Surely the best head cheese slider in Queens.

The amount of times I’ve wandered into Astoria’s Muncan Food Corp. to ogle all the various cuts of burnished charcuterie without purchasing anything numbers in the hundreds. OK fine, sometimes I grab a bag of jumeri, warm nuggets of crackling made from hog jowls. So I was very pleased to learn that there’s a new sandwich in town that takes many of the old world Romanian butcher’s fine products and places them on a bun.

And that sandwich is the head cheese slider being served at Smorgasburg Queens by the folks at Rèst Âü Ránt. I count myself a big fan of headcheese, but the offal-averse will be pleased to learn that the $8 slider is made with all sorts of goodies, not just meat from the head. Smoked baby back ribs, ham hocks, knuckles, double smoked bacon, and smoked sausage all join the facial flesh for a nice 5-hour cook along with spices and dark beer. Tina Stipanovic likes to use Rockaway Brewing Co.’s black IPA and Singlecut Beer Smith‘s mahogany ale.

The resulting terrine served with yellow mustard-thyme sauce is surely the finest smoked-meat slider to be had on a Saturday in Long Island City. Don’t be too surprised if you see me scarfing one down some time, and please don’t hesitate to say hello.

Smorgasburg Queens, 43-29 Crescent Street, Long Island City