Maximus Minimus pokes it snout out on Pike

That's some pig. I'm talking about the newest addition to the burgeoning street food scene sprouting around Seattle. Check out the Voracious columnist Jonathan Kauffman's photos of the big pig known as Maximus Minimus serving up pulled pork and side dishes. The word on the street is tasty.

Two days after its' opening on 2nd and Pike, I joined the Frantic Foodie (who was heretofore sworn to secrecy on the pig premiere) and other foodie aficionados on a mini-jaunt around the Pike Place Market area. We met Kurt Dammeier at his Beecher's Handmade Cheese for a quick tour around the shop, then headed to Maximus Minimus for the main course, and ended up at his Sugar Mountain business offices nearby to pepper Dammeier with questions about his newest venture.

After Beecher's Handmade Cheese, Pasta & Co., and Bennett's Pure Food Bistro, Dammeier was ready for something different and took inspiration from his hankering for a pulled pork sandwich that he could get right in downtown near his offices. If he were working down in the SODO, there would no problem. Throw a stick out the Starbuck's corporate headquarters windows and you'd probably hit one, whether it'd be Jones Barbecue, Pig Iron Bar-B-Q or Pecos Pit. All three of these are serve up the much loved pulled pork. But there's nothing quite like those places around the Market area. Some brick and mortar ideas were bounced around before deciding to jump on the street food bandwagon. Good choice. You can't miss that gleaming silver snout parked out there on Pike.

The menu is quite simple, a generous mound of pulled pork or a vegetarian version featuring fennel. The sauces are the star of the show. The maximus is spicy while the minimus is slightly sweet. I enjoyed the maximus while I heard good things about the flavor of the minimus. Although the sauce is spicy, it actually doesn't kick with a lot of heat. Dammeier opted to keep the burn level low but quickly added that next time I should get the "hurt" on or even the "double hurt," which is the extra hot sauce for those who want to climb the Scoville scale.

Adding cheese, of course, means none other than Beecher's flagship cheddar. Delectably squeaky, yes, but somewhat hidden in the sauce. Perhaps they'll adjust later or maybe use instead their smoked cheddar; now that would stand up to the rest of the sandwich.

The sides include a crunchy, refreshing slaw, again with spicy or sweet tang. Adding chips to the basket means a variety of hand-cut, thin sliced, deep fried root veggies, perhaps some beets, potatoes, cassava or yams.

The sandwich solo is a good, quick lunch which goes great with either the ginger lemonade or the hibiscus tea. Adding the sides does indeed add up the price. On the current menu, the sandwich is $6, with cheese and slaw, $8.50, and chips, $11.00. The beverages are $2.00. Prices include tax.