Going into Detail
8 Feb
Brendan,
I’ve begun to worry that your foodie girlfriend is rubbing off on you. If you start going into detail about peppercorns again I’m not writing you anymore. The last thing the world needs is the two of us talking about food in detail. I don’t know about food and I don’t want to know that you know about food. All I know is that it goes in my mouth and, hopefully, tastes good.
Alright, now that we have that cleared up, I want to tell you about my “club” sandwich on the weekend. As you mentioned, I do love a good club sandwich. I would have written you sooner, but I decided that while I was on vacation (for a day) that I wouldn’t do any work. And yes, writing you is work.
Dad and I stopped in at Huckleberry’s in Invermere, because he says it’s always busy so therefore must be good. Dad got the omelet, which he thought was pretty good, and I got the “Chicken Burger Club”. I was going to get the regular club sandwich, but this idea of a chicken burger club was intriguing.
I don’t want you to be fooled, this was just a deep-fried chicken burger with bacon on it. But I have a general rule of thumb that I will try every club sandwich when the opportunity arises. I think there was a real opportunity to do something unique with this burger/sandwich combo. Perhaps Huckleberry’s isn’t the venue. It’s basically Smitty’s, plus four dollars and in a log cabin.
The best club sandwich I have ever eaten was in Sandpoint, Idaho. It was a small pub/brewery. They made everything from scratch. Even the cranberry mayo. The sandwich, I think, had sprouts and all sorts of interesting flavours and textures. Every bite was heavenly.
The chicken burger club was over par. I was tempted to say “sub par” but wouldn’t that actually be a good thing? Don’t you want to be below par? I don’t understand expressions. I don’t understand untoward.
Finally, my other rule of thumb (my first rule being always get the club) is that when you are in a Smitty’s type establishment—always get the breakfast. It’s the only thing they’re good at and that rule overrules the club rule. Take that one with you. Don’t get pasta or a pizza. Don’t even, as it turns out, get a sandwich.
Recap on the rules:
- Always get the club.
- Don’t get the club if you are in a breakfast specialty house.
- Just because it’s busy doesn’t mean it’s good. Don’t trust the masses. Or don’t trust my/your father’s logic.
I hope this week goes well for you,
Rhett
Sometimes Rhett doesn’t always follow my logic so I have to give him a simplistic reason for doing something – Rhett still hasn’t learned that I rarely do things based on some simple logic. There are many reasons for picking a busy restaurant in an unfamiliar community. If it is busy the locals know that the quality (and quantity) of the food will be at least average or above average. The service will be friendly and efficient and the price will be fair (for a privately owned not franchise operation). Busy also means that their food inventory is likely to be fresh.
Rhett got one thing right, order from the house specialty part of the menu and you are likely to get their best. Probably 99% of Canadian restaurants offer a club sandwich simply because it is pretty standard fare and most customers aren’t expecting it to send them into ecstasy. Expecting a gourmet delight in a sleepy interior B.C. town during the tourist off season is not really reasonable. In my books having a well prepared meal with good service and suffering no after effects a few hours later is all I really want most of the time.
Doug (aka Rhett’s Dad)