Published in Northern Virginia Magazine
By Warren Rojas
Pork and Fries, Earl’s in Arlington
Average entree: under $12 ($). Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
If necessity be the mother of invention, let’s go ahead and crown Stephen Dugan the father of sly substitutions.
The Earl’s Sandwiches proprietor is rumored to have fallen for the potato-packed constructs he encountered in Pennsylvania, and quickly set about to fashioning his own starch-protein power play when he returned home.
His Pork and Fries is a fitting tribute, layering shaved, slow-roasted pork (coated in a thin layer of cracked black pepper) atop toasted ciabatta bread. Dugan seals the deal with a cadre of perfectly in-tune accompaniments, including: feisty chipotle mayo, piquant white onions, tangy pickle chips, roasted sweet peppers and, of course, hand-cut fries—their glistening skins projecting straight-from-the-fryer warmth, while the sparingly used salt allows all the other flavors to develop.
The full Northern Virginia Magazine article can be read here »
