outerlands' open-faced ham and cheese

 

 

outerlands, 25th & judah, san francisco

Els recently bought herself a copy of Tartine Bread (even though SOMEONE was planning on buying it for her as a present, jeez), and has been obsessed with since.  So in addition to eating a delicious special-occasion dinner at Bar Tartine (no sandwiches for me that night sadly), and her preparing a rad kale caesar salad from one of the recipes in the book, we also had to venture out to Outerlands to try their Tartine-style bread.  The typically omnipresent fog of the Sunset district was gone for the day, replaced by overcast skies and a violently dark looking ocean.  It was cold and gorgeous, and made me think I should spend more time out in the Sunset (note to self: no, you should not).  We managed to get to Outerlands just before lunch hours ended (Outerlands closes at 3 after lunch every day and then re-opens for dinner).  Their particular hours had prevented us from making this trek before, but time was on our side this day.  We found a nice table, ordered at the counter, and enjoyed a terrifically bitter pot of coffee between the two of us while waiting for our sandwiches to arrive.  Now, Outerlands isn't a cheap meal, but you get what you pay for both in quality and quantity- we got two sandwiches, but honestly one would have probably been enough for the both of us.  Els had the grilled cheese with some lentil soup (review forthcoming, no doubt), while I decided to go for the open-faced ham and cheese.  Growing up, grilled ham and cheese was one of my all-time favorite comfort foods (ESPECIALLY with honey ham) and so this definitely lit up the pleasure centers of my brain.  Don't be fooled by the large salad leaf in the first picture there, which makes this sandwich seem smaller than it was- the two huge pieces of bread, topped with honey ham, cheddar, caramelized onions and honey mustard were very filling.  The bread was cut thick, standing out as the main draw of the sandwich, and appropriately so: it was so full of flavor and character, and definitely lived up to the Tartine name.  The side salad was great too, as was the chocolate chip cookie we had after lunch.  Throw in a trip to the General Store and then spend some time gazing at the ocean, and you've got a great Saturday afternoon excursion.