The Gist: http://publicanqualitymeats.com/
The Why: Paul Kahan. Fulton Street. House made charcuterie. Part store, part deli, entirely awesome.
The Service: Superlative – the place is ALWAYS busy and yet everyone from the butchers to the clerks to the waiters is smiling…so are the patrons…even if the wait for a table topples 45 minutes.
The Food: Free Samples, 2 sandwiches, 3 desserts, and a long walk between us and the MoCA.
Blood Sausage and Beef Heart Samples: Short of the charcuterie shops in Paris handing out Foie Gras like a Sample-Saturday at Wal-Mart you’d be hard pressed to find anyplace dolling out better quality samples than PQM – the blood sausage especially was funky, firm, and very impressive.
PB&L: Probably the most famed sandwich at PQM this spicy piperade laden lamb and pork belly sausage tinged with feta and cilantro on a buttered lobster roll is worth whatever the wait (and weight.) Spicy but restrained, tender and smoky, plus a crisp roll – the flavor sort of reminded me of Tony Packo’s famous Hungarian sausages back in Toledo, but the use of a peppery piperade instead of hefty meat sauce kept it light while the sausage itself had a soft and supple texture and snappy casing. Messy and probably not best for walking across town, we made do without incident.
Muffaletta: After tasting the semi-sweet and low-dairy slaw plus a pickle to refresh our palates we moved onto the Muffaletta, in this case about 1/3 the size of the one at Central Grocery in NOLA, and at least twice as good with fatty prosciutto cotto paired against spicy chorizo and dry, briny toscano. Finished with olive salad hefty on olives and garlic but light on carrots plus shaved cabbage, olive oil, and bright and punchy giardiniera all on pillowy focaccia I think we both agreed that this was even better than the PB&L, and a bit easier to manage on the go.
Cornmeal Cherry Cookies: Admitting that the place is called Publican Quality Meats and that Glazed and Infused is right next door the desserts at PQM were not as impressive as the sandwiches, but at the same time when a slightly dry cornmeal cherry cookie is the ‘lowlight’ you’re still probably doing a good job. Great crumb, great flavor, but just a bit dry this would have gone better with soup or a stew than with a sandwich.
Chocolate Chip Cookie: Slightly dry, much like the cornmeal cookie, but loaded with thick dark chocolate chunks as opposed to ‘chips’ and tinged with cinnamon and vanilla this was another good bite – one I imagine would have been even better served warm (or warmed up at home.)
Apple Almond Cream Galette: The best of the desserts by a pretty substantial margin, this golden pie would not be out of place at many of patisseries – particularly in Chicago. Golden on the crust with sweet local apples stewed and rested in light almond cream it was sweet yet creamy with the almond flavors slightly subdued at first, but coming through nicely with subsequent bites closer to the center.
The Verdict: I’d already been here once in the past to pick up supplies and if I lived locally I’d be here far more frequently. Great products, great people, and not just “another piece” in Kahan’s growing empire but a piece whose products supply the others and show an impressive commitment to quality and service.