It’s like a weird dream that I didn’t even know I had come true. There’s a sandwich shop dedicated to peanut butter sandwiches. Peanut Butter & Co. Since 1998, the sign says – why was I not informed earlier?
They have 11 “classic” PB sandwiches (including sandwiches named for both Jerry and Presley alongside a PB BLT and something called the “Pregnant Lady”) and six “gourmet” offerings. For the party-poopers, there are six PB-free sandwiches and a salad available. Plus ten desserts and a variety of drinks. They will cut the crusts off your sandwich. No extra charge.
The operation is built around six peanut butter varieties, which are sold for $5 or $6 a jar or in a six-pack with carrying handle for $30 — smooth, creamy, cinnamon raisin, spicy, white chocolate and dark chocolate, pictured below in the Peanut Butter Sampler ($7.50) with (most of) their cute names visible.
I didn’t know where to start. Well, that’s not totally true, it seemed obvious to start with creamy, move to crunchy, then get adventurous and finish up with the chocolates,light to dark like a wine flight. I give high marks to both creamy and crunchy, and I usually don’t care for crunchy. Both were appropriately peanutty, not too sweet, not too salty. The middle was weak: I boycotted cinnamon raisin and found the spicy variety to be a bit too hot – think thai peanut sauce. But I was surprised by the finish. The dark chocolate was excellent but not all that peanutty, more like dark nutella with a bit of salt, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But the white chocolate was the come from behind star. Usually, I’m quite critical (that’s being kind) of white chocolate, but it mated beautifully with the PB, reminding me of the inside of a Five Star Peanut Bar, creamy, sweet but not obnoxiously so, bringing in the salty peanut thing without getting weighed down by complex cocoa flavors. Well done. As Alex said, “yummers” – and she bought a jar, too.
If you can’t get to the shop in Greenwich Village, you can get PB&Co. peanut butters in many stores, including Whole Foods, also my preferred purveyor (pusher?) of Lake Champlain Chocolates.
This post is making me hungry. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see if I can stuff a chocolate turkey with peanut butter.
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