Big new hit at the Roadhouse
by Ari Weinzweig
I probably shouldn’t be surprised anymore—the best ideas so often start out as silly jokes. Same here. It began with a bit of light culinary humor and has ended up with what I’m pretty sure is a signature dish in the making.
The whole thing started about six weeks ago with my girlfriend Tammie Gilfoyle’s idea to mix our pimento cheese with tuna. I tried it. She was right: it was delicious. The idea turned into the Pimentuna melt, which has already become a really popular sandwich at the Roadhouse, grilled on one of my favorite Bakehouse breads, the Country Wheat.
Then, a few days or so ago, I made a joke that maybe we should use our new mix to make Pimentuna Casserole. You know, a throwback and takeoff on the tried and true mid-20th-century classic. That sounded a little crazy, too, but about 20 minutes later, what had started as a silly statement was sounding better and better and I decided to make it. Pimentuna Casserole turned out to be really good! And now it’s on the Roadhouse lunch menu.
If you want a bit of tasty comfort on one of these cold winter days, come on in for a taste. It’s our mash-up of West Coast tuna with pimento cheese, tossed with the Martelli family’s marvelous bronze die-extruded maccheroni.
The Roadhouse crew had the great idea to seal the deal by topping the whole thing with a handful of Zingerman’s Tellicherry black pepper potato chips to add some crunch. What can I say? Killer! Comforting. Compelling. Definitely worth coming across town to have for lunch!!