GTA’s Bahn Mi

GTA is the unsuspicious, signless (save for one baby-sized sticker by the entrance) establishment on Abbot Kinney neighboring the sit-down sister restaurant, Gjelina. Short for Gjelina-Take-Away, GTA is where you go when you want a quick bite that doesn’t sacrifice next-levelness.  Spearheaded by the acclaimed and enigmatic chef Travis Lett, GTA serves up everyday items like pizza, salads, and sandwiches. They honor the building blocks of sustainable cooking: they bake their own bread, pickle their own pickles, jam their own jam, the list goes on.   It’s always bustling inside and it is for a reason: the food is no joke (also, their music playlists are consistently bomb). Not only will GTA have your tastebuds singing, the menu’s reflective of seasonal, local and organic ingredients. Lett’s philosophy is to source the best products as conscientiously as possible and then to get out of the ingredients’ way. And they aren’t fronting-- they’ll pull something off the menu (even crowd favorites) if they can’t get it locally.  The beauties behind GTA gave us the download on their esteemed Bahn Mi. People go crazy for this sandwich and I can attest to its lure. (I’m writing this at 1am and am almost in tears that I don’t have one right now.) Thankfully, you can now make this puppy at home with just a little bit of sourdough and elbow grease.  | INGREDIENTS |GARLIC AIOLI:5 Garlic Cloves5 cups Grapeseed Oil1 cup Olive Oil5 Egg Yolks Salt and Pepper, to tasteLemon JuicePut the yolks, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and garlic in the food processor. Turn the processor on and while it’s running, slowly stream in the oil until fully emulsified.  JALAPENO VINAIGRETTE:3 cups Lime Juice3 cups White Wine Vinegar½ cup SugarJalapeño, to tasteCombine ingredients in a blender until smooth.  | ASSEMBLY |Sourdough BaguetteProtein of choicePickled CarrotsCilantro1 | Cut sourdough baguette about eight inches long, then slice open. 2 | Remove small amount of bread from top part so that it's curved, and the bottom piece is flat. 3 | Toast both pieces in the oven until golden brown.4 | Apply Garlic Aioli to both sides. 5 | Add 3-3.5 ounces of chosen protein to bottom piece, seasoning with a pinch of salt.6 | Apply about 2-2.5 ounces of pickled carrots. 7 | Add small amount of cilantro with stem, making sure stems are trimmed to tender.8 | Add Jalapeño vinaigrette.9 | Put top of baguette on slicing at an angle.  Serve!