I kind of have a crush on Anthony Bourdain. Who doesn't? His checkered past, his epicurean way of life, his sardonic wit, what's not to love? The man loves meat, alcohol and a good conversation. He gets me. If he gives something his thumbs up, then I'm certainly willing to try it.
That's It Market is a small corner convenience store on Mission St. It's easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for. But of course, people on an Anthony Bourdain pilgrimage like me will find it pretty quickly.
The Torta Cubana lives up to its legendary reputation. First of all, it's massive. Hefty portions of breaded beef, sausage, chicken, pork leg, ham, and bacon hit the grill. I looked around to check if she had more than one sandwich order pending, but nope. All that sizzling goodness was for one sandwich. Aaand she wasn't finished. In went some mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, egg, jalapeño and I don't even know what else. She could've thrown in an entire garden in there, and the meat would have still been way more.
This sandwich was so big, I could barely hold half of it in my hand. Hot, meaty, messy, it's all good. With the filling in imminent danger of falling out, I ate as quickly as I could. I polished off half of the torta before my stomach could send the white flag signal to my brain. Realization set in. Must. Unbutton. Pants.
Any meat gluttony remorse? No, sir. Bourdain did not disappoint. This, the largest torta cubana in existence, was worth (half-) conquering. It had to be done.
That's It Market is a small corner convenience store on Mission St. It's easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for. But of course, people on an Anthony Bourdain pilgrimage like me will find it pretty quickly.
The Torta Cubana lives up to its legendary reputation. First of all, it's massive. Hefty portions of breaded beef, sausage, chicken, pork leg, ham, and bacon hit the grill. I looked around to check if she had more than one sandwich order pending, but nope. All that sizzling goodness was for one sandwich. Aaand she wasn't finished. In went some mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, egg, jalapeño and I don't even know what else. She could've thrown in an entire garden in there, and the meat would have still been way more.
This sandwich was so big, I could barely hold half of it in my hand. Hot, meaty, messy, it's all good. With the filling in imminent danger of falling out, I ate as quickly as I could. I polished off half of the torta before my stomach could send the white flag signal to my brain. Realization set in. Must. Unbutton. Pants.
Any meat gluttony remorse? No, sir. Bourdain did not disappoint. This, the largest torta cubana in existence, was worth (half-) conquering. It had to be done.