In my first couple years as a food writer, I spent a week interning as a whole-animal butcher for a story. When I was done, I continued to return to Sweet Clover Market in Vermont to occasionally help my mentor, Cole Ward, take apart a pig or a hanging quarter of beef. It’s been a while since I’ve made a sausage or cut ribs from chops myself, but whole-animal butchery is still a practice that I hold in the highest regard, one I wish were more widespread.
When it comes to finding a superb Italian sub, my mind usually goes to imported meats. But when Red Apron is right there waiting for me in Mosaic District, that’s kind of absurd. Given the choice, I would always prefer to eat humanely raised, regionally farmed meats that have been cut by local experts. In the case of Red Apron, it’s Nathan Anda and his team making the small-batch charcuterie that finds its way into sandwiches.
The cured meats at Red Apron range from pastrami (sometimes made with wagyu) to Italian classics like soppressata and lonza. It’s three of the latter category that made their way into The Italian when I recently bit into it. Whole-muscle capicola joined a pair of salami, both pork cotto and hot pork cotto salami, to be exact. (“Cotto” means “cooked” in Italian, so unlike typical, dry-cured salami, which is cured raw, this meat is cooked, resulting in a softer sausage.)
The garlicky meats are packed into crusty bread from Maryland’s Uptown Bakers. Aged Provolone contributes a pleasant funk that plays well with the cured meats, while pickled peppers and fresh shaved onion and shredded iceberg in herb vinaigrette bring a refreshing dash of brightness.
It’s a stellar sandwich, but I ended up eating only half as I obliterated my order of fries. Cooked in beef fat with soft garlic confit and fresh rosemary, the potatoes are as heart-stoppingly full of flavor as they are Weston A. Price-approved fat. Perfectly crisp outside and airy within, the fries alone would draw me back. But my to-eat list at Red Apron is long. Burgers, roast beef, even a turkey sandwich all sound like apt companions for those meaty fries.
8298 Glass Alley, Fairfax
Feature image of Red Apron by Alice Levitt
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