Scott Drewno and Danny Lee’s egg-sandwich pop-up, currently run out of sister restaurant Chiko on Barracks Row, will soon have its own permanent home serving daily breakfast. But for now, you’ll have to snag this deliciously drippy bacon-egg-and-fontina sandwich—served on buttery griddled milk bread—on weekends.
Read MorePandemic pop-ups are like the Jerry Butler song—only the strong survive. While many ghost kitchens have ghosted, the best of the rest are largely going brick-and-mortar. I Egg You, the weekend breakfast-sandwich pop-up out of the original Capitol Hill location of Korean/Chinese fast casual spot Chiko, is among the marathoners. The popular concept will move into its own Barracks Row restaurant space this summer. On tap: daily breakfast and lunch service, a full bar specializing in brunch cocktails, and private space for intimate nighttime events from the Fried Rice Collective (the chefs/restaurateurs are also behind mod-Korean favorite Anju). Until the new place opens, the sandwiches will still be available weekends at Chiko.
Read MoreAt this breakfast spot inside Chiko in Capitol Hill, toasted Korean milk bread (from O’ Bakery) forms the basis for detail-oriented breakfast sandwiches. The kitchen fills the sandwiches with eggs cooked in nutty brown butter, plus fontina cheese and crispy Logan’s sausage. Open Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Read MoreChefs like to tell you that bread is the most important element of a great sandwich, which explains the lengths to which some will go to bake or source their loaves. Scott Drewno, the chef behind this weekend ghost kitchen at the Chiko on Capitol Hill, opted for milk bread for his breakfast sandwiches. He buys loaves from O Bread in Annandale, a Korean bakery that will make you feel like a kid in a candy store. The ethereal quality of the bread persuaded Drewno that he needed a spread that wouldn’t saturate it in fat, which is why he started to whip butter before applying it to the slices. The chef adopted other tricks, too, such as frying eggs in brown butter and sprinkling them with a blend of spices, including toasted sesame seeds, chile flake and gray sea salt. He even fries the Logan’s brand breakfast sage sausage in a wok to add an element of crustiness to the pork. They’re small techniques that add a world of flavor.
Read MoreWhile some restaurants are choosing to hibernate and wait out the winter months, things are just getting ramped up for Scott Drewno, Danny Lee and Andrew Kim, the founders of CHIKO and Fried Rice Collective. Between opening a third location in the DMV area later this winter and keeping their current locations at Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle running to debuting new breakfast concept I Egg You, the past few months have been focused on innovating and moving forward.
Read MoreUsually it’s the runny yolk that takes a breakfast sandwich from ordinary to extraordinary, but at I Egg You, the bread pulls its own weight. Chefs Danny Lee and Scott Drewno source the fluffy milk bread from O Bread, a Korean bakery in Annandale. They first utilized it on the brunch menu at CHIKO’s sister restaurant Anju.
I Egg You is a weekend “ghost restaurant” that’s been operating out of CHIKO’s Capitol Hill location since September. Sample the signature “Original Egg” breakfast sandwich with a brown butter egg and fontina cheese on griddled bread. You can opt to add bacon or confit Logan’s Sausage for two more dollars or a splash of CHIKO hot sauce for fifty cents.
Read MoreIn mid-September, Chiko chefs Danny Lee and Scott Drewno started experimenting with a new breakfast sandwich business at the Capitol Hill location. Five different sandwiches, built on milk bread from O Bread Bakery, are available from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Preorders go live on Chiko’s Toast page Friday night after 5 p.m.
Read MoreThe restaurateurs behind popular restaurants ChiKo and Anju have morphed the Capitol Hill ChiKo location into a weekend brunch spot for those who like eggs. Especially the breakfast sandwich kind.
I Egg You is not a pop-up, but it isn’t a full-time thing either.
Fried Rice Collective chefs Scott Drewno and Danny Lee launched I Egg You on Sept. 12, and it operates out of the Capitol Hill ChiKo location only on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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