Bunkety, Bunk, Bunk

5/29/05

We ate lunch today at Bunk, it’s damn good! We’ve eaten there twice this month and I think I could order anything and would love it. I’ve now tried the Pork Belly Ruben, the Roast Pork sandwich, the Pulled Pork and Apple Coleslaw, and the delicious Italian Cured Meats sandwich. All of them are good, but so far my favorite is the Italian Cured Meats. Also, I always get a pickle. They’re made locally at Picklopolis, good pickles, check out their website.
I worked with Tommy Habetz briefly at Genoa and had always found him full of good and innovative ideas. As a cook it was apparent that he had a lot of knowledge and experience, and a real understanding of how things work, food wise. He moved onto work with Ripe/The Gotham Tavern, and I think he was one of the first local chefs I knew of making his own Prosciutto. He then was involved with Apizza Scholls, Meriwether’s, and now Bunk Sandwiches partnered with Nick Wood. I'm sure there is a more complete cooking history of Tommy online, but that's how I know him.
Tommy and Nick make a mean sandwich, and a good sandwich is not so easy to make. By a good sandwich I mean one which everyone would love (everyone = 90%) ;). A good sandwich has to have the right bread, the right ingredients, the right amount of ingredients, good flavor, not overly dressed, not too dry, not too chewy or unwieldy. There’s a lot of factors that come into play. I’ve been working on my own version of a Vietnamese Banh mi sandwich for a couple weeks now, and it takes a lot of fussing until you have something you would be proud of.
Tommy and Nick have hit the nail on the head with Bunk and you just have to look at the line of people waiting to get in to know that something good is happening inside. You can expect to wait 15 minutes or so to order, but it doesn’t take long to get your food.
I hear that they are opening a second place which is exciting, but I don’t know anything. Tommy is always so busy when I go in there I don’t want to bug him with questions. I’ll call him one of these mornings and ask. If you know, post it here.

Go, buy their sandwiches, eat them, and be happy!

The Geek Chef