It may sound strange to contradict Adam Gertler, who recently called his Reuben Dog The Best Thing I Ever Made on the Food Network. The chef and host of Kid in a Candy Store and Will Work For Food has been in the lab, developing house-made sausages, and one of them involved pastrami. The Reuben Dog was indeed good, pairing pastrami sausage with Gruyere, sauerkraut and pickles on a rye bun. However, the Reuben Dog was no Uber Kaiser. That particular smoked pork sausage packed more plump, contained oozing aged cheddar, and arrived on a toasted bun with arugula, roasted peppers, jalapenos and aioli.

It was fun to see what Gerlter and brother Keith were able to accomplish in the back corner of the neighborhood bar Trip using only a panini press and plancha. After hosting a seated one-night-only dinner, they’ll hunt for a permanent location for the family venture. It was cool to hear the famed barbecue restaurants of Lockhart, Texas, a town we know well, inspired his efforts. And Gertler’s early returns bode well for Los Angeles, a city that has many sausage emporiums, but very few featuring house-made links.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.