#77: Smoked Brisket Sandwich, Blue Smoke

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67 down. 34 to go.

I’m very fortunate. Not only am I blessed with extremely good looks, but I work at a place where I’m inspired by what we do. For those who don’t know, I work for charity: water, a small group of people that work tirelessly to bring clean water to millions of people in need. While every day isn’t peaches and cream, I’m constantly reminded that I was dealt a pretty damn good hand of cards.

This past year and a half has been especially memorable. Some people play sports or a musical instrument, some join book clubs or cook clubs. I’ve been spending a lot of my free time trekking around the city eating NY magazines 101 best sandwiches in NYC. I’ve had 67 so far and it doesn’t get much better than this.

While outside of work, I travel 30-45 minutes on the subway to knock one off the list, at work I’m reminded of the hundreds of millions of people – mostly women and kids – that walk hours to get water that often makes them sick. Almost three months ago, I decided to fuse these two parallel worlds and use The Quest to raise money for clean water. I’ve raised more than $4,800, and have four days left to reach my goal of $5k. My family, friends, random people on Facebook and even some of my parent’s friends I’ve never met were all so generous and supportive. I pitched restaurants from The Quest and received extremely generous donations from Bark Hot Dogs, Casellula Wine and Cheese Cafe, Meatball Shop and Blue Smoke. If you haven’t been to these places, go. Tonight. And taste everything. It’s some of the best food in NYC.

So, now that I let my family, friends and fans of The Quest in on charity: water, it was time to let charity: water in on The Quest. After an exhausting week gearing up for charity: ball in December, we took a break during lunch on Friday to close our laptops, hang out with coworkers, and most importantly eat some sandwiches.

After a nail biting staff vote, the Smoked Brisket sandwich from Blue Smoke was the dish of choice. More than 20 staff and interns sat around the office doing more eating than talking. The flavorful sliced brisket is served on a circular sweet brioche bun. The sides – or toppings as I like to call them – include pickles, a non mayo cabbage slaw, a spicy BBQ sauce and handmade BBQ chips that kept our staff snacking the rest of the day. Every ingredient complimented the soft, tender meat. I wish the sandwich didn’t have to end. Lastly, Blue Smoke included some soft, chewy, and addictive chocolate chip cookies for desert. This Friday, lunch was a real treat for our entire office.

Realizing that I could use my talents as a designer to change lives was one thing. But using my appetite to do the same was another story all together. Around our office, you’ll often hear us say that “water changes everything.” Perhaps this is true for sandwiches as well.

A big brisket thanks to Blue Smoke for a great lunch! Thanks to Brandon Smith for the awesome video and Mo Scarpelli for the beautiful photos.

Blue Smoke | 116 East 27th Street btwn Park and Lexington