Jeff is the Hero We Need: Jeff’s Table and the Oy Bar

I don’t know all the stuff about Jeff, his story, his restaurant (s), or about many things at all, but what I do know is a sandwich.

Jeff is a certified sandwich genius. officially. Actual genius in sandwichology.

Jeffs Table

5900 N. Figueroa St.

The Brohammas Institute of Bread Encased Hand Foods has been evaluating sandwiches for decades and while I should be humble in many things, I am unapologetically confident in my expertise on casual overeating.

Jeff. Is. A. Genius!

Jeff’s Table is a small sandwich kitchen in the very back of a Highland Park liquor store. I don’t get the impression that it is tucked back there in an effort to be cool or exclusive (the reverse speakeasy thing) but rather because the kitchen was available. or affordable. Whatever.

I first found the place while taking a meeting at Occidental and Google told me there was a place nearby whose name was a pun on a highbrow food documentary.

The first thing I saw on the menu was called the “Hot Kim-Cheezy” Thin-sliced smoked pork-shoulder ham, house-made kimchi, melted smoky cheese, with salted plum mustard, aioli & chili oil on butter-griddled sammie roll.

Genius.

Then also, the “Dirty Baby”. Chopped turkey, melted toma, smoked cheddar, crispy shallots, and pickled onions on a grilled challah.

Some food you try, and then have to think and discern. This food instantly explodes your taste buds and you die a happy death after which you ascend to food heaven.

The only drawback with Jeff’s Table is that seating outside can be competitive and my car doesn’t have the best ambiance. Luckily for me, Jeff is a genius, and as such, he has a solution. The Oy Bar.

I do not drink so the cocktails he creates can be evaluated by someone else.The atmosphere is a mix of casual yet “nice”, but the burger…

Toma, hoisin ketchup, lettuce, red onion, cilantro, cucumber, dijon, and a sesame bun.

I was unsure about the cucumber and that is why I am not the chef. Jeff. Jeff is the chef and above all else, the reason to visit either place is the food, each meal made intentionally by someone who wants to make it, but also (I always have an also) Jeff will come say hi. To anyone. He knows all the famous people, or at least they know, and love, him, and even if you are inconsequential as I, he will convince you that he likes you. He will make you feel at home. He will make you feel like he is glad you showed up, not just glad you hand him some cash, but to eat what he made.

Gjusta

I drove past Gjusta twice without seeing it. There is no sign outside and you enter through the side lot.

It is worth finding.

Touting itself as a bakery, which is important as the most important element of a sandwich is the bread, but they do so much more.

They have cheese. And charcuterie. I love cheese and charcuterie.

I extra love fresh mixed ginger lemonade and they have it there.

But above all, what I love most, is a great environment and better company with which to share my meals. At Gjusta, you have to bring you own company, but they provide the rest.

Fat Sal’s Deli

You don’t have to be a UCLA student to eat here but it kinda felt like that was who was eating there. Maybe that is because the specific Sal’s we went to was right across the street from campus. We could have gone to the one in Hollywood. The one in San Diego or Austin, not so much.

So this place was started by some guy named Sal, and his famous friend Jerry Ferrara (from Entourage), and Jerry’s not so famous brother Josh. Jerry is an actor not a chef. I don’t care who Jerry is but I do care about fried eggs on a sandwich, and bacon, and pastrami? Who doesn’t love pastrami?

The food isn’t ground breaking. But the food is good and it is interesting. In a world full of Subway, Burger King, and Olive Garden, “interesting” cannot be overrated.

I am not only not a chef, I am also not famous, which gives me top “not” scores, but I like to eat and Fat Sal’s is worth eating.

Are Words Necessary?

Why do I love food so much? I’m addicted.

Philly's Best, Rancho Cucamonga — Philly’s Best, Rancho Cucamonga

Tommy DiNic’s: winner of the nation’s best sandwich

I don’t know the metric used by the travel channel to decide what is the United State’s best sandwich, but I do know I’m in love with the one that won.

Now the best place to get a Philly cheese steak is in Philly, but the best sandwich in Philly is a sliced pork. There are a couple places to find a good one, but the one that won the big prize is in the Reading Terminal Market.

The place is called Dinic’s and you order the sliced pork with broccoli-rabe. Yes, broccoli. With provolone. Don’t hate, just order it.

Once the sandwich is ordered, and assuming you aren’t already seated at the counter, turn around an order a birch beer from the stall across the isle. If you haven’t ever had a birch beer, repent.

If birch beer isn’t your thing, go one more store over to Herschel’s and order a celery soda. They call it a “cel-ray” soda, but its the same thing. clean and sharp… goes good with broccoli.