Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes in the midst of a pandemic that’s terraforming The Way We Live in frightening, unpredictable ways, you need a few moments of double-secret quarantine — a bubble within the bubble. A quiet space away from the woodpecker tap of current events. Let’s call it lunch. Needing just such a break the other day, I muted the implacable news feeds and curled up with some noise-canceling comfort food: a grilled-cheese sandwich Postmated from the Truffles N Bacon Café. This turned out to be an inspired idea. The Heather’s Choice sandwich ($11.29) updates the childhood classic with a bit of kick Mom never dared: chipotle ranch, pepperjack, pickled onions, pepperoncinis, and bacon jam (the Not Yo Mama’s Grilled Cheese ups the meat ante with brisket, plus sautéed kale). With its rich mouthfeel and nostalgic mindfeel, Heather’s Choice sequesters you in a safe place between the contentments of a childhood before hand-sanitizer protocols and the more knowing, sophisticated palate of adulthood. So, for the duration of 13 wonderful bites, I didn’t think about our microbial chaos, social distancing, a shipwrecked economy, the organ failures of federal leadership, or the long, hard road ahead ... though, as you see, a sandwich can only ward it off for so long.
Truffles N Bacon, 872 S. Eastern Ave. #100, trufflesnbacon.com