Grilled Cheese Month is Here: Ready, Set, Eat!

There are only three days left until the annual celebration of melted cheese known as the Grilled Cheese Invitational (GCI), at which one sandwich will be crowned the champion, and all others will be merely delicious accompaniments to tomato soup.   In preparation, six local restaurants are each offering their take on specialty grilled cheese featuring GCI sponsor Tillamook Cheese. These sandwiches are only available until Saturday, so that gives you four days to eat them all.

In addition, Tender Greens West Hollywood is celebrating Grilled Cheese Month with a different sandwich each day this week.  Their chef, Eric Hulme will be competing in Saturday's GCI. Through Friday, April 22nd at the West Hollywood restaurant only, these special grilled cheese sandwiches will be $10.50 (served with a simple salad) and will be posted on twitter daily.  That makes seven sandwiches for you to eat this week to get your Grilled Cheese merit badge.

Lastly, Clementine will be celebrating Grilled Cheese Month all month long with different sandwiches available each week.  The full menu is here.  This is Clementine's 10th Annual celebration of the sacred sandwich.

Chef Eric Hulme’s Quack Attack Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The six participating restaurants serving cheesy and delicious Tillamook melts this week are:

simplethings sandwich & pie shop
8310 W 3rd Street ô (323) 592-3390
www.simplethingsrestaurant.com

Chef Carrie Cusack has created a Pork Belly Grilled Cheese with Tillamook Monterey Jack Cheese, Pork Belly, Smoked Tomato, Caramelized Onions, Avocado ($9.50)

The Foundry on Melrose
7465 Melrose Avenue ô (323) 651-0915
www.thefoundryonmelrose.com

Grilled Cheese Invitational veteran Chef Eric Greenspan will offer the Johnny Apple Cheese AKA Johnny Pastrami with Tillamook Sharp Cheddar, Sourdough Bread, Apple Mustard Chutney, Green Apple, Smoked Pastrami ($8.00)

Dominick’s
8715 Beverly Blvd ô (310) 652-2335
www.dominicksrestaurant.com

Chef Brandon Boudet has created a sandwich featuring Tillamook Monterey Jack Grilled Cheese, Grilled Wild Ramp, Ciabatta Bread ($11.00)


The Oaks Gourmet
1915 North Bronson Avenue ô (323) 871-8894
www.theoaksgourmet.com

From another Grilled Cheese Invitational participant, Chef Luke Reyes will offer a sandwich with Tillamook Sharp Cheddar, Black Forest Bacon, Homemade Tomato Jam, Sourdough Bread ($9.95)


101 Coffee Shop
6145 Franklin Avenueô (323) 467-1175
www.the101coffeeshop.com

Chef Brandon Boudet has also created a Po Boy for Angelenos across town with Tillamook Medium Cheddar & Homemade Creole Hot Sausage Po Boy ($9.00)


crow bar & kitchen (Orange County)
2325 East Coast Highway ô (949) 675-0070
www.crowbarcdm.com

Grilled Cheese aficionado, Chef John Cuevas, will offer a melt with Tillamook Sharp Cheddar, Pickled Ramps, Smoked Bacon, Garlic Mayo, Fried Egg ($11.00)


Tender Greens West Hollywood is the only Tender Greens location with the grilled cheese specials this week.

Tender Greens West Hollywood
8759 Santa Monica Boulevard  (310) 358-1919

Clementine in Century City has a month of sandwiches:

Clementine:
1751 Ensley Avenue (310) 552-1080
http://clementineonline.com/

Simplethings is satisfying

Simplethings sandwich and pie shop opened up Thanksgiving week in a spot on West 3rd Street in West Hollywood.  The menu lives up to the name of the restaurant with sandwiches, pot pies, salads, soups and sweet pies dominating the menu.

I had seen favorable reports from Zach of MidtownLunchLA and Esther of E*Star LA  and over the holidays decided to check it out for lunch to see for myself.  My dining companion and I split a bowl of roasted tomato soup, the thanksgiving sandwich and the steak and lager pot pie.

The roasted tomato soup ($3.50 for a cup, $5.50 for a bowl) was generously portioned, piping hot and delicious.  This was the perfect thing to warm up on a cold day.  The crouton in the soup was also nice and crunchy and then got wonderfully soggy.  The soup was not overly rich or creamy, rather simply tasting of roasted tomatoes.

The Thanksgiving sandiwch (roast turkey, cranberry chutney, jalapeño cornbread
stuffing, sage gravy, michetti roll) brought back the holiday meal to my plate all in one sandwich.  Hearty and flavorful.  The cornbread stuffing had some heft and the jalepano gave it an extra boost plus the roll was not overwhelming (a pet peeve is when the bread completely dominates a sandwich).  I will be back for the half sandwich and soup deal (only $10) and as much as I want to explore the menu further I suspect I will stick with the tomato soup and the thanksgiving sandwich, as they were such winners.

The steak and lager pot pie ($10) was good but not as strong as the other dishes.  As my dining companion put it, the flavors were great and spot on, but the consistency was less appealing.  I enjoyed it more than she did but still felt the Thanksgiving sandwich won the savory derby at simplethings.

I have not yet tried the pies, which come in three sizes: cutie pie (a bite), simple pie (a large slice) or big pie (full size) and each day a rotating selection of six of the fourteen varieties are on offer (see website for the pie schedule).

Simplethings: 8310 W 3rd Street, West Hollywood. Phone: (323) 592-3390.  Website: simplethingsrestaurant.com