grilledshane.com

But the problem with a restaurant serving grilled cheese is that the sandwich is too simple. It has three elements — white bread, American cheese and margarine — which are generally held in low esteem by the sandwich-buying public even though these ingredients come together in an amazing bite, simultaneously crisp and soft, double-buttery and starchy sweet, lush and delicate. Who could object to that? But as the judges recently told another aspiring grilled-cheese franchiser on America’s Next Great Restaurant, to carry the weight of a restaurant concept, the sandwich needs to have what entrepreneurs call “added value”: something that will make it worthwhile to the consumer to seek it out instead of just making it at home. So, inevitably, the white bread gets swapped out for some fancier, coarser, denser substance that will obscure and distort the sandwich’s taste. The American cheese, whose supernatural meltability, evenness and quick-setting viscosity make the whole thing possible, gets replaced with waxy, greasy cheddar, smoked Gouda or whatever; and the thin, even coat of fat, which suffuses the delicate airiness of the white bread, gets tinkered with as well. (Time.com)

As is pretty evident of my love of all things grilled cheese, I completely disagree with Mr. Josh Ozersky and his article, Grilled Cheese Should Be Made by Moms, Not Restaurants. However, I want to know how you feel? Do you eat grilled cheese out? Have you been to a grilled cheese only restaurant? When you think back to your first grilled cheese sandwich, do you remember only American cheese and white bread or did your mom spice it up a bit?

Let’s use this post as a way to embrace the grilled cheese and reminisce about all things grilled cheese. I want to hear from you…

P.S. The local owner/founder of Melt Bar & Grilled responds to “The Melt” concept.