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What Makes Grilled Cheese So Good?
With endless variations, this sandwich has a little taste of nostalgia in every bite.
The grilled cheese sandwich is no longer just for kids (or kids at heart). That’s been the case for some time in Northeast Florida, where it's a menu staple at a two-time James Beard Award nominee’s restaurant, and several other eateries that are just as dedicated to the dish. So what is it about this seemingly simple comfort food that makes it so enduring – and popular?
Brittny Lowrey is the managing partner and director of operations for The Happy Grilled Cheese, which started as a food truck and now has brick and mortar locations in Downtown Jacksonville and Mandarin, with a third concept opening inside Native Sun Natural Food Market in Jacksonville Beach later this year. She says it’s because “grilled cheese is such an easy comfort food that can be simple or elevated, so it appeals to our palette no matter what. Whether you're using American or triple cream brie, it's going to be warm and salty and crispy and hit all those flavor and texture notes that make us happy while eating.”
Chef Tom Gray of Prati Italia and Town Hall, who earned “Best Chef: South James Beard Award” nominations in 2009 and 2010, says that “there is a lot of nostalgia in every bite … [it] reminds you of when you were a kid and things were more simple.”
Indeed, many Americans grew up eating some version of grilled cheese. However, the humble sandwich is not a purely American phenomenon. In fact, it has roots that date as far back as Ancient Rome, and the French have been making croque monsieurs since the early 1900s. American versions of the sandwich, which were originally served open-faced, can be traced back to the 1920s, when sliced bread became more readily available just a few years after James L. Kraft patented processed cheese. The “modern” version of the sandwich, which included a second slice of bread (presumably to make it more filling), became popular in the 1960s, around the same time grocery stores began selling Kraft Singles. This was when the term “grilled cheese” first appeared in print; previously, it had been called “toasted cheese,” “melted cheese” or a “cheese dream.”
Nowadays, many Americans celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day on April 12, and there are seemingly endless variations on what was once (and sometimes still is) a simple sandwich. “We have 30-plus melts on our everyday menu, with a half dozen or so off menu melts always available,” Lowrey says. “We run three to five monthly specials at our downtown restaurant that change pretty close to the calendar month and two to three weekly to biweekly specials at the Mandarin restaurant. Those are always fun items because they're usually from our staff members! They're so creative and love playing around in the kitchen.”
Currently, The Happy Grilled Cheese’s best selling melts are the Buffalo Chicken Melt, the Daddy of the Mac and the California Melt. “The latter two are food truck original melts and the first was a restaurant addition that absolutely blew up,” explains Lowrey. “The Daddy of the Mac is super Instagrammable with the mac & cheese inside the sandwich so I think it's very recognizable for people. Pretty much anything with mac and cheese inside of it is a favorite!”
From the day we opened [at Town Hall] we have been serving a grilled cheese sandwich of some variety,” Gray says. “I wanted to make sure we conveyed that Town Hall would be an approachable, fun neighborhood restaurant and grilled cheese seemed like a great way to set the tone.” The restaurant’s current iteration of the sandwich, which Gray says has also been the most popular, is grilled cheese with black truffle butter, fontina and roasted mushrooms. Grilled cheese has also gone from a lunchtime staple to an anytime dish. At Town Hall, it’s on the dinner menu. And at The Happy Grilled Cheese, it’s served at lunch, dinner and as a late-night snack (the latter at its Austin, Texas food truck).
What makes a great grilled cheese? “The bread has to be crisp and buttery, and the inside has to have tons of cheese! From there it's all up to someone's preference and creativity,” says Lowrey. “Grilled cheeses are an excellent canvas for toppings.” Gray believes that the bread should be crispy outside and soft inside with a good, melty cheese. “The temperature while it is cooking is important,” he says. “If you cook it too hot, the bread will over-crisp, if you cook it too cool, the cheese won't melt right … so paying careful attention while cooking is key.” As far as what to avoid, too little cheese or butter are at the top of Lowrey’s list and says “There’s no need to skimp on either with comfort food!”
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