09/23/15 9:56am

Wendy's BBQ saucemaster laughs at your desire to know his secret.

Yesterday afternoon I was doing some virtual trail running in the gym when the above commercial for Wendy’s BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich came on. Even with the sound down I got the joke. When asked to divulge the recipe for his “secret sauce” the presumably Southern pitmaster and his assistant refuse to give up the goods laughing off the request.

The subsequent glamour shots of “our hickory smoked pulled pork” and a BBQ poutine of sorts looked so good that I couldn’t get them out of my head. I envisioned Wendy’s very own sauce bespattered, real deal pitmaster whipping up this pulled pork, a veritable Ed Mitchell of fast food. As a certified Kansas City Barbeque Society judge who’s been around BBQ pits and smokers of various and sundry sizes and configurations, including a stainless steel number whose firebox resembles a miniature bank vault, I know  this is nonsense. But Wendy’s and its ad agency are selling a fantasy, one that I clearly bought into as evidenced by my choice of a late night dinner. (more…)

06/04/14 10:47am
WHITECASTLE

Chicken and waffles, sliderized.

I have a confession to make. Until this past Mardi Gras, I’d never eaten chicken and waffles. Oh yeah, and, every now and then I get a jones for White Castle. And I used to work there. I guess that’s three confessions. It’s been at least a year since I paid a visit to my local White Castle, but when I saw a poster for the new chicken and waffle sandwich, I knew I’d be stopping by soon. Had I not eaten a rather large Sri Lankan lunch, I would have tried this exercise in comfort food excess immediately.  “Imported from Belgium,” the copy promised presumably referring to the waffles, not the chicken. Today I decided to try out the slider king’s entry into the comfort food mashup market. (more…)

05/21/14 10:07am
SUNNYSIDECROWD

Hungry revelers waiting to get into last night’s Taste of Sunnyside.

Last night I had the privilege of attending the Taste of Sunnyside 2014, which was held underneath the 7 train. How fitting for such a diverse roster of eateries—Japanese, Romanian, Mexican, Italian, Peruvian, and gastropub to name just a few—to showcase their specialties underneath the International Express itself. Plus there were sweet tunes from New York City’s only all-female mariachis Mariachi Flor de Toloache, local subway jazz band Sunnyside Social Club and a cappella superstars Ten and Change. (more…)

09/04/13 1:02pm
JOLLIBEE1A

A bumblebee’s eye view of Jollibee’s entire sandwich menu.

C+M’s sandwich coverage has included everything from West Indian fried fish to gargantuan Mexican tortas. Lately I’ve been feeling a bit jaded, so for this week’s Sandwich Wednesday I undertook the journey to one of Queens’ most exotic dining establishments,  Jollibee.  After all I liked the spaghetti and fried chicken combo at the Filipino fast food spot so I figured why not try their new $1 Little Big Bites. I mean you can’t go wrong for a buck. Then again maybe you can . . .

jolli3

The corned beef is slightly reminiscent of barbecued beef brisket.

The menu at the home of the psychedelic bumblebee offers two types of tiny sandwiches, Spam and corned beef. Both are served on squishy slightly sweet buns with a generous slather of mayo. Spam is best served well-fried. So the floppy, somewhat slimy rectangle of mystery meat lolling out of the bun did little for me. The corned beef on the other hand was kind of tasty, calling to mind barbecued beef brisket. (more…)