Winner: Pork Belly Patty Melt
Restaurant: Racks Downtown Eatery & Tavern, Boca Raton, FL
Sandwich creators: Culinary Director Matthew Danaher & Executive Chef Todd Katz
Inspiration: “Travel and dreaming and obsessing over making awesome food.”
Key ingredients: Grilled pork belly, caramelized onions, small-batch Russian dressing, kale and apple slaw, Gruyere and thick marble rye
Why it’s special: The combination of pork belly, gooey cheese and crunchy apples/kale
Price: $17
Food cost: 27 percent
What the judges said: You know the old adage: “You eat with your eyes first.” Well, take a look at this sandwich and you’ll see that it would make even Mr. Magoo drool. And that’s all well and good, but a sandwich this pretty better taste great. And boy does Racks deliver. Thank god love is blind, because we looked like Match.com rejects with all that Russian dressing smeared on our goofy smiles.
Honorable mentions
• Fried Green Tomato BLT: Three Degrees Waterfront Bar & Grill, Portland, OR
• Pork Belly Sanguche: Llamas Peruvian Creole, Austin, TX
• The Roma: Nebo Cucina & Enoteca, Boston
• Pernil With A Twist: Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine, New York City
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