Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America
Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America is an American food reality television series that premiered on June 6, 2012 on the Travel Channel. The program is hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman samples what he considers to be the best sandwiches across the country, chooses a regional favorite, and then pits the winners against each other to find the nation's No. 1 sandwich.
| Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Food Reality, Spin-off |
| Directed by | Catherine Pappas |
| Presented by | Adam Richman |
| Composer(s) | Audio Network Pump Audio |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Matt Sharp Dan Adler Adam Richman Bonnie Biggs (co-executive) |
| Producer(s) | Josh Abraham (story) Colin Gilroy (senior) |
| Cinematography | Dan Akiba |
| Editor(s) | Scott Besselle Bobby Munster Matt Clements |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Sharp Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | Travel Channel |
| Original release | June 6 – August 15, 2012 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Premise
Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America features "one man's quest"—Adam Richman—to find the best thing since "sliced bread on sliced bread". Richman will sample the three most mouthwatering sandwiches in different regions across the United States, evaluate each one with his "B.I.T.E. Scale" (Bread, Interior, Taste, and Eating Experience) and then crown one sandwich "supreme". Each episode ends with Richman adding a send-off of the regional favorite sandwiches that got left behind. The weekly series featured eleven episodes (ten half-hour episodes with a one-hour finale).[1]
Opening
The show opens with the following quote:
"The sandwich. I've sampled countless variations of this delectable and ingenious American icon. But one question remains. Which one is the best? To find out, I'm tasting my top three sandwiches in ten U.S. regions. I'll subject each sandwich to my trademark B.I.T.E. Scale. The one who rises above the rest will win the region and move on to the national championship for a chance to be crowned Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America".
Celebrities
Every episode (save the Mid-Atlantic episode) starts off with a celebrity recommending his or her favorite sandwich in a different region.
- Kevin Pollak - Film actor/comedian (favorite sandwich in Northeast: Primanti Bros. stuffed sandwiches)
- Anthony Bourdain - Chef/food traveler (favorite sandwich in Gulf Coast: Domilise's shrimp po'boy)
- Will Hoge - Rising country music star (favorite sandwich in South: Mitchell Delicatessen Asian flank-steak sandwich)
- Curtis Granderson - Professional baseball player (favorite sandwich in Midwest: Fifty/50 "4-Courser" sandwich)
- Mario Batali - Celebrity chef (favorite sandwich in Northwest: Salumi braised oxtail sandwich)
- Jay Baruchel - Film actor (favorite sandwich in West Coast: JR's Barbeque pulled pork sandwich)
- Andrew Zimmern - Food traveler (favorite sandwich in Great Lakes: Tilia Fish Taco Torta)
- Bobby Flay - Celebrity chef (favorite sandwich in Southwest: The Salt Lick brisket jalapeño sandwich)
- Samantha Brown - Adventurer/traveler (favorite sandwich in New England: Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe crab-filled grilled cheese sandwich)
- G. Love - Rock musician (national championship wild card #1: John's Roast Pork cheesesteak)
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Northeast" | June 6, 2012 | |
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Adam Richman begins his quest to find America's No. 1 sandwich. In the series premiere, Richman samples the best sandwiches in the Northeast. Featured sandwiches include: a french fry-stuffed capicola-fried egg-and-cheese sandwich from Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a juicy roast pork sandwich topped with sharp provolone and sauteed broccoli rabe and drenched in pork gravy from Tommy DiNic's at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and a pastrami-and-corned beef combo sandwich topped with Russian dressing and coleslaw from Katz's Delicatessen in New York City.
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| 2 | "Gulf Coast" | June 6, 2012 | |
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Richman heads to the Gulf Coast in search of the region's best sandwiches. Featured sandwiches include: a double-dipped fried shrimp po'boy with homemade ketchup at Domilise's in New Orleans, Louisiana; a "medianoche" Cuban sandwich filled with boiled ham, serrano ham, slow-cooked pulled pork roasted in a sour orange and garlic mojo sauce, swiss cheese, salami, mustard, and pickles at the Aguila Sandwich Shop in Tampa, Florida; and a blackened grouper Reuben sandwich with swiss cheese, caramelized sauerkraut and thousand island dressing at Skipper's Smokehouse, also in Tampa.
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| 3 | "South" | June 13, 2012 | |
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Richman seeks out the best sandwiches in the South. Featured sandwiches include: the Asian Flank-Steak Sandwich, a soy sauce and brown sugar-marinated grilled Angus steak topped with provolone cheese and an Asian-Italian giardiniera (and is only served on Mondays) from Mitchell Delicatessen in Nashville, Tennessee; the Chicken-and-Cheddar Biscuit at the "Research Triangle" of UNC, Duke and NC State at the college hangout Time-Out Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and the "Chicken Conquistador" sandwich, a mustard-based marinated grilled sliced chicken topped with two secret sauces at Zunzi's Express in Savannah, Georgia.
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| 4 | "Midwest" | June 20, 2012 | |
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Richman scopes out the tastiest sandwiches in the American Midwest. Featured sandwiches include: the "4-Courser", a unique sandwich combining jerk-rubbed pulled pork sauteed in a Béchamel sauce, fried jalapeño chips, "waffle-ized" 6-cheese macaroni and cheese, crunchy sweet potato chips, and barbecue sauce, all inside a pretzel bun, at Fifty/50 in Chicago, Illinois; the iconic Italian beef sandwich, featuring sliced roast beef in Italian bread, both drenched in hot beef gravy and topped with sweet peppers and spicy giardiniera at Al's #1 Italian Beef, also in Chicago; and the "Heart Stopping BLT", which features 14 strips of crispy kettle-cooked bacon, plus lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, all inside toasted white bread, at Crown Candy Kitchen in St. Louis, Missouri.
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| 5 | "Mid-Atlantic" | June 27, 2012 | |
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Richman samples the best sandwiches in the Mid-Atlantic region. Featured sandwiches include: a saltine-encrusted lump crab cake sandwich from Faidley's Seafood at Lexington Market in Baltimore, Maryland; the deluxe double-decker chicken club (rosemary-marinated chicken breast, applewood-smoked bacon, a sunny side-up egg, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and avocado all between sourdough toast) that's only ordered through room service at the W Hotel in Washington, D.C.; and the "C.S.S. Virginia" (named after the Civil War ironclad battleship) which is a 2-foot panko-breaded fried-chicken liver baguette "battleship" sandwich topped with an apple-cabbage-green onion slaw from The Black Sheep in Richmond, Virginia.
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| 6 | "Northwest" | July 11, 2012 | |
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Richman visits the Pacific Northwest to sample the region's best sandwiches. Featured sandwiches include: a braised oxtail sandwich, featuring oxtail stewed in marinara sauce with two house-made sauces (breadcrumb olive oil and parsley caper) and topped with sauteed onions and peppers at Salumi (run by Mario Batali's sister, Gina) in Seattle, Washington; the "Big-Ass Roast-Beef", a massive sandwich loaded with 1/4 lb roast beef, bacon, onions, cheddar cheese Béchamel sauce, hot sauce, and stuffed with two layers of hand-cut fries at the Big-Ass Sandwiches cart in Portland, Oregon; and the "Pork-Belly Cubano" sandwich, a non-traditional Cubano filled with Italian spiced and molasses rubbed pork belly, ham, pickles, aged swiss cheese and topped with mayo, yellow mustard and Mexican hot sauce at Bunk Sandwiches, also in Portland.
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| 7 | "West Coast" | July 18, 2012 | |
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Richman continues his sandwich-eating quest on the west coast of California. Featured sandwiches include: a Memphis-style 15-spice-rubbed pulled pork sandwich topped with a maple syrup-and-pineapple-sweetened coleslaw, plus piping hot barbecue sauce, all inside a grilled Brioche bun at JR's Barbeque in Los Angeles, California; the "El Toro", a sandwich of Mesquite-grilled tri-tip beef, double-grilled and doused in a sweet barbecue sauce while placed inside a fresh-baked Kaiser roll, at Phil's BBQ in San Diego, California; and a "pulled" lamb sandwich topped with pickled watermelon rind, placed inside a sweet deli roll and served with a side of red cabbage slaw and a unique watermelon vinegar sauce from Wexler's in San Francisco, California.
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| 8 | "Great Lakes" | July 25, 2012 | |
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Richman heads to the Great Lakes region to sample their best sandwiches. Featured sandwiches include: the "Fish Taco Torta", a tempura-style cornstarch-breaded/beer battered mahi-mahi filet stacked with a habanero-lime mayonnaise, pico de gallo, a cabbage-and-peppadew pepper slaw, and crispy tortilla chips, all inside a milk bread bun, at Tilia in Minneapolis, Minnesota; a flame-grilled and sliced prime rib sandwich with melted Swiss cheese, a buttery mushroom-and-pepper relish, topped with two pads of butter, all stuffed into a toasted Semolina roll and served with a side of au jus, at Kroll's West in Green Bay, Wisconsin; and "The Yardbird", a sandwich combining boneless hickory-smoked Amish chicken (cooked with sautéed mushrooms and a mustard-based barbecue sauce), shredded cheddar cheese and applewood-smoked bacon in a toasted poppy-seed bun, at Slows Bar-B-Q in Detroit, Michigan.
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| 9 | "Southwest" | August 1, 2012 | |
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Richman travels to the American Southwest region to try their best sandwiches. Featured sandwiches include: the Bar-B-Que Brisket Jalapeño Sandwich, a creation combining a 1/2-pound of open pit-barbecued beef brisket and pickled jalapeño peppers, both drenched in a spicy Habanero sauce, at The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas; a seared beef tongue sandwich with garlic aioli, a red pepper relish, and smoked green onions, all between grilled fresh home-baked bread, at the Noble Pig in Austin, Texas; and a Mexican torta known as the "Torta Del Rey", which features a Telera roll stuffed with a staggering 12 ingredients (slow-roasted pork, breaded beef sirloin, ham, melted mozzarella cheese, an omelet filled with Mexican chorizo and a hot dog, tomatoes, onions, avocado, all topped with peruano beans and chipotle sauce) at Los Reyes de la Torta in Phoenix, Arizona.
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| 10 | "New England" | August 8, 2012 | |
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Richman's quest concludes in New England when he tries its best sandwiches. Featured sandwiches include: the "Crab Grilled Cheese", a sandwich featuring toasted Ciabatta bread filled with melted Vermont sharp cheddar and a mound of lump Jonah crab, with the sandwich first grilled then oven-baked, and served with a side of potato chips and tomato soup, at Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the "Zesty Lemon Lobster Roll", a creation packing cold Maine lobster meat with mayonnaise, Romaine lettuce, and a lemon-pepper spice topping, all squirted with lemon and placed inside a butter-grilled New England-style bun, at The Galley Restaurant & Pub in Naples, Maine; and "A Tale of Two Turkeys", sage-buttered oven-roasted turkey with swiss cheese, coleslaw, and homemade Russian dressing on onion rye batard bread at the Book Trader Cafe in the heart of the Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut.
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| 11 | "Championship Finale" | August 15, 2012 | |
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Ten regional sandwich winners and two wild cards go head-to-head, elimination-style. In the end, only one can take the coveted title of "Adam's Richman's Best Sandwich in America". Wild Card #1 (Recommended by G. Love): Cheesesteak with 3/4-pound sliced beef, five slices of provolone cheese, "long hots" (hot peppers), and fried onions all topped with mayo and ketchup on a sesame seed Italian roll from John's Roast Pork in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wild Card #2 (Viewer's Choice): Duck Confit Grilled Cheese with white American and gruyere cheeses and sliced green tomatoes between two slices of grilled sourdough bread from Olio Soups, Salads & Sandwiches in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Brackets
Northeast
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Primanti Bros. | LOSS | |||||
| Tommy DiNic's | WIN | |||||
| Northeast Champ | ||||||
| Tommy DiNic's | WIN | |||||
| Tommy DiNic's | WIN | |||||
| Katz's | LOSS | |||||
Gulf Coast
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Domilise's | WIN | |||||
| Aguila's | LOSS | |||||
| Gulf Coast Champ | ||||||
| Domilise's | WIN | |||||
| Domilise's | WIN | |||||
| Skipper's | LOSS | |||||
South
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Mitchell | WIN | |||||
| Time-Out | LOSS | |||||
| South Champ | ||||||
| Zunzi's | WIN | |||||
| Mitchell | LOSS | |||||
| Zunzi's | WIN | |||||
Midwest
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Fifty/50 | LOSS | |||||
| Al's Beef | WIN | |||||
| Midwest Champ | ||||||
| Al's Beef | WIN | |||||
| Al's Beef | WIN | |||||
| Crown Candy | LOSS | |||||
Mid-Atlantic
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Faidley's | LOSS | |||||
| The W | WIN | |||||
| Mid-Atlantic Champ | ||||||
| Black Sheep | WIN | |||||
| The W | LOSS | |||||
| Black Sheep | WIN | |||||
Northwest
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Salumi | LOSS | |||||
| Big-Ass Sandwiches | WIN | |||||
| Northwest Champ | ||||||
| Big-Ass Sandwiches | WIN | |||||
| Big-Ass Sandwiches | WIN | |||||
| Bunk | LOSS | |||||
West Coast
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| JR's Barbeque | LOSS | |||||
| Phil's BBQ | WIN | |||||
| West Coast Champ | ||||||
| Phil's BBQ | WIN | |||||
| Phil's BBQ | WIN | |||||
| Wexler's | LOSS | |||||
Great Lakes
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Tilia | WIN | |||||
| Kroll's West | LOSS | |||||
| Great Lakes Champ | ||||||
| Slows Bar-B-Q | WIN | |||||
| Tilia | LOSS | |||||
| Slows Bar-B-Q | WIN | |||||
New England
| Round 1 | Final | |||||
| Jumpin' Jay's | LOSS | |||||
| The Galley | WIN | |||||
| New England Champ | ||||||
| The Galley | WIN | |||||
| The Galley | WIN | |||||
| Book Trader Cafe | LOSS | |||||
Championship Finale
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Final | ||||||||
| El Toro (West Coast) | LOSS | |||||||||
| Yardbird (Great Lakes) | WIN | |||||||||
| Yardbird | WIN | |||||||||
| Cheesesteak | LOSS | |||||||||
| Seared Beef Tongue (South West) | WIN | |||||||||
| CSS Virginia (Mid-Atlantic) | LOSS | |||||||||
| Best Sandwich in America Champ | ||||||||||
| Tommy DiNic's Roast Pork | WIN | |||||||||
| Lobster Roll (New England) | LOSS | |||||||||
| Cheesesteak (Wild Card) | WIN | |||||||||
| Seared Beef Tongue | LOSS | |||||||||
| Chicken Conquistador | WIN | |||||||||
| Shrimp Po'Boy (Gulf Coast) | LOSS | |||||||||
| Roast Pork (Northeast) | WIN | |||||||||
| Round 1 | Round 2 | |||||
| Chicken Conquistador (Mid-Atlantic) | WIN | |||||
| Italian Beef (Midwest) | LOSS | |||||
| Roast Pork | WIN | |||||
| Big-Ass Roast Beef | LOSS | |||||
| Big-Ass Roast Beef (Northwest) | WIN | |||||
| Duck Confit Grilled Cheese (Wild Card) | LOSS | |||||
References
- "Scripps Networks Newsroom: "Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America" Embarks on the Ultimate National Competition for the Title of Tastiest". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-04-17.