proteanme

I thought I might try some posts about some of the best things I’ve come across this year, beginning with the best sandwich I’ve had in a long time. Actually Portland is home to a number of great sandwiches. For a while Cal’s bahn mi was my favorite. If you’ve never had bahn mi, run, don’t walk to a Vietnamese deli near you to try one for yourself. In NYC? Go to Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches. San Francisco? Saigon Kitchen rocks it. Chicago? Ba Le is supposed to be the place.

Before I discovered bahn mi, I loved a sandwich called the orchard from Otto’s Sausage Kitchen, a local institution that cures their own Oregon-grown meats, and churns pigs, cows, and chickens into summer sausage and frankfurters. The orchard is made up of summer sausage, havarti, sliced apples, honey mustard, mayo, cream cheese and lettuce. Plus, for you hops lovers Otto’s also carries about 50 different beers. Check it out next time you’re in Portland.

I didn’t think it could get any better than the orchard or bahn mi til about a month ago when I had the sandwich that tops all sandwiches. Navarre’s pate sandwich. It consists of house made pork belly pate with prune on Ken’s artisan country blond bread with mustard and house made pickles. My god it is good. So good, it’s just…perfect. A real pleasure to eat.