The Best Breakfast Sandwich in Ski Country
Ultimate-Ski’s search for the best breakfast sandwich in the ski resort towns of the USA and Canada concludes in upstate New York.
Sometimes you find things where you expect them. Sometimes you don’t. In the case of my breakfast sandwich odyssey, it was definitely the latter. After 80+ ski resorts spread across 5 countries and 18 states, I can finally stop looking. I have found the best breakfast sandwich in ski country.
If you had told me that a place called Jacobs and Toney’s Meat Store of the North – located next to a gas station in the not-so-bustling town of Warrensburg, New York near Hickory Ski Center and Gore Mountain – was home to the world’s greatest breakfast sandwich, I would have laughed you out of existence. Fueling up for my ski day while fueling up my car for the drive to the slopes? No thank you. Gas station breakfasts are a last resort reserved only for when my wife insists we stop for an “emergency snack.”
Well I’m here to man up and admit I was wrong. I judged a book by its cover and made a mistake. Jacob and Toney’s just celebrated its 100th birthday and is a grocery store and butcher shop next to a gas station, not a gas station store. When I think back to how many times I drove past “The Meat Store of the North” before I first when I’m literally crestfallen. I’ll never get those missed breakfast sandwiches back.
Calling something the “best” of anything is always a risky proposition and as I told my friends that I had found the best breakfast sandwich in the world (we’ll stick to ski country for this article), I was roundly met with laughter and derision. Sausauge, egg, cheese on a hardroll – nothing special there. Then they tried it – no more laughing, just apologies.
I always like to give credit where credit is due and this time the credit falls squarely on one Mr. Michael Ballou of New York, NY. Outgoing-captain of the Ivy Ski Club and former captain of the ski racing team at University of Virginia, he convinced me I was missing out. Mainly to prove him wrong, I stopped in one December morning on my way to Gore. That date was December 29, 2012 – the day my breakfast barometer was reset.
How can a simple sandwich be so life-changing? Well like any good sandwich, it starts with the roll. Baked in store, these fluffy kaiser rolls alone would make any sandwich a winner. But Jacobs and Toney’s goes a step farther buttering them and then toasting them on a small griddle; if you saw the size of the griddle (really just a large hot plate) you’d never believe they could cook anything on it, let alone the ski world’s best breakfast sandwich.
With the table set by a crunchy, fluffy hot roll, the next ingredient is artisan sausage. Spicy, flavorful and the perfect size to match the roll. Then come the fried eggs, which are brought in fresh from a local farm. Better still, they’re cooked on the same griddle as the sausage and the toasted rolls…Yum. A large block of NY Sharp White Cheddar sitting under glass on the counter is the final piece of the puzzle. A block of white cheddar has sat on that counter since the day the store opened.
Gooey, yummy, meaty, crunchy, spicy, fluffy, flaky…indescribable. What’s the secret? According to Jennifer Nadler, the third generation owner of Jacob and Toney’s, the secret is the sandwiches are “Always made with love…well and actually a lot of butter…no really – they’re made fresh, made to order and very inexpensive.”
You probably don’t believe me. You have a better breakfast place near your local mountain, you say. I’m sure you honestly think you do and that’s fine by me. A shorter line before first chair suits me perfectly well. But next time you’re in Upstate New York, do yourself a favor and give Jacobs and Toney’s Meat Market of the North a try. My inbox awaits your apology.
David B. Cronheim – Editor, USA and Canada
Jacobs and Toney’s Meat Store of the North is located in Warrensburg, NY, just 5 minutes off Exit 23 of I-87. It is 5 minutes from Hickory Ski Center and 15 minutes from Gore Mountain.
Jacobs and Toney’s Meat Store of the North
3872 Main Street
Warrensburg, NY 12885
www.deliandmeatstoreofthenorth.com