Grinder Is King

On any given lunch hour, many of us chomp into Italian or eggplant parmesan grinders without giving much thought to the history of these quintessentially New England sandwiches.

But grinder enthusiasts like Phil Ramos, owner of Terrace Bakery in New London, are well aware of the grinder's genesis, which they say is a distinctly New London story.

"The grinder word was originally from New London," Ramos said inside his Jefferson Avenue bakery and grinder shop recently.

The meaning behind the actual word is simple.

"Because when you bite it, this is what you do," Ramos said mashing his teeth. "You grind it."

--"Grinder is King Festival", The Day, 9/15/12

There's more to the story; of course there is. There always is.

But do you know what grinders mean to me?

That's right: Luncheon.

And I love luncheon.

And this past Saturday was the Grinder Is King Festival in New London.

Talk about a festival I can get behind.

Hoo yeah.

First, you gotta get there:

The Grinder Fest was at Waterfront Park, in downtown New London, on the beautiful, well, waterfront park on the River.

Look! Down here!

Can you believe it? Grinder Fest!

And we were not the only ones enjoying the 9-grinder-samples-for-$5 love . . .

. . . oh, no.

Grinders.

The world's best summer lunch.

The peeps were working it, just for us.

Oh, that grinder love.

And Mistah Schleckah agrees.

Yeah, a funny aside, I ran into a friend who said, "Oh there she is. When there's food, well, there's Ellie."

Um, it's Grinder Fest? Grinder is King? Everyone in town is here? Duh?

Whatevs. Even Jennie, our vegan, gluten-free, meat-, cheese- and bread-free friend, came down to the waterfront to see all the peeps in New London out and about on a spectacular afternoon.

New London? Awesome for many many reasons. Including being home of the Grinder.

Rock On, New London.

I'll have mine toasted.