Harvest Day 57: King of Ramen

Didn’t expect to find a true New York–style B.E.C. in Sonoma County, but here it is. Chef Joshua Smookler, who cooked at TK’s Per Se and later opened his own ramen shop behind a bagel store in LIC, had his pop-up blessed by NYT critic Pete Wells as one of the city’s best, but it basically outed the pop-up so that it had to close its doors. ( Pete was basically deemed a “Kingslayer” all over Twitter because of it.) Smookler bounced back, officially opened Mu Ramen, and eventually decided to go West during the pandemic. He brought his A-game and his East Coast swagger to wine country with Animo, Golden Bear Station, and now the new breakfast hotspot, SPK. You can taste the talent in every bite.

SPK - B.E.C. on a Kaiser Roll

Bread +1: soft, fluffy, poppy seeded Kasier roll. Crowd-pleaser, I am a huge fan

Filling +1.5: classic bacon, egg, and cheese setup. Egg cooked over easy, yolk just right, cheese melted on it beautifully. Bacon was curly, chewy, not super crisp, but honestly, that egg–cheese melt carried the filling

Sauce +0.5: savory ketchup soaked right into the roll, it dominated the aroma, and it worked

Driveability +0.5: cut in half, easy to handle, no mess. You could eat it behind the wheel without wearing half of it

Other Factor +0.5: the moment you open it, it smells like a NYC sandwich. Instant recall

Price +0.5: ten bucks and change. An absolute steal for this delicious breakfast sandwich

Total: 4.5 stars. A fantastic B.E.C. Soft roll, classic filling and flavor, old-school and unmistakable NYC energy. Smookler did it again