Inside the Sandwich Lab
by Charlottesville29
Curtis and crew are at it again. If you’re unfamiliar with Sandwich Lab, background is here and here. Essentially, each month, chef Curtis Shaver and his team at Hamiltons’ dream up and prepare an over-the-top sandwich. The sandwiches usually sell out a week in advance, within seconds of the Facebook post announcing they are on sale.
This month, they may have outdone themselves. They started with green hickory smoked porchetta from none other than Craig Hartman of The BBQ Exchange. Then, they added bread & butter fennel pickles, melted McLure cheese, balsamic grilled onions, and watercress creme fraiche. They piled it all atop a Kimmelweck Roll from Richmond’s acclaimed Billy Bread. With a side of Asian pear-beet slaw. Wow. Pretty soon there is going to be an eBay market for these things.
Thanks to talented photographer Justin Ide, here’s a behind the scenes look:
Craig Hartman gets started.
Curtis Shaver tossing the slaw.
Hartman grilling the balsamic onions.
Billy with the Billy Bread.
Hartman goes at the porchetta.
Funny porchetta.
Assembly begins.
Assembly continues.
Almost ready.
Voila!
Time to dig in.
Bagged, and ready to go.