We Have A Verdict...DANGER!

Greetings Readers!

Even though the trial I was assigned to was short (3 days) I didn't want to waste a single lunch visit while in Downtown Los Angeles.

Most of the restaurants and shops close up after the working day is over, so it makes it especially hard to get down there for sandwiching during the week, and weekends DTLA is still somewhat of a ghost town (though it is improving).

Not wanting to take a long stroll, I walked past the Cherry Pick Cafe on South Hill street, only a five minute walk from the courthouse.

The cafe is a small, low-ceilinged and dark little restaurant. A perfect contrast from the blinding hours of fluorescents that I had to deal with in the court room.

Their menu is quite impressive. I stood in line and examined it the entire time I waited, and only made my decision as I reached the counter. I decided to switch it up this week from red meat and went for a tuna fish sandwich, but not just any old tuna.

The sandwich I picked was the Wasabi Tuna Fish.

I love wasabi. The heat that comes along with it, as well as the piercing flavor is something I have always enjoyed. Sometimes I even enjoy a huge dose of it so that I feel the burning run up to my sinuses.

Yeah, it's weird, but it's like I say with spicy additions: if there's a good flavor with high heat, I don't mind.

But the problem with this sandwich is that I barely tasted any wasabi at all. While you may enjoy just the slightest hint of the condiment, and it was still a good sandwich, I definitely expected more wasabi flavor than I got and so I was a bit disappointed.

The albacore tuna on the otherhand was very delicious. Flavorful, but not too fishy, the tuna was mixed with celery, red onion and red peppers which provided a bit of crunchy contrast.

I chose to go with sourdough bread for the tuna sandwich and was very pleased. A bit of sour bite and very fresh bread, this was a great choice for this outing.

So this concludes my last downtown Los Angeles sandwich for some time I imagine. Well, unless I manage to get down there before 5PM, or called for jury duty for a third year in a row in 2013.

As much as I love sandwiches, let's hope the second option doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Until next week, Readers...


P.S. - #Burbank adventures begin next week!



Cherry Pick Cafe
208 S. Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
http://cherrypickcafe.com/

Sun, Shore and Sandwiches

Greetings, Dear Readers!

This week I've moved east from Philadelphia to Wildwood, NJ and the wonderful Jersey shore.

No, don't run off just yet! There's no GTL or "battling the beats", just a nice little write up of some delicious eats.

Yeah, I just did that.

One night, while hanging out with the entire extended family in Wildwood, I sat down to eat a cheese steak from Tony Luke's.

This sandwich shop, while also being stationed in Philadelphia, is well known for its signature sandwiches and I'm going to let you in on a little secret here: I've never had a sandwich from Tony Luke's.

I know, some of you may wonder how that's even possible, but now I know what's I've been missing all along.

The sandwich was packed with delicious steak, provolone cheese, and grilled onions and peppers. Despite how much was layered between the bread, the roll did an amazing job at keeping everything together, with a minimal amount of sogginess. The again, I really didn't give the sandwich enough time to fall apart after I opened it.

The meat was delicious, well cooked, and tender. The onions and peppers were well cooked too, not soggy, and still with a little pop left to them. The ony thing that caught me off guard was the use of red peppers instead of green peppers, which lent a slightly different taste to the sandwich.

The cheese was also very noticeable on this sandwich because there was so much piled on. In some bites it was almost overpowering and definitely caused my tongue to get stuck sometimes. Regardless, provolone trumps wiz any day and it still made this sandwich a real winner.

One day, I'll have to rank all of the cheesesteaks I've eaten in a blog entry, but for now, you should know that Tony Luke's is definitely a worthwhile destination.

And so ends my trip back home to Philadelphia. Much fun was had by all, and many sandwiches were eaten by me. Many thanks to my family for always making trips back east exceptional.

Until next week, Readers...

Tony Luke's Cheesesteak

**** Stars

Various Locations

http://www.tonylukes.com/