Breakfast Lunch Today

(Second Review -- June 2012)

BLT (Breakfast, Lunch, Today) is a sandwich food cart located in the Cartlandia food pod in Portland, Oregon. Etienne, the general manager, serves up various fried and non-fried sandwiches. Many of his sandwiches are inspired from his Cajun and French roots. Etienne has worked in small restaurants and upscale establishments, finally opening his cart in Cartlandia this past summer. (NOTE: Etienne moved his cart to NE Alberta in 2012)

I asked Etienne how he sets his food apart from other sandwich carts. He replied that he makes fried sandwiches, encasing the ingredients in his beignet dough and frying it to a dark golden brown. Some of his top sellers lately have included the fried Monte Cristo, which started as a special but, because of its popularity, has made it to the regular menu.

Etienne's fried Monte Cristo on special ultimately made it to the regular menu!

I ordered his (non-fried) muffuletta ($7): ham, salami, mortadella, provolone, and cajun olive salad on a toasted bun. And of course, two toothpicks each with a green olive on it!

Muffuletta (BLT)

Cross-section

A great sandwich. The salty, savory meats worked well with the provolone, but the briny olive salad took this one to the next level. the bun was nicely toasted as well. I wish I had more of the olive salad just on the side so I could keep eating that.

I personally prefer melted cheese on my sandwiches, so just sticking cheese in the sandwich wasn't completely working for me. But traditional muffulettas (at least ones that I've seen) don't melt the cheese, so it's really a minor nitpicking issue. I was also expecting the round Sicilian sesame bread for this one (Etienne's photo of a muffuletta had the sesame bread), but I didn't get that this time.

A nice first experience here. Etienne's a cool guy to talk to, and he's got a great concept with the fried beignet-like sandwiches. I may try a fried sandwich next time for the experience...Monte Cristo, anyone?