Wendy’s could soon surpass Burger King as the nation’s second-largest fast-food burger chain under a strategy that focuses on premium foods and restaurant makeovers, according to an analyst report released Tuesday….

The debut of contemporary prototype restaurants along with a continued focus on food quality are giving Wendy’s the edge it needs to bump Burger King from its No. 2 spot, Kalinowski said during a phone interview Tuesday….

In his report, Kalinowski said he expects Wendy’s to increase sales if it continues to revamp stores with modern fixtures, fireplaces and flat-screen TVs.

– Nancy Luna, OC Register.

I’m going to keep choosing Wendy’s over Burger King regardless of where it ranks among fast-food chains, just like I’m going to keep listening to Dark Side of the Moon over Back in Black even if the latter is more popular. But good for the fine people of Wendy’s if and when they do surpass Burger King. They have the superior product; they deserve the recognition. It’s a shame that Dave Thomas never lived to see the day.

The whole article is worth a read if you’re interested in terms like “limited-service hamburger sector,” but obviously the most intriguing part is this talk of the “contemporary prototype” Wendy’s restaurants with flat-screens and fireplaces. Has anyone seen one yet?

Check out what they look like:

NYCGO.com presents a list of 10 must-try sandwiches in New York City. I’ve only had one — the chicken parm at Torrisi Italian Specialties. But I’ve been targeting a few of these for a while, especially the banh mi. Going to make that happen soon I think.

Via the always sandwich-vigilant @dpecs.

This was an inspired one, I think.

Inspired, I should say, by our man Catsmeat, who recommended something he made called a “doughboy” months ago, and by various recent discussions of savory pastries. But also inspired in the same way we say great performances are inspired, as if granted to the actors by some transcendent force that for some reason focuses its divine efforts on pleasing indie-film audiences and art critics.

Anyway, if I was the medium for inspiration in this case, the source was certainly a fridge full of leftovers combined with my wife’s insistence that I put some of them to use before they went bad. And they never went bad. They went well. So, so well.

Presenting: The Chili Doughboy:

Here’s how it went down:

1) Make chili. Serve with cheddar and monterey jack shredded cheese blend, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Enjoy chili with your wife’s family. Receive lots of compliments on chili, because the chili is delicious. Save remaining chili in tupperware in fridge. Also save remaining cheese, sour cream and chips.

2) Plan to make pizza. Buy small ball of pizza dough from local pizzeria. Scrap plans to make pizza. Something else came up.

3) A couple of days later, remove pizza dough from fridge and bring to room temperature. Using kitchen shears, cut pizza dough into quarters. Pre-heat oven to 400-degrees.

4) Stretch out one of the pieces of dough until it is roughly eight inches in diameter and lay it flat. You don’t want the dough to be NY-pizza-style thin.

5) Grab some of that shredded cheese — remember the cheese? — and spread it in the center of the dough, creating a little cheese-bed. I didn’t try it any other way, but I suspect this is important: You’re going to (SPOILER ALERT) put chili on top of the cheese, and I worry that if you put the chili right on top of the dough, the grease from the chili might seep through and jeopardize the structural integrity of the entire thing. The cheese is there to protect against that. It is also delicious cheese.

6) Put chili on top of the cheese. I used about two scoops, using a tablespoon. But not two measured tablespoons — I was just using a regular old tablespoon, like from my silverware drawer, and they were big heaping spoonfuls. Eyeball it. Use whatever you think looks like the right amount of chili for that amount of dough. This isn’t rocket science.

7) OPTIONAL: Crumble a couple of tortilla chips on top of the chili. I say “optional” here because I did it, but in truth it’s completely unnecessary. I was hoping I’d capture some of the magic of Taco Bell’s Crunchy Red Strips, but… well, more on that to follow.

8) Wrap that mother up. Brush with a little bit of olive oil, and dust with salt and chili powder. Repeat if you want more than one.

9) Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. You know what cooked things look like. Let cool — these things are hot. You might want to poke a hole in the top with the fork to let some of the steam escape.

10) Eat the Chili Doughboy. I mixed sour cream with sriracha to use as a dip, but it turned out the sriracha part was probably unnecessary. The chili itself was spicy enough that I really didn’t need any more heat. Just the sour cream would have been fine.

Turns out the Chili Doughboy is amazing. And despite all those steps, really easy to make — provided you already have leftover chili. It’s the bread-bowl approach to chili, without even the need for finding a worthy bread bowl (which is always way harder than it feels like it should be). Plus the pizza dough is fresh baked and piping hot, and just a touch sweet, which makes for a nice complement to a spicy chili.

The crumbled tortilla chips did nothing for this. They got lost in the mix with all the other flavors and textures, and I suspect they got sogged down by the chili in the cooking process and didn’t have the crunchifying effect I was hoping for. No matter. What I failed to consider was that the top part of the dough had a nice crust to it, which provided all the crunch this thing needed.

When I next make these — and I’m going to make them again, probably within the next few days because I still have some chili and some dough — I’m going to try making them a bit smaller, closer to appetizer-sized. I think I’m on to something here, you guys.

Am I out of line to want my gyro bread bisected and then stuffed: thereby making my it more of a gyro sandwich than a gyro wrap? Tasting Gyros is a mouthparty. Eating Gyros is anxiety inducing. I feel like I’m too worried about how not to spray tzatziki on everyone to be able to fully enjoy the meal. Also, as currently constructed, its impossible to get a consistent bite. I’m either chomping on all bread and veggies or all meat and sauce. There’s like one bite in the whole process that is a perfect mix. (and it keeps me coming back every time). Sure, I could somewhat ease the mixing problem by reconstructing it myself a bit, but I paid for a meal, man, not a job. Who knows, maybe it’s been tried and the bread just isn’t hearty enough to support both sides when halved.

– Cake-Eater, via email.

Lots of classic gyro-eating problems here. I wish I had more wisdom, but truth is, eating a gyro is a tricky (albeit ultimately rewarding) endeavor.

Forget about splitting the gyro bread in half. I’ve only seen one place pull that off — The Little Cafe, near Georgetown in DC — and that place is now closed. Presumably the amount of effort that took ran them out of business. Plus — and as you suggest — though the gyro bread is thick, it’s not thick enough to withstand being stuffed with meat and sauce and vegetables. It worked at Little Cafe because the stuffing was chicken and hummus. Lamb is a greasy meat. That’s going to seep through.

I’d say: 1) The foil is your friend. The best way to keep everything as neat as possible when eating a gyro is to keep as much foil on the sandwich as long as possible. That means tearing it off bit by bit as you eat your way through. By the end you’re going to have one extremely messy sauce-well of foil, but you’re just going to have to face that when you get there. And it’s going to get all over your hands. Cost of doing business, brother.

2) Cut down on the vegetables. Seriously, are you eating that gyro for the iceberg lettuce and mealy tomatoes, or for the delicious, greasy hunks of lamb with tzatziki and hot sauce? See if you can talk the street-meat guy (are we talking street-meat gyros here? I get a good 85% of my gyros off the street) out of tomatoes entirely, and tell him to go light on the lettuce. You won’t be sorry. That stuff is just a third wheel on your date with delicious gyro meat. I get that you want some lettuce in there for crunch, but you’re still going to get plenty — and it’s going to mix in better with the meat if there’s less. It’s physics, or something.

Also, the gyros poster above hung on the wall at a diner in my town. Several times I tried to convince the owner to sell it to me but he never budged. Then the last time I was in there it was gone. What gives? I wanted that poster!