croque monsieur

tartine, 18th & guererro, san francisco

I admit I was a little bit confused when Els told me she had brought "croque monsieur" home from Tartine.  Monsieur who?? I'm as open-minded as the next guy, but not that open-minded, you know?  But as I was much relieved to learn, a croque monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese- but with a silly french name (it means "mister crunchy"!!!).  I was also glad to learn that croque monsieurs are AWESOME.  First off, if you've never been to Tartine, I gotta warn you that it is straight up for rich-ass yuppies and their bizarrely fashionable offspring, so you have to be prepared to pay out the ass for your food.  That being said, if you are willing to spend yr hard earned pennies, you will get some CRAZY delicious food.  This sandwich was like a loaf of french bread sliced lengthwise, drenched in butter and topped with really good ham and cheese and tomato and who knows what else because I basically demolished this thing.  It could easily be split between two people, but Els was kind enough to let me have Mister Crunchy here all to myself.