Eat Great Cheap 2016You’re entitled to be skeptical, peering in from the parking lot. Looks like a chain from out west. Then you step inside and—whoa, that smell. It announces itself at once. Yeasty, rich, the smell of a boulangerie. Gerald Koh, who learned his craft at downtown DC’s Breadline, knows that a sandwich is only as good as its bread, and his baguettes, ciabattas, and rolls are remarkable. He also happens to possess a wonderfully keen palate—for example, pairing softened Brie with tomato jam and lightly caramelized onions, a trio as sublime, in its way, as jazzmen Roy Haynes, John Patitucci and Danilo Pérez.
Cuisine: Sandwiches
Where you can get it: 6945 Oakland Mills Rd., Columbia; 410-290-3434
Also good: The Genoa (Genoa salami, soppresatta,provolone); the London Broil, with juicy slices of top round, provolone, and lettuce, tomato, and onions; tomato-saffron soup.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
