Owner Michael Wang shares details his new New Year-inspired sandwich at Foumami and his favorite Chinese New Year eats.
 The new spicy La Long pork sandwich and Longan melon soda will be available at Foumami for the next 15 days. (Photo courtesy of Foumami.) Today marks the official start of the Chinese New Year, a 15-day celebration that’s the most important holiday of the year for those of Chinese descent. This year is the “Year of the Dragon,” and in honor of the occasion, Asian-inspired downtown sandwich shop Foumami will debut a Chinese New Year-themed sandwich today called the La Long, which is Chinese for “spicy dragon.”
I recently chatted with Michael Wang, Foumami’s owner, in order to get more details on the new spicy sandwich, and find out how he celebrates the New Year on his own time. READ MORE
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Photo by Leah Mennies
As the myth goes, one way to achieve a successful Thanksgiving gorgefest is by stretching your stomach the day before. One way you can do this? Head to Barbara Lynch’s meat temple The Butcher Shop, which just rolled two thick, meaty sandwiches earlier this month—one featuring housemade pastrami and one starring housemade roast beef.
“We enjoyed them often for our family meals and the pastrami was sometimes offered as a special,” says general manager Molly Woodhouse. “We also wanted to offer items that would be suited for those who are looking a quick sandwich at lunch.”
In the pastrami ‘wich ($16), the house-cured meat (brined in a mixture of salt, sugar, garlic, honey, pickling spice, and pepper) is layered with Swiss cheese and Russian dressing between slices of pumpernickel bread from Cape Cod-based Pain d’Avignon bakery. READ MORE
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Welcome to Man Food, where burger pro Richard Chudy steps away from his usual beat to explore food challenges, street eats, and other gut-busting delights. Ladies are welcome, of course.
 The Chinese sausage-stuffed steamed bun at Staff Meal. (Photo courtesy of Richard Chudy) With the addition of new food truck vending spaces everywhere from Bay Village to the Seaport District, truck-side eats seem to be here to stay. Now, you can find everything from lobster rolls to cupcakes to fall-apart ribs from mobile eateries. While well-known trucks like the Clover Food Lab, Roxy’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese and Bon Me may be the current darlings of the street food scene, we’d like to throw another contender into the ring: Staff Meal. READ MORE
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 Clover's chickpea fritter pita sandwiches are taking over the Boston area. (Photo by Leah Mennies) It’s a tough economic climate to open a single restaurant right now, let alone several. Impressively, the Clover Food Lab formula appears to be recession-proof: offer meat-free fare, smartly source ingredients and keep everything under five bucks. It’s a business plan that’s allowed them to launch yet another truck two weeks ago, in the Longwood Medical Area. READ MORE
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 Uno Dué Go's new grilled cheese, complete with cheddar, cheese curds and roasted tomato jam. (Photo Courtesy of Uno's) In about two weeks, Boston-based Chicago-style pizza chain Uno’s will branch out with an on-the-go concept, dubbed Uno Dué Go (which people are supposed to pronounce “Uno Doo-aygo”) in Downtown Crossing. It’s got your standard breakfast and lunchtime fare (think flatbread pizzas, customizable salads) as well as some weird-sounding muffins based on virgin cocktails (chocolate mint mudslide or lemon drop martini muffin, anyone?).
What does intrigue us about the Uno Dué Go menu, though, is its grilled cheese, billed as the result of a “journey that became a three-month odyssey,” per the release. We had to learn what this entailed, so we called up Jamie Strobino, Uno’s SVP of New Product Development and the man behind the cheesy quest. READ MORE
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 Food Truck Nation hopes to debut the Lobsta Love truck tomorrow. (Photo courtesy of Food Truck Nation) Food Truck Nation, a food truck company that’s the force behind the popular Grilled Cheese Nation truck, is set to debut a brand new lobster-centric truck concept on Harvard’s campus tomorrow. We just hung up with co-owner Todd Saunders, who gave us the lowdown on the truck, dubbed “Lobsta Love.”
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 (Photo courtesy of RHT) Though you wouldn’t know it by the weather as of late, it’s officially fall—meaning that the onslaught of Autumn-themed menus has begun in local restaurants (see yesterday’s post as Exhibit A). Today, we bring you a look at the latest offerings to come from chef Michael Scelfo at his Harvard Square spot Russell House Tavern.
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 Photo by Mara Berg I kissed McDonald’s french fries goodbye upon the first bite of Saus’s expertly cut pommes frites, salted to perfection and accompanied by gourmet dipping sauces. I bid farewell to iHop as soon as Saus’s cloud-like Liege waffles, drizzled in homemade Nutella, invigorated my taste buds. And now it’s time to say au revoir to Hebrew National, because frikandel, the newest addition to Saus’s simple menu, blows American street food out of the ballpark.
“Saus is the only place in Boston, and maybe in the country, to serve frikandel,” says Chin Kuo, co-owner of Saus, Boston’s first Belgian street food café, which opened near Fanueil Hall in March. READ MORE
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 Aside from a good, garlicky pickle, very few things can enhance a perfect sandwich. With the exception, that is, of a potato chip. Having scarfed our way to the bottom of too many disappointing bags, we were reluctant to try yet another oddly flavored concoction. (Balsamic sweet onion? Pass.) But friends brought us around to trying Rylee’s Kettle Chips, whose bright, simple packaging hides not just a great snack – but a heart warming story, too.
Rick Jewell founded the Connecticut-based line of snacks and named them after his daughter, Rylee, who suffers from a neurological disorder called microcephaly. Very little about the cause of the disease is known but it affects almost twice as many children as autism. Jewell’s five year old has a severe case, which is the reason he started the snack line: a portion of the proceeds goes to the Foundation for Children with Microcephaly, which helps families and children who suffer from the disorder.
Yes, the tale is a sweet one, but the chips are pretty addictive to boot (we tore through three bags in one sitting). Gluten, cholesterol, and trans-fat free, they’re made without MSG and come in some crazy flavors (jalapeno, spicy dill pickle) as well as your standard variety mequite BBQ and salt and vinegar. All of which are sure to mesh perfectly with your next summer sandwich.
Find Rylee’s Kettle Chips at Sebastian’s and the House of Blues or online at ryleessnacks.com.
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 The loyalty fans have to Nantucket’s Turkey Terrific sandwich (from one of our fave spots, Provisions) rivals the clamor we’ve seen surrounding Barbara Lynch’s prune-stuffed gnocchi or Gordon Hamersley’s roast chicken: it’s downright legendary. But the selection of sammies on The Rock has expanded recently. Meaning, at the very least, you have a few options to get you from one lunch to the next.
Fresh, a four-season-old market set a few blocks from Provisions on Salem Street, not only stocks a well-edited selection of easy drinking wines and booze, but also does sandwiches to order (as well as sushi, breakfast sammies, and even a few prepared dinner items). On our last jaunt down, we discovered the local’s new favorite, The Capone ($8.95, above). A riff on a classic Italian sub, this soft, roasted garlic ciabatta roll is stuffed top to tail with cured meats (capicola, ham, salami), provolone, banana peppers, pickles, onions, and tomatoes. A light smear of herbed balsamic vinaigrette pulls the ingredients together nicely and the roll offers punchy kick. Stock up on a couple before your bike ride down to Jetties Beach, or grab an assortment for your crew (The Yardbird, 8.95, pairs turkey breast with Muenster, arugula and basil aioli).
And don’t worry — that Turkey Terrific will still be on the menu tomorrow.
Fresh, 5 Salem St., Nantucket, 508-825-2100; freshnantucket.com.
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