While most of Blackbelly’s meat comes from Colorado, for this month only, the Boulder whole animal butcher shop and market will source a meaty sandwich all the way from Chicago, Illinois. Blackbelly is one of just four well-respected meatopias chosen by Windy City Publican Quality Meats’ (PQM) chef-owner Paul Kahan to participate in a collaborative sandwich exchange aptly dubbed “Swap Meat.” (The other three? New Orleans’ Turkey and the Wolf, Zingerman’s Delicatessen out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Tartine Manufactory from San Francisco.) For the month of February, Blackbelly will sell one of PQM’s signature sandos, and PQM will offer one of Blackbelly’s.

“Paul’s been a big influence on me and Publican Quality Meats is a restaurant I’ve always tried to emulate,” says Blackbelly owner Hosea Rosenberg. “So to be involved in a project like this—we’re elated.” Blackbelly’s Pork Belly PB & J will kick off PQM’s collaboration series—which runs from January to April—and in celebration, Rosenberg is offering Kahan’s Piri Piri Pavo on his own February sandwich board. The culinary import boasts a pile of thinly shaved smoked turkey topped with ginger-garlic piri piri (a spicy Portuguese chile sauce), smashed avocado, sunflower “aillade” (similar to a pesto made with sunflower seeds), and fresh sunflower sprouts on toasted sourdough. “It’s fun (that) people here [in Boulder] can get a taste of such a high-caliber Chicago restaurant,” Rosenberg says.

 

Blackbelly’s pork belly PB & J. Photo by Lauren Feder Rosenberg

Concurrently, Chicagoans will be able to taste Blackbelly’s meaty twist on the classic PB & J at PQM. Rosenberg’s indulgent concoction consists of house-made peanut butter, fruit jam, and crisp pork belly between two slices of toasted sourdough. You only have to go as far as Boulder to get your paws on one (or both) of these handheld masterpieces—though we would happily make a trip to the Windy City just for a taste. 

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