We’d been waiting eagerly for Picnik to invite us in for a sausage or two ever since Jack Huang and Corazon y Miel chef/owner Eduardo Ruiz set up shop in the former Colorado Boulevard home of Asian fusion restaurant 168.
Picnik offers a stylish and delicious selection of customized, hand crafted sausages, sourced from family owned and operated farms, and prepared fresh daily on the premises by Electric City Butcher, their in-house butcher.
Though the restaurant offers a dizzying array of items along with sandwiches and burgers— sardines in oil with shaved fennel, a rotating vegetarian offering, and a follow up to the legendary Pan con Chompipe – the Picnik Pork Shank sandwich—our choices were simple.
As Ruiz said when they opened, “The luxury of this project is that we’re sourcing the absolute best ingredients, in order to offer the best possible product in a casual environment.”
We opted for a ordinary chicken sausage sandwich on a baguette, the chicken tangy with garlic and sage; a classic bratwurst, and a simple hot dog.
To go along with our sandwiches, we opted for a grilled corn on the cob, cooked on the grill with butter and mayonnaise, and sprinkled with an illuminating array of herbs. We saved the hand-punched fries, macaroni and cheese and potato salad for our next visit.
The brat was sweet and chewy with a casing that popped!, as you bit in to it. It was a little bit of Wisconsin on Colorado Boulevard. We tried it all alone with no toppings, and it was perfect, just the sausage on a fresh baguette. Less is more. We get that.
The chicken sausage, also served on a baguette, was equally delicious. The hot dog? I would have inquired of my dining partner, who also had his with no toppings. All I got was a nod and a murmured favorable response as he devoured it in just a few bites.
Though Picnik offers a collection of two dozen tap beers, with a mix of local craft brews, European selections, and occasional hard to find rarities, we opted for two of their classic sodas—a Bubble-Up and a Chocolate Covered Maple Smoked Bacon Soda. It was like drinking breakfast and it was spectacular.
Dessert was a Bread Pudding Bar, a thick-sliced Devil on horseback, topped with a brandy syrup. Yum. More, please.
With so much available, we felt like we’d only tried the kiddie menu at this point. When we return, and we will, we’re trying a little bit of everything.
Picnik is at 168 West Colorado Boulevard. (626) 793-8008. www.picnikpasadena.com.