grilled cheesin’.
A few days back I posted a video of my favorite dude, the New York Time’s minimalist, Mark Bittman grillin’ up some cheese on bread. I still can’t get the crunch that bread made out of my head and so I’ve been struck with the need to elaborate on this amazing sandwich.
As a kid, I was partial to mac and cheese, and still am, but grilled cheese comes in handy in a way that mac and cheese can’t sometimes. My brother, who is an exceptional cheese-griller, if you will, elevated the grilled cheese to new heights for me: Swiss and cheddar blends, paprika, mustard, garlic - all sorts of adventurous additions that opened up my mind to the whole wide world of grilled cheese possibilities!
So while I am always game to try gourmet grilled cheese - and in NYC it seems as if there is a constant quest to ‘elevate’ the basic - I also really love the tried and true old school cheese and bread combo. I’ve tried out a whole bunch of prep methods (George Forman grill, regular grill pan, regular pan, microwave even), but sometimes I’m just in the mood for a good NJ-style diner grilled cheese with kraft, white bread, a pickle, fries and a chocolate milk.
That being said, let’s move on to the more elevated forms found around my parts of the city. I’ve stuck to grilled cheeses that I’ve had, or heard amazing things about and are on my list to try. I’ve also included grilled cheeses from places I go or just seem to be in this general cohort of grilled cheeses.
Think: your choice of Smith’s farmhouse cheddar, swiss, Kraft, vegan cheddar, on “Orwasher’s handmade multi-grain” pullman with additions like tomato (+$1.25), Virginia ham (+$2), olive tapenade (+50¢), and pesto (+50¢). They smell heavenly and are definitly yummy. But the bead goes a little soggy. Reasonably priced at $4.95 pre-add-ons and tax.
Doma: Gouda on Balthazar bread with a (very) side salad for $7, which is about the standard rate these days. Doma has changed their menu (and has been messing with it for it seems like months now) so I’m not sure if it’s still there. If you ask though I’m sure they’d make it seing as I know they offer other panini options. But no matter how much I bitch about the place I used to call myself a regular at, that grilled cheese deserves a round of applause. The crunch factor: high. The cheese was great and it was simple. Doma may not get it right all the time, but that grilled cheese really brought a smile to my stomach and I owe them gratitude for that much at least.
‘wichcraft’s is pictured below. The photo is from their website, and you’ll note that their grilled cheese looks kind of like a sanwich with a slice of cheese somehwere in it that happens to be grilled. Now I love Bear-favorite Tom Colicchio as much as the next Top Chef viewer, so I’m just going to report the facts. This is actually the
Grounded, a coffee shop on Jane street, which I’m very partial to, also offers the do-it-yourself version. For I think around $6 you can get your basic grill on some very delicious bread. Throw in a couple extra bucks for add-ons like apple, tomato, or onion. I’ve had it with apple, but it doesn’t add much because the cheese - an amish cheddar - just doesn’t really melt well with the apple, and the skin of the apple, with the creaminess of the melted cheese, becomes a little tough to navigate (in public). My favorite part about their grilled cheese is definitely the bread; it’s got a good amount of seeds and nutty-type things on the crust, and it holds up well under a panini press. It isn’t anything compared to the standard of Doma’s balthazar bread, though, a carbohydrate that I’ll hold everything up to for a very long time.
Ground Support in SoHo also makes a grilled cheese on a sourdough pullman loaf with roasted tomato, caciocavallo, and fresh basil for $7. I’ve had their mini-PB&J before and it was defnitely memorable. So with all that other stuff and a good latte made from Intelligentsia beans, it’s probably a nice bite.
Tiny’s Giant Sandwich Shop’s grilled cheese looks really crazy. It comes with cheddar, provolone, mozzarella and tomato on white or 7-grain. It’s also a really good deal at $4.25. You can add bacon, roasted red peppers, sautéed onions, portobello mushrooms or tofu bacon on that sucker too. One topping is +$1, 2 is +$1.75 (make the economic decision - onions and peppers!!). I haven’t been to Tiny’s yet, but I know they do some really decadent things with two pieces of bread and multiple fillings. So, maybe you should go there with someone and split a grilled cheese and something else (which I’ve done at No. 7 Sub and it was really awesome, you feel like you get extra for the same price - wowzers!). Go for something creative, because this place is really crazy with their combinations. Why not try a Spicy Rizzak? It has sliced turkey, crispy bacon, melted cheddar, tomato, onion and Tiny’s Hot Chipotle mayo on a toasted sesame semolina hero (and you can get it veggie-friendly too!!).
Milk Truck: This can be found at the Brooklyn Flea. I have had dreams about my pilgrimage to mecca the Milk Truck and all the foodie glories at the Brooklyn Flea, and one day, that dream will come true. [Note from the future: I did go, and it was superb.] You can view their saliva-inducing menu here. It kind of hurts me too much to talk about the Milk Truck, so you can read a slightly harsher critique about the awesomeness of mobile grilling here.
Little Giant: located on Orchard, (near 88 Orchard, which offers a pressed Mozzarella/Tomato/Pesto for $8), offers a pricey truffled grilled cheese for lunch ($14). It comes on sullivan street filone with tallegio & gruyère cheese, black truffle oil, housemade pickled green beans. Do your best M.I.A. impression and get your truffle oil on!
Green table’s grilled cheese is reviewed here from Serious eats. For $12, it’s apparently really worth it? They use raw milk cheddar from Neighborly Farms inaddition to a “seasonal fruit chutney, which changes every few weeks,” and Amy’s sourdough bread. Seeing as it’s in Chelsea Market, it has to be intense. Get yourself some chocolate or a dozen cupcakes afterwards, it will be a day you remember fondly.
NYMag claims Resto makes the best one in NYC (or at least did in 2008), and they have an even older list which includes all the aforementioned places (and some which have now unfortunately closed).
If you really think the gourmet thing is weird, and want do do your best impression of my brother, I’d recommend Murray’s Cheese for your cheesemongering. There are a myriad of bread choices available to you. For bakery fresh: Downtown - Blue Ribbon, Amy’s Bread, Uptown: Eli’s, or his eponymous nemesis, Zabar’s, or Silver Moon Bakery. But you may or may not be a jerk if you’re not willing to just get some bread from your grocery store/bodega. But no judgies, ‘cause I clearly just wrote way too much about this.
