Grilled Korean Barbecue Shredded Short Ribs and Pimento Cheese Sandwich on Brioche

Sweet baby j, this sandwich is good.

We could write something here about our childhood, or how our kids did something that made us realize something profound, or how I’ve gained 15 pounds in 16 weeks (true).

Or we could just tell you about the new sandwich we crave deep in our bones.

(And if you make a comment about my weight gain and connect it to this sandwich, I’ll probably bring my pasty white gut to your house for a little chit chat.)

A friend was in town a few weeks ago, attending a conference at the Four Seasons here in Atlanta. She wanted to meet for dinner and catch up.

Would I mind coming to the Four Seasons for dinner? Her treat.

I’ll be right there.

I’m not sure what I expected of the Four Season, but it wasn’t what I got. What awaited us on our table was a jar of pickled okra.

That’s a sure sign of a fine establishment.

Chef Rober Gerstenecker at Park 75, the restaurant inside the Four Seasons, is doing some very special bits of perfection. At the top of the list, even better than the pickled okra, was a grilled pimento cheese and short rib sandwich.

Moving to the South, we’ve had to reckon with pimento cheese. A far cry from the terrifying slop I dished out at the Indiana grocery store deli I worked in during high school. Pimento cheese has integrity and depth and a sliver of something special.

Short ribs are never a wrong answer in our lives, but Chef Gerstenecker took these in a different direction than our favorite Mario Batali recipe. These short ribs, shredded, were tangy and bright, a fine companion to the weighty pimento cheese.

Layered between two slices of what I’m going to say was brioche, but under all the golden butter crust, it’s impossible to know and entirely irrelevant.

One bite. I knew I had to recreate it.

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