It may sound strange to contradict Adam Gertler, who recently called his Reuben Dog The Best Thing I Ever Made. The Food Network chef hosts Kid in a Candy Store and Will Work For Food. He’s 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 was plumper, contained oozing aged cheddar, and arrived on a toasted bun with arugula, roasted peppers, jalapeños, and aioli.

It was fun to see what Adam Gertler and brother Keith were able to accomplish in the back corner of Trip neighborhood bar 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 famed Lockhart, Texas barbecue restaurants, a town we know well, inspired his efforts. 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.