Rushing to the scene with a 5alarm appetite
Ihave driven past the bright, cheerfullooking Firehouse Deli for years. I can't tell you the number of times I felt lured in, but never stopped. I have heard tales that the Firehouse Deli serves the best sandwiches in Connecticut. I have never met anyone who didn't love this place. So what was the problem?
It's rather simple. Whenever I passed this place I was going to or coming back from my dentist, whose office is one block away. There is nothing that will dull the appetite quicker than a mouth full of Novocain and cotton balls.
But that dental ship has sailed. My mouth is back to being as sparkling as a toothpaste commercial. Last week, I drove to the Firehouse Deli, parked and walked in. I was not disappointed. My teeth and I were both in a celebratory mood.
I am a member of a local fire department, and I can attest to the fact that firemen are terrific cooks. It is a cliche to rave about firehouse cooking, but in this case the cliche is true.
At professional firehouses (and some volunteer ones) the firemen cook dinner for the crew. They get honest feedback on how the food tastes. Firemen are big hungry men and women, and to stay in their good graces the cook du jour better make great barbecue, intense pizza, toecurling pot roast and blowyourmind lasagna. Nobody says “this is terrific” if it is terrible, and woe on those who produce a lousy meal.
The Firehouse Deli looks like a little firehouse, or maybe a firehouse as kids dream it should look. The front of the restaurant is bright red like a fire truck. The awning is redandwhite stripes and the words Firehouse Deli are emblazoned in gold, again like a firehouse of the imagination.
Crowds congregate here for breakfast and lunch, the two meals they offer. This is not a place to dine slowly and leisurely. It is very busy and once inside and in the order line, you better know what you want. If you are prone to ordering “stage fright,” step back and look the menu over carefully and then get back in line.
I very much like the breakfast choices here, but lunch is my favorite time. Like many delis in Connecticut and beyond the sandwiches are named after people. The Grilled Billy Boy is a luscious heap of storeroasted turkey, cole slaw, Russian dressing and Swiss cheese on rye bread. The DanO is roast beef, Swiss, cole slaw and Russian dressing on a hard roll. I
wonder if DanO and Billy Boy hashed out the subtle yet significant differences in the two.
If you do not order a sandwich named after someone, you are offered the choice of meals with evocative names. Yes, the famous ItalianAmerican street Arthur Avenue is in the Bronx, but the Firehouse Deli has a firstrate homage to it in their Arthur Avenue Sandwich featuring salami, pepperoni, ham, capitol, provolone, lettuce, tomato, olive oil and vinegar in a fresh hoagie roll.
Local pride is also displayed in a Fairfield U Chicken Panini, a delicious mix of grilled chicken breast, slices of avocado, bacon, pepper jack cheese and chipotle mayo. My vegetarian friend, who I pray will find something she can eat on the menu, sang the praises of the MotherInLaw Wrap, a tortilla laden with avocado, cucumber, carrots, lettuce and tomato jack cheese and ranch dressing.
As you can see, the sandwiches at the Firehouse Deli are “loaded.” These are not dainty tea sandwiches that one eats with a pinky in the air. They are big, fat combinations of cold cuts, bread and dressing. The nice thing is although the sandwiches have been conceived of and constructed with care, the countermen are not rigid. If you want something other than ranch dressing or rye bread, state your preference and you will get it. You can swap ham for roast beef and Swiss cheese for pepper jack.
If you are not in a sandwich state of mind, consider the Hummel hot dogs and the big juicy burgers. On the lunch menu is “The Famous Bobby Dog” (wonder if it is friends with the Grilled Billy Boy sandwich) and it is streamlined but tasty: a high quality hot dog with bacon, chili and cheese, a fail proof combo.
It is never risky to order a meal bearing the name of the place, so I boldly ordered the Firehouse, again a grilled dog, but this time gilded with hot cherry peppers, pepper jack cheese, avocado and chipotle mayo. Except for the dog and bun, it is supposed to evoke heat (especially the cherry peppers) and make you think of fires and firefighters. This time the fire is in your mouth and can be easily extinguished with a Coke or root beer.
As readers of this column may recall, I always have to fight the battle of not ordering the same thing over and over again. I am a creature of habit and once I find a winner, it is hard for me to let go. My recent culinary battle was with the Firehouse Deli's Bleu Burger, which along with the meat and cheese has two of my favorite things to eat: bacon and cartelized onions. Maybe they will rename it The Jane and I can dream as soon as they see me coming through the door they put the order through.
I'm sorry, but as much as I love the cold sandwiches, the grilled paninis and the hot dogs, prying me away from the Bleu Burger is not easy. I am nothing if not loyal.