Where I Went: Chap’s Grill & Bagel Bakery, 1174 Chapel St.
What I Ate: Pepper Turkey Panini on Sub Bread
What It Set Me Back: $6.95 plus tax
November may be long past, but the tastes of Thanksgiving remain equally delicious year-round. Turkey with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, pumpkin pie and delicious piping-hot rolls: a combination of foods not unique or extravagant, but warm, hearty and comforting. In fact, the foods are so remarkable in their simplicity that I have often wondered why they are so frequently pigeonholed into a couple festive days.
Luckily, for those of us in New Haven craving Thanksgiving on a bun, there is Chap’s Grill & Bagel Bakery open year-round. Sure, their pepper turkey sub contains no mashed potatoes or stuffing, and it by no means replicates the lazy autumn atmosphere of football and pie, but their take on perpetual Thanksgiving is nonetheless comforting. Comforting in its simplicity of tastes (the moist turkey and sharp cranberry sauce go perfectly with the soft innards and crusty edges of an impeccably fresh Italian roll) and comforting in its overall feel. The sub reminds you precisely why the tastes of the holiday are so enjoyable, and maybe … just maybe … it transports your homework-weary self back to an autumn idleness otherwise so far away.
Chap’s Grill & Bagel Bakery is open until 11:00 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until midnight on the weekends.