Lardo Chefwich- 3 down, 3 to go

Lardo is doing a special Chefwich series in which other guest chefs of various Portland restaurants collaborate with Lardo (and Grassa) chef Rick Gencarelli. Each month, a new collaboration sandwich will appear just for that month, and the proceeds of the limited time guest chef sandwich going to benefit the guest chef’s charity of choice. When you order the sandwich (available at either of the two Lardo locations, Lardo West in SW downtown or in Lardo East in the SE), make sure to ask for your Chefwich Series stamp card, because if you collect all six stamps you can earn VIP admission to the Lardo Fall Party.

I’ve collected 3 so far… and here’s a report out.

The first Chefwich debuted in April to mid May, with Cathy Whims (of Nostrana and Oven & Shaker) and her Straccetti sandwich featuring bavette steak, provolone cheese, roasted asparagus, and horseradish creme fraiche. Beautiful, messy, delicious richness. Her chosen charity was Friends of Family Farmers which promotes responsible farming, and I collected my first chefwich card.

I washed this down with a refreshing Grapefruit Margarita with tequila, house-made sour mix, gran gala, and it is a generous glass.

Chefwich #2 was courtesy of Scott Snyder (of Levant), with Morroccan Lamb Meatball and black olive mayo, harrisa carrot slaw, feta. This chefwich benefits Urban Gleaners, whose mission is to eliminate waste of surplus food by redistributing to the hungry. I meant to eat half the sandwich and save the other half for dinner. That didn’t happen because I could. not. stop.

And finally, recently I had Chefwich #3, The Aaron Barnett (of St. Jack)- #3 in Chefwich Series, a sandwich of Fried Calamari – caper & red onion mayo, marinated tomatoes, lettuce. Mmm, that crispy crispy calamari which was perfectly executed to be crunchy but not overdone or greasy would have been excellent even on its own, but bonus! You get a whole squidwich! Proceeds go to the Special Olympics and their support their mission to provide sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The Hemingway cocktail that accompanied this sandwich with Bacardi, lime, simple syrup, and soda looked like water in a pint glass but packed a nice punch that made me happy.

I wonder what the next chefwich will be? 2 of the 3 were ChefStable partners (of which Rick also is)- I am crossing my fingers for Trent Pierce or Greg Denton or Andy Ricker, but really all of these have been home runs so I’m keeping my eyes and ears open for the next collaboration.