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It's a Pot Roast in a Sandwich - and an Award-Winning One, at that

Courtesy Miller's Cafe and Bakery

Northern New Hampshire may be home to the best sandwich in the state.

The Food Network recently chose 50 of its favorite sandwiches, one for each state, and the winner in the Granite State was the Yankee Flip sandwich – we’ll explain the name in a minute. But let’s first explain what the sandwich is: a piece of Tandoori flatbread, filled with some onions, garlic potatoes, greens, apple pieces, a little horseradish mayonnaise and a pot roast.

Yes, a pot roast in a sandwich.

Not the most obvious collection of ingredients, for sure, but it’s the hot item at Miller’s Café and Bakery, right on the Ammonoosuc River in Littleton. Chef and owner David Eyler fell in love with pot roast thanks to his mother, whose recipe was, in his words, "wicked good" – the rest he dreamed up as an archeology student at NYU.

“I spent a lot of time in Greece and Turkey," Eyler says, "and I used to get these amazing lamb sandwiches that I think were on a type of pita bread. But they always put French fries in them, which I just loved. That’s kind of how we got the potato idea, and then the whole idea of the wrappy, pita bread.“

Technically it’s a modified wrappy, pita bread – pizza dough cooked on a cast iron stovetop, to make it lighter and fluffier. Bread you have to flip over to cook evenly.

Flip bread + traditional Yankee pot roast = Yankee Flip sandwich.

Eyler says it can also equal a big mess, at least for customers who order the Yankee Flip to go.

“Yeah, sometimes people will order it for take-out, they think they’re going to eat it while they’re driving," he says, laughing. "And I’m like ‘no you’re not, it’s not gonna happen.’”

The Food Network seems to have a crush on Littleton restaurants – in addition to lauding the Yankee Flip in its 50 States, 50 Sandwiches awards, the network also recently named the best breakfasts in each state. The New Hampshire winner was the buckwheat pancakes at the Littleton Diner. Eyler says he and other local restaurateurs are glad to see the area getting some recognition.

“It’s this small little unassuming town up in northern New Hampshire," he says. "And it’s become this little food Mecca, which is great – Thai food, and great pastries, there’s great martinis and cocktails.

"People think of Littleton and they think about good food, and that’s a great thing to be a part of.”

David Eyler says he and Miller’s are “making pot roasts around the clock” to keep up with demand for the Yankee Flip sandwich.

Just make sure to grab a few napkins when you order one.

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