About this recipe
Tucked away in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park is Henrietta, a California sandwich shop and bistro.
“What that means for me is a day and night concept, two separate concepts that share the same DNA, that DNA being beautiful produce in California, really highlighting our farmers and our product through wonderful sandwiches and a California bistro-style menu,” owner Max Lesser said.
Lunch hours are from 11:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Guests can walk straight to the counter where they’ll see a variety of sandwiches, salads and deli items inspired by local farmers’ market produce.
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When dinner service begins at 5 p.m., Henrietta hosts a more traditional sit-down service.
“We pull out the host stand, the lights come down, and you’ll either have a reservation or we hold some space for walk-ins, and you’re really going to be taken care of,” Lesser said. “That’s one of our main values, that we take care of all of our guests, but counter service by day, full service by night.”
Lesser’s inspiration for Henrietta was from all-day restaurants overseas in Europe, especially Italy.
“In Italian culture… During the day, you walk into a salumeria, which is all the charcuterie, meats and a real Italian deli. Then you walk back into that same restaurant at 8 p.m. and have just one of the most simple but beautiful meals of your life,” he said. “So, while we aren’t Italian per se, I think being inspired by that model of sandwich shop by day, neighborhood bistro by night.”
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Having been in the restaurant business for most of his life, he spent most of his adulthood as a server, where he learned from the best restaurateurs and chefs like Paul Kahan and Nancy Silverton. In 2008, he helped open the James Beard Award-winning restaurant The Publican in Chicago, Illinois. After four years there, he moved to Los Angeles to work under Silverton at Chi Spacca.
“I was really fortunate to work at some amazing restaurants with some incredible chefs and hands-on owners, and I’ve seen the importance of owners who really care about what their restaurant is doing on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
Henrietta’s Chef Alexis Brown shared her recipe for the eatery’s brand new tomato sandwich, which features heirloom tomatoes with a bacon vinaigrette.
Ingredients
Creamy Bacon Vinaigrette
Heirloom Tomato Sandwich with Bacon Vinaigrette
Directions
Creamy Bacon Vinaigrette
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Render the diced bacon until almost burnt, then allow it to cool.
TIP:
Deeply rendered bacon provides the strongest smoky flavor. -
Blend the bacon with buttermilk and strain the mixture.
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Mix the strained bacon mixture with mayonnaise and additional buttermilk.
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Season with lemon juice, lemon zest and salt to taste.
Heirloom Tomato Sandwich with Bacon Vinaigrette
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Toast the bread with butter in a pan until golden brown.
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Spread garlic aioli on each slice of bread.
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Season thick-cut tomatoes with salt, fish sauce and red wine vinegar.
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Place four slices of tomato on one piece of bread.
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Top with creamy bacon vinaigrette and arugula.
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Finish with the remaining slice of bread and serve.
TIP:
Serve immediately while the toast is still crisp.
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