The jus is loose
The classic French dip gets a deliciously modern update
TAKE a dip. Or five.
At the new Upper West Side restaurant Maison Pickle ( 2309-2315 Broad
way; 212-496-9100), there are nearly half a dozen different French dip sandwiches on the menu, from a classic beef number with horseradish aioli ($18) to a lamb version with mint chimichurri sauce ($23).
Owner Jacob Hadjigeorgis has been obsessed with the roast beef-and-jus sandwich since he was a kid and tried it on a family trip upstate.
“I kind of instantly fell in love with it,” says Hadjigeorgis, 32, who grew up in Astoria, now lives in Harlem and also has the popular Upper West Side restaurant Jacob’s Pickles.
The French dip has been on the rise in recent years. It’s on the lunch menu at trendy Dirty French on the Lower East Side, and last spring it was the focus of a pop-up collaboration between renowned pastry chef Dominique Ansel and Korean barbecue maestro Deuki Hong.
But Hadjigeorgis is giving it more than passing attention at Maison Pickle. The sandwich bread is baked in-house and engineered to be the perfect balance of crusty and jus-absorbing. The meat is sourced from Fleishers Craft Butchery and slowroasted for three hours; and the jus is a mix of bone broth and drippings from the beefcooking process.
For inspiration, Hadjigeorgis looked to Philippe’s and Cole’s, two rival institutions in Los Angeles that both opened in 1908 and claim to have invented the French dip.
“I love the sandwich, and I thought it was kind of ignored,” says Hadjigeorgis. “I felt like it was time for a comeback.”