Parish Cafe

A few weeks ago, Z and I spent the day in Marblehead and ate lunch at this great harborside restaurant, "The Barnacle," on its wrap-around porch. I decided to venture away from my standard summer fare of fish and chips and got this fancy-sounding ahi-tuna on mixed greens instead. Z went classic and got a BLT. My salad, being a disappointment with lackluster vinaigrette, made me venture over the table to steal some of Z's BLT, despite the fact that I'm not a big bacon fan. However, it was so delicious that ever since then I've had this crazy and unexplainable craving for one.

This past Friday, my BLT dreams came true. At around mid-afternoon, we stopped by the Parish Café, and I was DETERMINED to get a table. Every time I've tried to go there, it's been like a 2 hour wait. Finally, on this particular overcast Friday, we got seated. I ordered the Flour BLT (I'm officially becoming a Joanne Chang groupie), which had crispy bacon, oven roasted tomatoes, lettuce, and basil pesto mayonnaise on a perfectly toasted piece of Texas toast. WOW. What a sandwich. The soft oven roasted tomatoes mixed with the crunch of the bacon, enveloped in the warm and creamy basil mayonnaise? Deelish.

Z really enjoyed his sandwich too-the D Bar-which was pan-fried veal on a baguette with gruyere cheese, bacon, and tomato caper relish. This time he had the sandwich all to himself, though: I only had eyes for mine. .