Follow the Silk Road!

You know those cartoon characters whose eyes bug out when a pretty lady walks by?  And their round eyeballs make a sound effect that sounds something like “boing boing”?   That’s how I felt when I took my first bite of Silk Road’s jerk chicken sandwich.  The BBQ geniuses start out by grilling and marinating spicy jerk chicken.  The tender pieces of chicken are artistically stuffed into a hot dog roll and then drizzled with tangy, fiery BBQ sauce.  To cool the spice, the perfectly lathered chicken is topped by juicy, handmade cole slaw, and OH MY GOD, the bold flavors mingle together and tickle each of your taste buds.

Silk Road is usually down in the financial district during the week, but you can check it out at the SoWa Market on Sundays too! 

Muffu-WHAT?

It's just as much fun to say as it is to eat.  As the signature sandwich in New Orleans, it was no doubt that I dragged Anoli to the place where it all started - Central Grocery.  A quaint Italian specialty store in the famous French quarter that has been serving up muffulettas to locals and tourists alike since the early 1900s.

The original muffuletta is made up of layers of Italian meats - capicola, salami, pepperoni and ham - and cheeses - provolone and emmentaler - which are then topped with a unique marinated olive salad mix.  The mix consists of mainly olives, with chunks of celery and carrots.  The bread is perhaps the most famous part of the sandwich - an oversized, round Sicilian sesame loaf, somewhat flattened.  A whole sandwich is enormous and could feed between 2 and 4 people.  Luckily Central Grocery sells half sizes as well, which for a hungry person is more than enough.  The sandwich is delicious and is a must-try for all visitors to New Orleans. 

Johnny's Po'boy's Muffuletta!

Now, I could not go to New Orleans and just try the original muffuletta.  I asked around to research where the locals thought the best muffuletta could be found.  Although Central Grocery won by a landslide, Johnny's Po'boys came up a few times.  Johnny's is another sandwich shop in the French Quarter, just around the corner from CG.  I was surprised to see that the half sandwich I ordered was larger than CG's!  After taking a couple bites and truly contemplating which flavors I appreciated more, I'm sticking with CG.  The problem with Johnny's is that the garlic in the olive salad is just so overpowering that it takes away from the basic concepts of the sandwich, i.e. the meat and the olives!  In short, go to Central Grocery - the founder of the incredibly flavorful Italian sandwich.

The #1 Muffuletta - Central Grocery's