After many weeks and months of waiting, the grilled cheese sandwich is coming back and it’s better than ever… well at least in my not so humble opinion. Trust me when I say that these were not days spent lazin’ around growing fat and happy on the strength of our current menu no…these were days of hard work, brainstorming, experimentation and lots and lots of dairy consumption.

Finally we had gotten down to just two cheeses. Both of which we feel would make a truly remarkable grilled cheese sandwich, one that will pair fabulously with IPAs, Stouts and even our house Pinot Noir. Inspired by the cheese producing region of northern California known as Petaluma we have selected an amazing cheese called Carmody from Bellwether Farms. This is a semi-firm cheese that is made to reflect the delicate buttery flavor of rich jersey cow milk. In addition to this we have also added Red Dragon, a fierce sounding cheddar, that is studded with spicy brown mustard seeds and finished with dark ale that contrasts the salty cheddar perfectly.

For the bread, we tried brioches, we tried ryes and whites, we even tested out French baguette but in the end really it came down to living in the SF Bay Area and knowing there is no other choice than a fresh baked Sourdough cut into semi thick slices.

So that’s it the perfect grilled cheese sando…but wait there’s more. We also took our house made bacon and chopped it up into little pieces and slowly cooked it with a bunch of caramelized leeks. After some careful though and consideration (read: eating most of the mix and having to make more) we dumped all this into the bowl of the shredded cheese(s) and mixed all together into one giant lovingly mess. Pack this between two slices of heavily buttered bread and there you have it, the grilled cheese sandwich version 3.7.