Thomas Keller's Favorite Sandwich Is A Beautiful Mashup Of 3 Classics
Even famous fine dining chefs sometimes crave a dish that's on the humble side yet still delivers, and a sandwich is often the answer. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay has a soft spot for an Italian panini with porchetta and pesto from his favorite Roman eatery, La Vita è un Mozzico. For Thomas Keller, the storied, multi-Michelin-starred chef and owner of beloved Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry and Manhattan's Per Se, his go-to is a bit wild. It's a mashup of three singular classics that happen to work perfectly together. Keller combined elements of a BLT, fried egg sandwich, and grilled cheese to produce this sammy that's so special it had a starring role in a Hollywood film.
Keller, who was the consulting chef on James L. Brooks's 2004 film "Spanglish," crafted the sandwich for the movie in which Adam Sandler plays a chef. Brooks, in the DVD's special feature, proclaimed the sandwich to be the "world's greatest" and couldn't stop talking about it. "I mean, no kidding, it's the best sandwich ever," Brooks said (via YouTube). It has become Keller's favorite as well.
A sandwich that includes bacon, melted cheese, and a fried egg
While chef Thomas Keller's favorite sandwich may at first sound a bit complicated, it's nearly as easy as frying up your breakfast. He starts by cooking the bacon. (Keller's preferred brand is Hobbs' Applewood Smoked Bacon.) Meanwhile, he slices two thick pieces of rustic white bread, which he then toasts. From there, he puts Monterey Jack cheese on one of the pieces and throws it into a toaster oven to melt (in some versions online, this step gets skipped). Frying an egg comes next.
When putting this bread-bound beauty together, Keller starts with a slice of toast slathered in mayonnaise, followed by the bacon, slices of tomato, and butter lettuce, then the egg. The toast with the melted cheese goes on top. "You'll want to eat it right away, while the egg is still warm," Keller told Chef Gordon Ramsay for a Sandwich magazine story. This beautiful mashup of three sandwiches that made it onto the silver screen is truly greater than the sum of its parts.