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| Prosciutto & Egg Panini |
Amorini Panini
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It’s been weeks since I was as excited for breakfast as I was today. This being the final week of our month-long September Sunrise Sandwich Spree, I had taken a few minutes last weekend to sketch out an agenda for the days to come. And until last night, when I noticed a new Twitter follower, all was going as expected. I recognized @amorinipanini as the sandwich joint atop the Gallery Place Metro stop that I had never visited. Upon glancing at the online menu, my well-laid plans were abruptly forgotten. I was jazzed not just because Amorini Panini serves breakfast paninis, which they do, to my great surprise, but because the ingredients and combinations suggested an exceptional level of thought and care. Nutella, strawberry preserve, honey turkey, grilled peppers and onions; these are not items often found on a typical breakfast menu. Unable to choose between sweet and savory, and feeling empowered to do so by the insanely reasonable prices, I ordered two paninis: Nutella and strawberry on pressed brioche, and prosciutto, egg, and pepper jack on a pressed wheat bun. At this point, having eaten more than 20 breakfast sandwiches this month, it was always going to require something truly special and unique to excite me. Both of these breakfast paninis fit that bill. The brioche is almost doughnut-like in its lightness but the slight bitterness of the chocolate keeps sandwich on the safe side of sweet. The prosciutto and egg is a lesson in spice/salt balance, with each of the three components equally detectable in every bite. My goal this month, perhaps naive in retrospect, was to feature every morning a sandwich that could be found at only one place in the District. It’s been disheartening to learn how rare these sandwiches actually are, but today I’m feeling hopeful. The breakfast paninis at Amorini are truly one of a kind.