A Tale of Two Sandwiches: Buffalo, NY

During my recent weekend in Buffalo visiting my very dear friends, the DrsO, I was ecstatic about eating wings.  I have never experienced "Buffalo style" wings anywhere outside of Buffalo that even come close in comparison to the ones I eat in the wings' namesake city.  Although Buffalo is clearly known for its wings and lake effect snow, I was happy to discover some delicious and distinctive sandwiches while I was there, too.

On Saturday night, we went to a bar called the Allen St. Hardware Cafe.  This place was actually a hardware store from the late 19th century until 2004, when they turned it into a very cool and comfortable bar/restaurant. When we sat down, my friend asked for the beer list and I asked for the sandwich list.  The bartender laughed while my friend said "I think that's generally called a menu." What's the difference? Anyway, after reviewing the sandwiches on the specials list, I debated between a lamb burger and a pork loin panini, asking the bartender what I should order if, "hypothetically, I were a sandwich blogger." He thought that was funny too.  Anyway, he said definitely the pork loin sandwich, and I was a little relieved that he picked that one, because there's a lamb burger in NYC that I am so excited to share with you soon.  ANYWAY, I digress.  Back to Allen St. and THIS:

This sandwich was amazing.  The French-like bread was buttery, toasted and thick sliced, which it needed to be, to stand up to what was inside: pork tenderloin, Brie cheese, caramelized onions, and sauteed mushrooms.Seriously amazing.  And, it was served with a rosemary gravy for dipping.  I love the concept of dipping your sandwich into a sauce!

 

As if that weren't enough, I fulfilled my weekend goal of devouring a Beef on Weck, a sandwich Buffalo is known for, at the very end of my trip.  Charlie the Butcher's is a little counter service restaurant with the feel of a throwback diner.  When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the man carving meat behind the counter; he continued to carve during our entire time there.  If you haven't heard of a Beef on Weck before, now is probably a good time for me to enlighten you.  

The juicy, sliced roast beef (seasoned and roasted for hours) is piled high on a Kimmelweck roll, which is basically a kaiser-esque roll with caraway seeds and plenty of sea salt on top. The standard way to eat this sandwich is dressed with horseradish and dipped in au jus.  At Charlie the Butcher's, they add the au jus to the sandwich for you, shortly before they serve you this deliciousness.  I ordered mine with a side of sweet potato fries and a loganberry soda (another Buffalo specialty).

I feel nostalgic for my time in Buffalo already.  If anyone knows of a place to get authentic Buffalo wings or Beef on Weck in the DC area (i.e. sans the lake effect snow), please let me know!