Rocket Pig – LOST GEM
The singular sandwich, Rocket Pig, is served in a brick shack nestled behind Swiss chef, Ralf Kuettel’s flagship restaurant, Trestle on Tenth, and pretty much the entire experience is about their outrageous Pig Sandwich. Pork shoulder, red onion jam, and mustard aioli on a ciabatta and that’s it. On the side there are pickles, cole slaw, chips, and various sweet/savory dessert items. The hot sauce, which is quite mild but full of smoky flavor from roasted red peppers was outstanding. Though we did not have the honor of meeting this sandwich visionary when we visited, the woman working the register explained to us that Ralf floats by, from his main kitchen next door, nearly every day and that he is “incredibly hands-on.” This sort of attention to detail made total sense when we read through the eight-step recipe/description of what goes into the rocket pig sandwich. The pig shoulder comes from local farms (New Jersey and Upstate New York), gets brined, spice rubbed, smoked and, finally, slow roasted. We concluded that the maddeningly delicious pork justifies the elaborate method. Clear juices run off in rivulets from the sandwich, which soaks into the bread and leaves your fingers smelling savory for hours. We didn’t mind one bit.