sandwich tour stop: ink.sack
My mom and grand-nanny (a nanny who’s a grandma) raised me with the most delicious home-cooked Korean food; hands down better than that of any restaurant I’ve tried. Nevertheless, I hold a very special place for American meals — one of those being the sandwich.
In LA we’re blessed with a multitude of sammie options, and I’m lucky to have met my match in a boy just as fanatical about sandwiches as I am. P’s been the ultimate guide and partner in an ongoing city-wide tour, taking on classics and discovering lesser-known gems, including the original French dips (there’s a debate as to which was first); a pastrami worthy of even the most loyal NY deli-lovers; an Italian godmother; the perfect baguette with the finest cuts; and recently, ink.sack.
When this spot by Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio opened up a month ago, my Twitter feed was taken over by @mvoltaggio mentions for days, with talks of the line, blogger reviews, and sammie pics, of course. Kosha, was one of the first to try, and gave it her stamp of approval, so I couldn’t have been more pleased when my partner-in-sandwich decided to make a spontaneous stop on the tour.
Andrew, our fellow food-loving friend was leaving town early, so we got him ready for his road trip with Shaky Alibi waffles and fresh cups of Intelligentsia coffee. Even though we were on a tight schedule and had plenty to eat, we decided on a whim to check out MV’s new digs. At 10:45am on a Saturday morning, we found ourselves first in line, fifteen minutes before the shop opened, and soon joined by others.
We thought it was great that the sandwiches are small enough to allow you to try more than one, and large enough to really bite into. Can’t argue with that price either.
With the three of us, we decided to go for an order of four — the Cold Fried Chicken, Banh Mi, Jose Andres, and CLT — along with a side of bbq pork rinds and chile and lemon-ed pineapple. It was fun munching on the rinds and taking a bite of refreshing pineapple while waiting on the rest of the order. Also like that they write your name on the bag, grade school style.
First up, the Jose Andres: serrano, chorizo, manchego. Loved the flavors but not as keen on the texture. Though that bread. That perfect bread. Sigh. And note: photos were taken in between bites. Better and more representative pics are definitely out there.
Next, the Banh Mi: pork butt/belly, chicharones, pickled veggies. Excellent flavor again, and great play on different textures, I thought. The Korean in me is also a sucker for anything pickled, so this ended up being my fave.
A truly unfortunate photo, I apologize, but this is what was remaining to photograph by the time I got around to the CLT: chicken liver mousse, curried chicken skin, lettuce and tomato so really, C (squared) LT (such a geek, I know). A rich little thing, but in agreement with P: that skin — so good.
And last, the so far, crowd-favored Cold Fried Chicken: house made ranch cheese and Gindo’s spice of life. Tasty but we were kind of wondering where the spice of life was.
Perhaps I went a little too early in the day to be eating more than one sandwich, pork rinds, and spiced-up pineapple, but ink.sack was a great tour stop and well worth the coma it induced me into. I’m looking forward to trying the rest of that menu — love that it’s affordable enough to — and would be happy to wait in line the next time. It was a relaxed environment where most were just as excited to try the food too but not foodie-high-on-your-horse about it either. And @mvoltaggio himself made an appearance and was perfectly low key about it.
