taylor gourmet

taylor gourmet
485 K street nw (city vista), washington, dc (there are multiple locations; this location is the only one i've visited)
tel: 202) 289-8001
hours: daily 11am-9pm

what was consumed: 9th street italian hoagie (with genoa salami, capicola, prosciutto, sharp provolone), broad street chicken cutlet sandwich (fried with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone), rocky's risotto balls (arancini - served with marinara sauce)

i didn't really grow up eating sandwiches (i'm korean. we eat rice). i'm also not a connoisseur of fine breads and other baked goods (i mean, i can tell between good and bad, but i have a hard time between great and greater ... it's all great to me!) when i eat it (bread) at all. but i will say that a really good sandwich is always welcome. always. after all, i do love all of the rest of the ingredients that go into sandwiches, meats, veggies, cheese. a combination of all of those things sounds wonderful!

so, after some contemplation, j and i decided on taylor gourmet for dinner (ok, so it was more me saying "this is what i don't want to eat" and j saying "what about this, what about this, what about this" ... thanks for the ideas and suggestions! hee hee ... i'm so bad about thinking about/suggesting where to go to eat when i'm not 'in the mood' for/craving something. sigh. food is all so good! nom nom nom ...). yay sandwiches! ... which is the bulk of taylor gourmet's options. their location also has a number of other options for sale (beer, wine, pastas, etc.) of which i have not enjoyed, but maybe i will. one day. maybe. anyway, we opted for sharing 2 different sandwiches (yay! sharing is caring!) and risotto balls. yum yum yum ...

the sandwiches at taylor gourmet are delicious. made to order and on crusty bread with wonderful things filling the middles (see previous personal comment about bread and sandwiches). the 9th street italian hoagie was a cold sandwich filled with lots of meats. and veggies. and cheese. and onions (blech) which flavored the sandwich wonderfully after i took out the onions (no offense, onions). i could've gone for more veggies, but that's just my schtick. yum. the broad street chicken, a hot sandwich, had fried chicken with cheese and ... broccoli rabe! i love broccoli rabe. i could eat it all day, in lots of different forms. and it's definitely a delicious addition to the combination. the cheese was nicely melted into the sandwich and the mixture of flavors was delicious. one cold, one hot. a wonderful sandwich dinner combination.

oh, and risotto balls! taylor gourmet's risotto balls are delicious. delicious. delicious. fried on the outside, savory, and cheese in the middle! you can't go wrong with cheese in the middle of a fried ball of risotto. of course, like many fried things, these are best eaten warm so that the cheese oozes out when you take a bite of it. oh, and dipped in marinara sauce is awesome. yum. i imagine dipped in marinara sauce mixed with sriracha sauce is even better!! i will have to try that next time (the sriracha sauce combo is a mix of my own, not offered at taylor gourmet. but it should be!! haha).

j said something about that night not being taylor gourmet's best work (our risotto balls were really fried, as was the chicken). of course, that didn't prevent sandwich enjoyment.

i dissappointedly did not finish my half of the sandwiches we purchased (my stomach has shrunken! shucks!). i did, though, polish of the leftovers for lunch #1 on the following day. despite my laziness that prevented me from even contemplating some sort of microwave for heat/water to restore moisture, the cold sandwiches were still delicious (and i wish i hadn't eaten all of the tomatoes on the 9th street italian hoagie the night before). but that's a good sign, right? delicious that day, still delicious the next day. yay! i will have to go back to taylor gourmet and try the other options on their menu. and many many more risotto balls. YUM.

online: http://www.taylorgourmet.com/