
Instagramās most ubiquitous new dish ā a gorgeous, golden-hued, triple-cut, yolks-out egg salad sandwich from Konbi in Los Angeles ā almost never existed. āWe got in a fight because I didnāt want to serve it,ā says co-chef and co-owner owner Nick Montgomery. āI thought it was stupid. And egg salad usually sucks.āā
When Montgomery and fellow chef-owner Akira Akuto were working out the menu for their 500 square-foot Echo Park cafe, which opened in early October, the idea was to serve pristine French pastries alongside gussied-up versions of Japanese convenience store foods using high-quality ingredients. A folded Japanese omelette and Duroc pork katsu were no-brainers for the sandwich portion of the menu, but egg salad wasnāt a sure thing, even though itās a beloved staple at 7-Elevens and the like all over Japan.
āIt was actually just intended to be a relief item from the hot food, but we didnāt expect it to be popular,ā Akuto says. āWe predicted the egg salad would be in last place.ā Instead, it became Instagramās version of the song of summer: something you canāt escape, and even if it irks you a tiny bit that it feels like itās everywhere, you canāt help but bob your head along with the beat.
The cafĆ© has been a social-media hit since its first day ā media and āinfluencersā were swift to squeeze into the cafeās ten snug counter seats; local writer and host of the Air Jordan food podcast Jordan Okun tweeted a few days after the opening, āDo I even exist if I havenāt been to Konbi yet?ā But according to Akuto and Montgomery, the egg salad sandwichās tipping point came after newly appointed New York Times California restaurant critic Tejal Rao posted a shot of the sandwich a few weeks after the cafĆ©ās opening: āThe sandwich really was in last place, but then someone reblogged Tejalās post, and it took off,ā Akuto recalls. (Itās worth noting that the pork katsu is still the most popular sandwich, but depending on the day, the egg salad or the omelette comes in second.)
The sandwichās appeal is manifold: itās delicious, itās visually arresting, it feeds into food mediaās obsession with Japanese food and culture, and at ten bucks, itās accessible to anyone who wants a bite of a food-world sensation. āYou donāt have to understand the significance of the egg salad sandwich in Japan, that itās this take on Western cafe culture,ā says Los Angeles Magazine food editor Garrett Snyder, referring to the countryās iconic plastic-wrapped convenience-store versions. āAnd itās not some crazy $200 kaiseki menu that youāre bragging about on Instagram. Itās a sandwich, but itās still projecting an appreciation of the craft.ā
It helps that the egg salad itself is next-level. The eggs, from nearby Chino Valley Ranchers, were selected for their bright orange-yellow yolk (ātheyāre similar to what you would see in Japan,ā Montgomery says). The brilliant-yellow salad is made with Dijon mustard, crĆØme fraĆ®che, a hint of rice wine vinegar, and scallions, before itās spread onto fluffy milk bread created specially for Konbi by local baker Andy Kadin of Bub and Grandmaās. But the stars of the sandwich are undoubtedly the two medium-boiled eggs that are purposely placed ābutt to buttā before slicing the sandwich. Once the crusts are trimmed parallel to the eggs and the sandwich is cut into thirds, each slice is anchored by a sunrise of yolk shining out from the middle.
āThe yolk in the middle is a textural counterpoint to the salad,ā Akuto explains. Montgomery adds: āWe decided it was delicious to have the egg in the sandwich, but it looked kind of stupid if you didnāt see the egg yolk in every slice.ā (The sandwiches are also engineered to fit perfectly into the shopās takeout boxes, right down to the bread thatās sliced at exactly five-eighths of an inch.)
The egg salad sandwichās social-media success is all the more notable because of what it isnāt: a gimmick food sporting a tag like āunicornā or ārainbow.ā Montgomery and Akuto are quick to point out that none of the food on their menu was created specifically to be social media-genic. Montgomery says, āI wish people would just say that you make food look good because thatās how you should serve it. Itās not for Instagram.ā
āKonbi found a niche,ā says Victoire Loup, restaurant consultant and founder of the food site In the Loup. āNo one does Japanese street food with French-inspired pastries ā fashion designers say they wish theyād created the white shirt. Well, Konbi found their thing, which is the egg salad sandwich, and itās simple but iconic.ā
Zach Brooks, who runs the Los Angeles outpost of Smorgasburg, said, āLook, Iām in a weird position because the food at Smorgasburg is Instagrammable, but we care way more about how the food tastes than [ how] it looks. If it wasnāt my favorite sandwich on the menu I wouldnāt have Instagrammed it. In the end, you eat it and itās just so good.ā He added, āThey should get credit for that.ā