5.08.2013

for the fickle hearted

Ask my friends, I have a thing about fickleness.  I won't go into my philosophy here, but suffice it to say that when a restaurant named Fickle opens next door to my apartment, I'm going to be intrigued.


Fickle by night, The Sandwich Smith by day.  Fickle's menu changes often, depending on what is readily fresh and available at the farmer's markets.  The Sandwich Smith has a new special everyday (meat and veg!) and you choose how you want your sandwich or salad.  Now you tell me that this place is not fickle!


Here is the best part: As soon as you sit down, the waiter brings out a big bowl of kettle corn.  This is not your typical kettle corn, but so much more.  It's kettle corn with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and butter then sprinkled with two kinds of thick sugars.  It's extra sweet, extra spicy, extra delicious.  Our waiter was kind enough to bring a second bowl once we polished off the first. 


While I have yet to try their dinner (I'm waiting for a special occasion,) their happy hour is great!  $5 house wines (they have a pinot and a red,) $3 draft beer (they have a Hef and an IPA )  $1.75 oysters, if you like that sort of thing.  My favorite (so far) is the buffalo cauliflower with bleu cheese crumbles, $5.  All of my friends got this same thing and loved it as well.  It's a big hit, you must try it.


What else must you try?  The tiramisu cheesecake!  The chef and maitre d' generously sent one to our table, after I told them I am a blogger aaaand my friend Kirsten let them know how she felt about her previous experience with the profiteroles and the panna cotta (she didn't think they were up to par with the rest of their food she had tried)  I'm not a big fan of cheesecake, but I am a huge tiramisu lover, and this is the perfect pairing.  The thick lady finger/espresso crust on the bottom, the dusting of spices on top, and the creamy, not too rich, cheesecake in the middle made for a lovely dessert for me.  We also tried the baked Alaska, which I was not as into.  It is very good, and if you are a fruit dessert person, you will most likely love it.  The meringue was perfect and thick, the strawberry prickly-pear sauce was quite yummy, but I wasn't feeling the passion fruit sorbet in the center.



So going to Fickle is a must, but what about during the day when this very fickle place is a sandwich shop?  The sandwiches are huge, enough for two meals for most people, so don't let the $8-$10 price tag scare you off.  You will have a great sandwich. Here's what I've tried from The Sandwich Smith's menu...
-seasonal vegetable: roasted zucchini and roasted pumpkin, both VERY good.
-meats: Danny has had the fried chicken (which he loved) and the angus beef (not a big hit with him, the meat was pretty fatty/undercooked and just kind of strange on a sandwich)
-breads: honey wheat and walnut cranberry, both delicious.  The honey wheat is really soft, so make sure you get your dressing on the side.  My friend has had the donut bun, which he said is similar to a bagel.  If you were imagining a glazed donut, that's ok, I was too.
-cheese: goat cheese, duh!  I've also tried the chedder, which was great too.
-dressings: habanero lime, garlic aioli, and mint cumin yogurt.  All delicious, I'm not sure I could choose one.  I recommend getting your dressing on the side so your sandwich doesn't get soggy, particularly if you don't get one of the mayo based dressings.
-toppings: all are great and fresh.  Definitely go for the delicious tomatoes, anything else you get will be great, I promise!

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