While the classic whiskey cocktails and vintage stylings set the scene at Williamsburg's new Prohibition-hip Rye, it's the 1950s--not the '20s--that inform the restaurant's finest dish.
Easily overlooked on chef Cal Elliott's (formerly of Dressler) menu of artichoke stew, pork-belly sliders and slow-roasted chicken is a meat-loaf sandwich that's far finer than anything Mom ever yanked from the oven.
The glorious, two-handed sandwich comprises a half-pound tablet of ground pork, veal and duck cooked in its own reduced braising juices and planted between a chewy, crusty roll. Golden haystack onions spill out atop the meat loaf, while a layer of horseradish-dressed frisée packs serious zip, and briny, thin-sliced pickles temper the opulence.
Often, meat loaf can be Sahara-dry, bland as a McDonald's burger and tough as jerky, but not this lovely loaf. Each bite of this hedonistic stomach-stuffer is crunchy and juicy, tangy and luscious: transcendent comfort food fit for any era.
Rye, 247 S. First St. (between Roebling and Havemeyer sts.), Brooklyn; 718-218-8047 or ryerestaurant.com
