dear Readers!


City Hall Sandwich
**** Stars
Moore's Delicatessen
271 East Orange Grove Ave.
Burbank, CA
http://www.mooresdeli.com/

Delicious Revelations

Welcome back Dear Readers!

A lot has happened over the past week, and most notable of the bunch is that the look of this blog has changed. I thought adding a delicious looking burger to the background here would drive home the idea of the ever-present, yet still elusive, DANGER SANDWICH so much better.

Also, The Danger Sandwich Twitter account is growing. If you haven't started to follow me yet, you should get on that train right over here.

Now, onto the sandwich...

Prior to my sandwich expedition this week, I was on a hike through the old LA Zoo ruins. It's pretty amazing to see the fixtures and cages still up (sans bars) and you're able to check out their interiors. It's amazing how small some of the cages actually were.

Following this adventure, I made my way to Burbank and was looking for someplace to eat, and lo and behold, I stumbled upon the Corner Bakery.

Yes, I went to a chain restaurant, and originally, I didn't think I would even review this sandwich.

So why am I?

Because this sandwich actually got me really thinking about this blog as a whole, and put these sandwiches into perspective.

With next week's blog marking one year since I began this little adventure I've been thinking about what I've learned about my desire for sandwiching., and I've mentioned before that part of the fun in doing it is the experience of the atmosphere and the company with which I sandwich (say that five times fast).

But I also think it's something more, and this relates to the reason why my chain restaurant sandwiches have been somewhat...lacking.

And as I took another bite into my Grilled Reuben Panini from Corner Bakery, I realized that it's not just the sandwich, not just the atmosphere, not just the experience. It's also the little glimpse of local culture that you get with each bite.

Whether it's the Philly Cheesesteak or the French Dip or the Cubano, each one of these sandwiches is an enlightening experience that shows you a glimpse of local culture.

And that is fascinating to me.

Just like exploring a bit of lost local culture in your own backyard, a sandwich can enlighten you to a part of your own city that you never knew about.

Oh and this sandwich in particular? Grilled caraway rye bread, with lean corned beef, sauerkraut and thousand island dressing.

The sandwich was good, but it was missing that little extra something.

Until next week, Readers...

*** Stars

Grilled Reuben Panini

Corner Bakery Cafe

www.cornerbakerycafe.com

A late night at the corner diner...

Welcome dear readers, for another lesson in DANGER!

There is something that you should know about me before we begin today: I have a deep love of diners.

Don't begin to worry though, this love has been deemed healthy and safe by a number of medical professionals, so i'm in the clear. Thank you for your concern though.

So what is it exactly about diners that I love so much?

Is it the atmosphere? The muddy coffee? The regulars? Or is it the waitress who once asked "you need anymore coffee, doll?"

It could be a combination of all of those, but then again if that was all I talked about, this foodie blog would leave out the crucial aspect of food reviewing.

Now for anyone who has ever eaten at a diner, you know for a fact that diner food can quite often be very hit or miss (there are some notable exceptions to be had though). And so, when a good meal is found it's definitely worth being passed on to others.

Enter the Reuben at North Hollywood Diner.

I've been coming to this diner since I first interned in Los Angeles in 2005, and I've tried at least half of the items on their substantial menu, but the Reuben is something new for me this time around.

Corned Beef, Jack cheese, and a healthy dose of sauerkraut on grilled rye bread seems like an easy enough sandwich, but in my position, I also know it's something that can easily be screwed up. The wrong proportions, or badly prepared meat can lead to an unsatisfying mess in your hands.

The Reuben at the North Hollywood Diner could have been improved upon had the meat cooked a little longer. The problem with corned beef is that if you don't take your time in cooking the meat long enough, it can be quite tough and take away from the experience. The seasoning for the corned beef was great, producing a subtle tangy flavor, but every once in awhile i'd have to put my incisors to work a little more than i normally like to.

The sauerkraut was perfect: not too sour, but not too weak either. The cheese was melted until it was creamy and blended well with the healthy dose of sauerkraut.

The grilled rye bread could have spent a little more time on the grill. There was a slight crisp to it, but was still very soft in most parts. Even the butter used on the bread was still noticeable, and a sure sign it hadn't been fully cooked. If you're going to grill rye bread for your sandwich, go hard or go home, is what i always say.

Overall, if you find yourself in North Hollywood and looking for a satisfying meal, the North Hollywood Diner will certainly tend to your needs. This sandwich, though, was passable but there are plenty of other delis and diners in the area that can easily do much better.

Until next time, may the DANGER be with you.

*** Stars

North Hollywood Diner

11329 Magnolia Boulevard

North Hollywood, CA 92601