Union Picnic: Thanksgiving Sandwiches For The Ungrateful Hipster
As southern food goes, at least in Williamsburg, Union Picnic is surprisingly good. With the shiver-inducing exceptions of Jabz' Joint and Lazy Catfish (Jabz has since closed, thank god--see my review--and Catfish is nothing more than a SYSCO front), Williamsburg hasn't always had a standby comfort food haven, leaving adherents of chicken-fried steak and meatloaf no option but to trek into the city for Duke's or Chat 'n' Chew.
Union Picnic is inconveniently located on Union Avenue, across the street from Royal Oak, another popular and far-flung destination. This short voyage away from the predictable strip of Thai restaurants on Bedford does not appear to deter the crowds, which is a good sign, and the trip does indeed pay off. I haven't had their fried chicken, of which they appear quite proud, but I have had the aforementioned chicken-fried steak; it's definitely not the top of the heap, but it's a good approximation of a Texan hunk of tough, breaded beef--and that's good enough for Wednesday night, delivered. My favorite test of a comfort food counter, though, is the Thanksgiving sandwich, and Union Picnic gets this right. My brothers will quibble with me on this, but the canonical recipe for a Thanksgiving On A Bun is:
- Turkey, sliced thick and reheated
- Cranberry sauce, preferably canned, still in its natural "ridged disc" form, placed directly on the turkey
- Bread stuffing, also reheated
- Turkey gravy, definitely reheated (cooking the turkey in the gravy is a reasonable expectation on the day after Thanksgiving, but this step can be omitted for convenience)
- Hamburger bun, toasted
Union Picnic tries to out-junk me in the bread department by using untoasted Wonder bread, which I'll grant is pretty authentically last-Friday-in-November, but the sponginess of the white slice is a pale substitute (no pun intended) for a crisp potato roll. Still, when you're not keen on roasting a bird, this is about the best interpretation of a Thanksgiving On A Bun that you're likely to find anywhere in the city; I have looked, and most pale in comparison to Union Picnic's simple example.
I will probably go back for a shot at their fried chicken, and I will probably be disappointed, but this whole Thanksgiving sandwich thing is an example of my new dining theory: let restaurants play to their strengths (i.e. the pork buns at Momofuku), and rather than curse the gods of Williamsburg cuisine for lack of a culinary powerhouse, enjoy the fact that you can live in Brooklyn and get a solid Thanksgiving sandwich delivered, until 11 PM, every night of the week.
Posted by tangentialist at May 16, 2005 08:51 PM | more tangentialism
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