Home of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Let me start off by saying that if you haven’t read the first installment of I Love Grilled Cheese, I would definitely recommend you read it now! One of the first times I googled “grilled cheese,” I noticed a result for a restaurant specializing in …
Let me start off by thanking @goldbedr and @allisonlemons for giving me great suggestions for tonight’s grilled cheese. Unfortunately, prior to seeing the ideas, I had already devised one of my own. These ideas will definitely make an appearance in the near future, as I …
Soon after I started cooking grilled cheese sandwiches and blogging about them, I began emailing a few different people who are involved in the restaurant business and have a special tie to grilled cheese. I was interested in hearing why they are so interested in grilled cheese sandwiches and how it fits into a restaurant when not being featured on a children’s menu.
The first restaurant I contacted has a new grilled cheese sandwich each and everyday. The owner seemed very interested in answering my questions. However, I believe but cannot confirm, that once he realized I had never visited the restaurant he began to ignore me and my questions. I eventually gave up and decided that although I was intrigued by his restaurant, I would never visit it.
The second restaurant I contacted was much more responsive and Mr. Matt Fish of Melt Bar and Grilled answered my questions. With just a couple nudges, he took time out of his very busy schedule to answer my questions in full. Unfortunately I have not been to his restaurant in a couple of years, but because he was so nice and forthcoming, I will do my best to make it back as quickly as I can. Plus, it is a grilled cheese restaurant, why wouldn’t I want to return? (The one time I dined at Melt, I ordered the Parmageddon, which Matt names as one of the most popular sandwiches. I can definitely see why, considering I am still talking about it two years later. I would highly recommend it.)
Below are Mr. Fish’s answers in his own words. If you live in the Cleveland area or ever visit, make sure to stop by Melt. I owe him a great deal of gratitude for being our first interviewee. Please add your comments below regarding the “interview” or the I Love Grilled Cheese feature. I hope for this to turn into a somewhat regular series.
How long has Melt Bar and Grilled been open and how long have you personally been in the restaurant business?
Melt Bar and Grilled has been open since September 2006. I have been working in the restaurant business since 1992. So it has been about 17 years now. I have a combination of culinary arts schooling and self-taught on the job training. I have always worked for independent restaurants and have tried to put my touch and signature on every establishment.
Please expand on your love for grilled cheese and how it evolved into a restaurant.
I have loved grilled cheese for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest cooking memories from childhood are making grilled cheese with my mom. It has always been my go-to food of choice. Working in restaurants everyday for so long, you really need a go-to, no brainier favorite food. Something quick, simple and delicious. I have always had the dream of opening my own restaurant. I came up with the idea for Melt Bar and Grilled a few years before actually opening for business. I really wanted to do something different and special in the restaurant community here in Cleveland. I needed a very unique concept and product. Since I have always been very much in love with grilled cheese and comfort type foods, it was really a simple decision.
Do you believe that most people stereotype the grilled cheese in that they think it is boring and for children?
My experience with Melt Bar and Grilled and grilled cheese has been overwhelmingly positive. When people hear that we are a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant, they get very excited and very hungry. I think the grilled cheese is a very common connection food for many Americans. Everyone has a memory or a story involving grilled cheese. Plus the way we approach and produce the grilled cheese makes it light years from a so-called “boring” childhood favorite.
Have you seen a positive response to your restaurant?
The response has been 100% positive and very overwhelming. People from all walks of life have embraced Melt Bar and Grilled and call it home. We have expanded our small restaurant twice to accommodate the crowds and I am currently working on opening a second Melt in Cleveland Height by the end of 2009.
What has been the most popular sandwich and what is your favorite?
The most popular sandwich is pretty much a 3 way tie. The classic Kindergarten is our basic grilled cheese. Choose your cheese from the 12 that we offer and add pretty much anything you would like. Or simply order it straight up and enjoy the classic deliciousness. The Wake & Bacon is also a favorite. It features 2 farm raised fried eggs, crisp bacon and american cheese. The Parmageddon is also a great seller. It combines 2 locally produced potato and cheese pierogi, fresh made napa vodka kraut, grilled onions and sharp cheddar.
My favorite sandwich is something I call the “classic” I just combine 2 fried eggs, grilled tomatoes and american cheese. I am a vegetarian, so it is a great sandwich for me.
Where does your sandwich inspiration come from?
I am inspired by classic American comfort foods. I simply try to convert them and create a grilled cheese sandwiches from the idea. We offer a special sandwich every month that really has taken on a life of it’s own. I am constantly trying to out do myself every month. For example, this month we are featuring a sandwich called The Corny Beast. It is our take on the corn dog. We shove a grilled jumbo hot dog and double american cheese inside the sandwich. Then, corn bread batter the whole sandwich and deep fry till golden brown. We serve it with sticks also for that old school carnival feel. All the specials have been great sellers for us.
Thanks for the opportunity to answer these questions and be a part of your blog.
Melt Bar and Grilled • 14718 Detroit Road • Lakewood, OH 44107 • 216.226.3699
Welcome back to bread and lots of it. As I couldn’t eat bread for the past week because of Passover, I thought I would overdo it this week with a double decker grilled cheese. Tonight’s sandwich was an homage to the traditional grilled cheese with …
With the Passover holiday continuing, tonight, I replaced “normal bread” with our lovely friend matzoh. Even with having to eat it for 8 days straight every year, it is starting to grow on me. It seems that most Jews dread this holiday simply because of the lack of food options, but it hasn’t bothered me in awhile. Plus tonight’s grilled cheese added a nice challenge that I was willing to face head on, especially when charoset is included.
Starting this week, before writing about the actual grilled cheese, I am going to discuss the cheese of the night. While eating the past 10 sandwiches (yes, 10 sandwiches), I felt like I was learning more about the bread than the cheese. With the help of ILoveCheese.co.uk, (yes, that is a real web site), I will educate both you and me about the featured cheese.
One of the world’s greatest cheeses and the most famous from France, Brie is a soft-ripened cow’s milk cheese named after the historic French region where it originated. The elegant cheese is characterized by a smooth, edible, white downy rind, and a creamy rich, buttery interior. Very soft and savory, Brie practically oozes at the peak of ripeness, displaying earthy mushroom overtones and a slight hint of ammonia…learn more
Prior to creating and eating tonight’s grilled cheese, I took a moment to sample the Brie cheese and write down my thoughts, which are pretty inline with the above description. The kind that was purchased yesterday, because of the holiday (Easter), was very smooth and creamy and had a distinct taste, maybe a nuttiness flavor. Either way, it was delish. It would have been great simply with some crackers as a dessert or even just a snack. I would have been okay with it! Anyway, onto the grilled cheese…
As I created tonight’s grilled cheese, I obviously tried to stick with the Passover theme.
The spread/filling of the grilled cheese is a play on charoset, which my mom’s recipe includes for apples, walnuts, cinnamon and red wine mixed together. She makes it chunky but it appears that it can be more of a paste. In my creation, we used a white wine, but only as a liquid, and blended the charoset mixture until it was very fine. I placed this charoset spread on top of the matzoh and Brie cheese. Then I added some larger chunks of walnuts, put the top piece of matzoh on and placed it in the oven. It was as simple as that.
On the surface, I was excited. The Brie cheese was fantastic and so was the charoset mixture. However, something got lost in translation as the grilled cheese was put together and cooked. I did create it twice and in the second version, I added more cheese and cooked it a little while longer but I was still somewhat “eh” to it.
On the other hand, my father thought it was great and ate the whole grilled cheese. In my first version, when I could taste the brie, the sandwich was out of this world, however, I didn’t taste the walnuts too much. Plus, I believe the charoset mixture needed something but I can’t put my finger on exactly what was missing. Then there is the matzoh, which is just a cracker that has no leavening agent in it.
Unfortunately, this grilled cheese and matzoh in general, is not very photogenic so I apologize for the lack of sandwich creation photos.
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If my dad were writing this review, there would definitely be a different slant, a more positive vibe. However he is not, and therefore there is a little hesitation in my “voice.” It was a great try and if there were a few more tweaks, I believe this Passover grilled cheese could have been great. There was just something missing in the charoset and the Brie was not as powerful as I had hoped.
Not until I recieved an email from Kathi @ panini happy (and a comment from the Daily Spud) did I know that April is National Grilled Cheese Month. How is that possible? How did the grilled cheese man not know that April is Grilled Cheese …
Because today was a travel day, I was just returning from Chicago, there was no Sunday Dinners. Next week I will return with a special Passover edition, which should be interesting. Even though I wasn’t cooking tonight, I still want to keep everyone posted as …
Commenting Guidelines?
The other day PaniniKathy tweeted about an article on the Food Blog Alliance entitled Comments: how to give as good as you get. It is a great article for blogger and commenter alike. I highly recommend taking two minutes to read it. After reading that …