I feel lucky for 2 reasons:
1) the place we planned to go for lunch yesterday didn't open until 1:30 (yes, this is truly a
wtf? decision. They might as well open at 5).
2) I remembered Steve's post when deciding where to go instead.
Happily, we ended up having a great lunch at Frunchroom. Everything we had was enjoyable and most of it was downright excellent. There were just 2 of us and we wanted to try a lot so we ordered a bunch and brought some items home. Items pictured are in the order in which they were served. Descriptions are directly from their menu . . .
Chicken Parm with Taleggio | salsa verde, roasted tomato, pickled peppers
A really great take on what can often be a perfunctory item. Based on its exceptional moistness and the way it broke apart, I'm pretty sure the chicken meat was thigh. The build here was great - with a lively salsa verde, zingy roasted tomato and pungent taleggio. The outstanding bread was also well-considered, with genuine flavor and a bite-through that didn't send the sandwich's innards squirting out all over the place.
Grandma Terry’s Meatballs | red sauce, parm, garlic bread
Excellent flavor on the balls themselves and the sauce. I also really enjoyed the texture of the meatballs, which had a nicely developed exterior crust and a tender interior.
House Ham & Butterkäse | deli mustard, pickles, choucroute
Another delicious sandwich that combined great ingredients with thoughtful construction and execution. And those hand-cut fries were excellent, too.
Fish Platter | cured sable, trout salad, pastrami-smoked salmon, house pickles
We put together our own trio of cold fish items. Here, from left to right are the cured sable, trout salad and pastrami-smoked salmon. All three were delicious and I thought the quality of the actual fish used was notable (at least on the meaty sable and unctuous salmon, it was hard to tell with the trout). The glorious variety of house-made pickles were just out of this world and again, the bread was exceptional.
LoxWe'd actually ordered this instead of the trout salad we were served. And before we could even mention it, this was brought out for us. Since we were obviously going to eat the trout salad, we insisted they charge us for this but they wouldn't. This was probably my favorite of all the fish we tasted. I just loved the rich, delectable flavor of the salmon and its fatty, velvety texture.
Charcuterie | chicken liver mousse, pork terrine, house bread, house pickles
I really loved the mousse, which struck a perfect balance between savory and sweet, with an addicting flavor. Its creamy texture was flawless. I wasn't as wowed by the terrine. It had nice flavor but I thought the texture was a bit watery and it was two-toned in color -- mostly pinkish but with a pronounced blotch that wasn't (not clearly visible in my picture). I don't believe this was intentional. I'm not sure what it was that created this issue.
But all in all this was an exceptional lunch, and I only wish we'd had room to order and try more items. A burger went by us that looked great, and breakfast sandwiches, only available until 11, look sensational, based on their descriptions. We were told that Frunchroom might be shifting soon from being open for breakfast and lunch to lunch and dinner instead, as the morning traffic isn't what they'd hoped for. But breakfast sandwiches will still be available at weekend brunch.
This is Real Food, crafted from scratch by earnest people who give a shit and who also have great palates. This is the kind of food that just gets me excited. And it's the kind of food that's getting harder and harder to find in this world. Frunchroom is a place to treasure . . . and to frequent!
=R=
Same planet, different world