Welcome back to Savannah Flavors, our weekly newsletter bringing you the latest delicious details from Savannah’s culinary scene every Thursday.

Here is what’s on the menu today:

• Birria Spot: Asian flavors and bona fide Mexican will meet in Montgomery Street corridor restaurant 🌮🔥

• Savannah Coffee Roasters dishes the best spots to eat in town ☕️

• Tried,Tasted,True: DiNic's roast pork sandwich 🐷🥖

• The Legendary 520 Wings 🐓🍟

THE MAIN DISH

Asian flavors and bona fide Mexican will meet in Montgomery Street corridor restaurant 🌮

In the slow but steady Atlantification of the Historic District’s westside, Brandon Aguílar is the fresh face of his family’s foray into Savannah’s restaurant scene. 

Before the calendar recognizes the new year, Birria Spot will open in the corner property tucked just north of The Bowery apartments, serving up the Aguílars’ spin on the namesake brothy stew as well as a creative carte of Far East meets South of the Border fare.

“We’re like the first true test of this spot,” Aguílar said. “This area, this side of town, it’s growing a lot with all these new apartments.”

Two blocks south, A Taco Affair took root in a planta baja resto space in the Skylark sixteen months ago, but there is nothing northward until you hit Anita Deli Sandwich, CBP, Origin Coffee Bar, and Rancho Alegre.

Another locally owned non-chain eatery is a great sign.

 “I’m patiently impatient,” he coined, anticipating a soft opening before December, “wanting to open but not to overpromise and underdeliver. We want to have that good first impression.”

In a few weeks’ time, Aguílar hopes that Birria Spot diners will look a lot like Red, the logo mascot he designed for the restaurant: a tortilla-like smiley face delightedly dripping with the distinctive ruby broth. 

CHEF’S CRAVINGS

Savannah Coffee Roasters - Tim Michael & Heidi Gatlin

Each week, I ask the folks behind the phenomenal food at our favorite places around Savannah these same simple questions:

When you are not in your restaurant kitchen, where do you go out to eat and what do you order?

Since 2011, Savannah Coffee Roasters has brewed its signature brand in its still stunning Liberty Street roastery and eatery, an incredibly popular spot for locals and visitors alike ☕️ For the last eight years, Tim Michael has been the scratch kitchen’s executive chef, overseeing a comprehensive in-house baking program that furnishes the front case with delicious sweets and serves up a host of savory sandwiches and wraps. This week’s Chefs’ Cravings come from Michael and SCR’s assistant manager Heidi Gatlin.

TM: I’m from Bluffton, so I travel around a little bit. Usually on occasions that my wife and I go out, we’ll go to The Boathouse (Okatie) or Dockside on Skull Creek on Hilton Head. At Dockside, I get their Seafood Bounty, which is shrimp, clams, scallops, and oysters…and flounder 🐟

HG: I live out in Hinesville, and if we go out, we mostly come to Pooler. It’s probably Longhorn Steakhouse or Cheddar’s. I like the Renegade Sirloin and Shrimp.

TM: I usually don’t leave. I come in and go right home. When we’ve come down for other stuff, usually we have the kids with us, and we’ll go to Vinnie’s over at City Market and get pizza 🍕

HG: Crystal Beer Parlor. I like their fried green tomatoes.

TM: I need to get over there. The lady who used to work here as a barista, she used to tell me all the time that I need to take my wife there.

HG: They have really good food. I get their chicken or the crab stew 🦀

And for a special occasion?

HG: It has been a hot minute since we’ve done that. I know my fiancé wants to try Ruth’s Chris on Bay Street. We’ve never been.

TM: The last time my wife and I went out on a real date, we went to The Sage Room on Hilton Head, going down toward Coligny, right off of Pope Avenue. That was really really nice. It’s one of those places I feel self-conscious eating at when I go in because I’m like, “Man, this is above my paygrade.”

HG: That’s why we’ve never been to Ruth’s Chris! 

-Neil Gabbey

TRIED, TASTED, TRUE

DiNic’s roast pork sandwich

THE STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

Not for lack of trying, we never succeeded in our quest to eat the revered roast pork sandwich at Tommy DiNic’s. During our two decades in Baltimore, we drove up to Philly quite a few times for concerts, the majority of which allowed us to stay in Center City.

On our maiden visit, we saw the tripleheader of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Tokyo Police Club, and Two Door Cinema Club at the Trocadero Theatre for twenty bucks a ticket: still an all-time-great show.

That also marked our first visit to Reading Terminal Market, the City of Brotherly Love’s mecca filled with family-owned purveyors of fresh fish, poultry, produce, and meats as well as thirty-plus separate eateries.  

The longest line wrapped around the open kitchen of Tommy DiNic’s Roast Pork and Beef, eager eaters enduring whatever wait was required to wrap their hands around its signature sammie, an Italian hoagie roll stuff with slow-braised, thinly shaved pork, sautéed broccoli rabe, and aged provolone. As long as there have been television food programs, this one sandwich has been heralded among the best meat-on-bread bites in the entire country.

Alas, my wife and I never queued up, instead opting for fantastic fare at other Reading Terminal stalls each time we returned to Philadelphia.

Years and years later, DiNic’s unique creation still loomed large, so when my wife was recently out of town for a few days, I finally attempted to recreate it.

Now, youse guys can make this jawn.

I did bake the hoagie rolls from scratch, but that is food for another Triple T column. For now, I will focus on the pork preparation.

A Duroc boneless pork shoulder roast ran me less than ten bucks at Kroger, and Whole Foods had nice bunches of rapini. I sacrificed the piquancy of aged provolone for price, opting for a package of slices from Aldi.

I rarely braise any meats, but this turned out so well that I will do so far more often now. I found my starting-point recipes at The Millennial Chef (www.themillennialchef.com) and The Woks of Life (www.thewoksoflife.com), though as is my Triple T wont, I made alterations to simplify and to streamline the entire process. 

Although they hailed from Long Island and not from the banks of the Schuylkill, De La Soul provided the soundtrack for my recipe remix: “Three, that’s the magic number.”

A three-pound pork shoulder roast is seasoned with three-teaspoon doses of fennel seeds, dried oregano, dried thyme, and kosher salt. Add to that three pressed garlic cloves, three tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, and three tablespoons of olive oil that are rubbed all over before the pork is set atop a sliced sweet onion, wrapped in plastic, and placed in the fridge to marinade overnight.

My main tweaks were not to bother with a pre-braise sear, to use apple cider instead of any tomatoes, and to skip the peppers altogether.

Heck, jabronis, I even braised the pork for three hours at 300°.

Because I lightly broiled the assembled hoagies to char the cheese, I prepped the broccoli rabe while the roast rested, knowing that it would reheat nicely prior to portioning. To three more slivered garlic cloves sweated in three more tablespoons of olive oil, add three bunches of chopped rabe and three tablespoons of the braising liquid. In no time, the leaves wilt and turn verdant.

The next time I mimic this DiNic’s classic, I will let the pork cool more, which will allow for more precise slicing, but I was not one bit mad at how the meat tasted, savory and succulent beneath the lightly bitter greens and melty cheese.

If you want to go full Philly, strain the braising liquid and use it as a faux jus for dipping.

-Neil Gabbey

THE RECIPE

HARD GOODS 

• 3-pound boneless pork shoulder roast

• 3 teaspoons fennel seeds

• 3 teaspoons dried oregano

• 3 teaspoons dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

• 6 garlic cloves, used separately

• 3 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, minced

• 3 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 sweet onion, sliced thin

• 3 small bunches broccoli rabe, chopped into 1-inch pieces

• 12 slices provolone cheese (aged, optional)

WET GOODS

• 6 tablespoons olive oil, used separately

• 2 cups beef (or pork) broth

• 2 cups apple cider

DO THIS

1. Trim the pork roast of any thick fat and score remaining fat cap lightly in a diamond pattern

2. Grind the fennel, oregano, thyme, and peppercorns

3. Season the pork generously with the spice mix

4. On a cutting board, press together a paste of 3 minced garlic cloves, the parsley, and the salt

5. Rub the garlic-parsley-salt paste all over the pork

6. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a roasting pan or Pyrex dish

7. Lay the onion slices in the pan and set the seasoned pork on top

8. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive over the pork

9. Wrap the dish tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight

10. Prior to roasting, preheat the oven to 300°

11. Remove the pan from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and let the pork come to room temperature

12. Pour the broth and apple cider over and around the pork

13. Wrap the pan tightly with two layers (at least) of aluminum foil

14. Place the pan in the oven and roast for 3 hours

15. With 1 hour remaining on the pork, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet

16. Sliver the remaining 3 garlic cloves and sweat in the skillet until fragrant

17. Add the chopped broccoli rabe in batches, stirring with each handful

18. As the rabe reduces, add 3 tablespoons of the braising liquid

19. Remove the skillet from the heat when all of the rabe has wilted

20. After 3 hours, remove the pan from the oven and remove the pork from the braising liquid

21. If possible, allow the pork to rest until cool before slicing thinly

22. Make a layer of provolone in the base of a hoagie roll and top with slices of pork, a portion of broccoli rabe, and another layer of cheese

23. Broil the assembled sandwiches until the cheese has charred lightly

24. Strain the braising liquid through cheesecloth and serve as a jus

BEEN THERE. ATE THAT.

520 Wings 🐓🍟

As I was waiting for Shanna to finish the haircut ahead of mine that Saturday morning, I flipped through Savannah Magazine’s The Best of 2024 and saw that 520 Wings had once again taken the title.

I must have given the Victory Drive original a shot one time right after we moved into town, probably because it is mere blocks from our house and because the word ‘wings’ is in its name.

One time was enough, at least for a decade.

Loyal readers of BTAT know of my Western New York roots, and while I do not stake much culinary stock in that part of the country, it is the birthplace of the chicken wing. We know our wings, and wherever we move from sea to shining sea, we are sure to flay the local iterations.

Here goes.

Having written about food in Savannah for five-plus years now, I have, more and more, found myself squarely in the precarious position of recommending restaurants to friends, which I do but with trepidation. After all, one bad experience could discredit my ‘expertise’.

At the same time, I gladly take recommendations from others because I do not presume that my palate is the be-all and end-all.

To ‘eat’ his own, as it were.

My wife was out of town. I was giving our oven and stove top, grates and racks included, a scrupulous cleaning. The time was right to give 520 Wings another try. I would happily and hungrily be wrong if others were right.

Having Monday off from school in observation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, it did not dawn on me that it was Sunday and that the newish location on Waters Avenue and East 36th Street would be closed. After running errands at Aldi and Whole Foods, I planned on zipping up Waters and testing out the ‘express’ drive-thru.

Honestly, I also hoped to visit this outpost because it just looks newer and cleaner. Alas.

Instead, I headed homeward and talked myself into stopping at 520 Wings’ original location. Ten years later, a second impression did not instill me with much confidence. 

Parking is problematic unless you do so illegally in the neighboring lot off of Victory Drive in the shadow of the haunted house that is about to tumble down any day now. The exterior is what it is, which is to say not clean and in dire need of a paint job. Water dripped inexplicably from the roof right over the entrance. A disconnected CO₂ tank sat in the middle of the dining room, one corner of which was piled high with unopened boxes.

The saving grace that talked me into sticking it out is that there is obviously turnover of product, proved by the constant flow of foot traffic in and out of the restaurant. The second nod goes to the lovely counter staff.

The place is popular, so say all who voted it Best Wings in Savannah Magazine’s poll. Then again, food polls are akin to high school elections: often, substance and quality have little to do with who wins.

As I waited for my 10-piece combo to go, I mulled over other wing spots in Savannah and could not help but wonder how this place soared over anyone else who is deep-frying essentially the same starting material.

Okay, Coach’s Corner came second, but what about Cotton & Rye, Crystal Beer Parlor, Das Box, or Kayak Kafé, who quietly might have the biggest and best wings in town?

Though I have never tried them, the Treylor Park convoy serves their signature PB&J version that has become legendary, while friends to the west hail those at Berwick’s The Draft Room and those to the east crow about the wings at Ellie’s Crow Bar & Grill on Wilmington Island.

In less than ten minutes, I had ten pretty small wings and two dozen soft, barely cooked formerly frozen crinkle fries. With a meager tip, the combo cost me twenty bucks.

The wings were fine, I guess, but they were not ‘best of’ anything. They were chicken wings, fried to a nice crisp and tossed generously in buffalo sauce but not in any way special or deserving of recognition. Even worse than the perfunctory fries was the watery blue cheese sauce, which dripped off each dip attempt and did not opaquely coat the chicken.

I am old and cheap. I have no problem dropping an Andrew Jackson on an OTC takeaway meal, but in Savannah, we can eat really well for that one bill - better than this, at least.

Better yet, go to Kroger and grab a four-pound bag for $13.99. I can teach you how to make them at home without a fryer.

-Neil Gabbey