Will it bacon, egg and cheese? (Yes)
When I deplaned at John F. Kennedy International Airport earlier this year, I wasn’t thinking about the week I had just spent in Hawaii. My mind was on breakfast. I routed my cab to the deli nearest my apartment and ordered a bacon, egg and cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup, bundled into a sandwich on a Kaiser roll. Actually, make it a hero. N.Y.C. loves the B.E.C. with S.P.K., but what about the blankin’ egg and cheese? That’s my name for breakfast sandwiches that have been whipped into shape by chefs with fine dining backgrounds. They fill in the blank with Texas toast, Philly cheesesteak and more. Don’t mess with tradition, some New Yorkers will grumble. To them, I ask: What’s a guy to do when he wakes up craving Thai sausage and scrambled eggs?
The Texas toast, egg and cheeseThe chef Sung Park once cooked at Jean-Georges in Midtown and owned a French Korean bistro in Brooklyn. What he learned: “Most fine dining chefs don’t eat fine dining food,” as he told me this month. Back then, he dreamed of making Korean fried chicken. These days he could probably do it in his sleep. Last year, Park opened a takeout sandwich shop, Lucky Chix, squeezing in between an espresso bar and a gas station in Bushwick. Besides sticky fried chicken crusted in cornflakes, he makes a monster sausage, egg and cheese by stacking a smashed pork patty and a fried hash brown onto Texas toast griddled in beef tallow. Texas toast? “I used to work in a diner,” Park said. Fair enough. As always, the secret is in the sauce: sunset-colored gochujang aioli on one side of the sandwich, smoked ketchup on the other. It smells like heaven and tastes like Texas barbecue. 1533 Myrtle Avenue (Linden Street), Bushwick, Brooklyn
The Philly cheesesteak, egg and cheeseThe other week a friend suggested a revolutionary new framework for life: Anything can be breakfast, they said, as long as there’s an egg. Scrambled eggs on pizza? That’s breakfast. The eggs Benedict on the dinner menu at Delmonico’s? Also breakfast. Even the double Wagyu cheeseburger at 4 Charles Prime Rib qualifies. Add a farm egg, and it’s part of a complete breakfast. A new entrant to the canon arrived in 2024 at Dolly’s Coffee Shop in Bed-Stuy, where the breakfast sandwich cosplays as a Philly cheesesteak. Homemade Cheez Whiz — I couldn’t believe it, either — oozes over the sides, and buried under all those eggs you’ll find cheesy sliced beef and grilled onions. A svelte milk bread bun stands in for a semolina hero. Autumn Lewis, one of the owners, cooked at Carbone in Las Vegas and the Grill in Midtown Manhattan, but she grew up in the drive-through. You can taste it in the hash browns served with her sandwiches, cooked to that classic McDonald’s brown. 53 Rockaway Avenue (Sumpter Street), Bedford-Stuyvesant
The Thai sausage, egg and cheeseSai ua, fermented pork sausage, is a silver bullet in just about any situation. Put it next to a pile of sticky rice, as in northern Thailand, or in a hot dog bun and the flavors of galangal and lemongrass will shine. No surprise, then, that sai ua works as a breakfast meat when sandwiched between eggs and American cheese at Thai Diner in NoLIta. “Being a diner, we had to have an egg sandwich,” said Ann Redding, one of the owners. Her pork sausage, based on a recipe from her mother, is squashed into a coarsely textured patty that you can smell from across the room. She piles on Thai basil leaves for crunch and serves each one with a ramekin of fish sauce chile jam to cut through all that cheese. When everything is folded in roti, it looks like a cousin to the Crunchwrap Supreme. 186 Mott Street (Kenmare Street), NoLIta, Manhattan Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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