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43 GettinG there Walk out Children’s Grand Park, exit 3. take the first right, then second left. You will come to a three-way intersection; Michelle is on your right. ☎ (02) 3437-0700 Neighborhood Children’s Grand Park Sandwich style Philly cheesesteak Signature sandwiches The Original, The Professor Chang I asked Michael Lee, the owner of Michelle American Sand- wiches, why he chose to open a Philly cheesesteak restaurant in Seoul. “If you taste it, you will know everything,” he says. I tasted it, and now I know. The 10 years Lee spent living in and around Boston are written all over his sandwiches. They’re massive — as big as any sand- wich I’ve ever seen — and filled with more steak than seems possible for one order. As I was watching him cook the steak, onions and bell peppers for The Original, I had to wonder: Can you sell a sandwich this substantial, full of this much steak, for 9,000 won and still turn a profit? A sandwich at Michelle begins its jour- ney from griddle to plate when Lee slips pieces of frozen American beef onto the large griddle in the center of his restaurant. The beef, red-and-white- marbled, sizzles and begins to thaw. He then adds onions and bell peppers. Af- ter cooking for a few minutes he begins to chop and mix the ingredients togeth- er with his big spatula, eventually piling them up and adding cheese — Swiss, American or Provolone — to the top. There the piles sit as the steak browns on the bottom and the cheese melts on top. The Original is a no-nonsense sandwich. It’s full of steak, green peppers, onions, provolone, salt, pepper and nothing else. There’s no sauce — the fat from the steak and the mois- ture from the onions and bell peppers is enough to keep the sandwich moist and juicy. Lee said he doesn’t add sauce to the Original because it would overpower the subtle taste of the Provolone. The Professor Chang — named by one of his customers, a professor at Konkuk University — has the same steak, but with barbecue sauce, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and jala- penos added. It’s equally delicious, with a bit more zip from the barbecue sauce and heat from the jalapenos. And I hate to say it, but the American cheese adds a comforting richness to the sandwich. In case it isn’t already obvious, Michelle American Sandwiches is a hole-in-the-wall. And in true hole-in-the-wall fashion, the restaurant’s mismatched wallpaper, chintzy furniture and com- puter printout menus belie the quality of the gloriously American sandwiches on offer. It’s clear that Lee’s focus is fully on the product. Michelle American Sandwiches is a hole-in-the-wall. And in true hole- in-the-wall fashion, the restaurant’s mismatched wallpaper, chintzy furniture and computer printout menus belie the quality of the gloriously American sandwiches on offer. aMeriCan sandwiChes MiChelle