Achilleos Antonis - Grilled Cheese Kitchen

Text copyright 2016 by Heidi Gibson and Nate Pollak.
Photographs copyright 2016 by Antonis Achilleos.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-4867-0 (epub, mobi)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
ISBN 978-1-4521-4459-7 (hc)

Designed by Vanessa Dina
Typesetting by Frank Brayton

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

GRILLED CHEESE
sandwiches

Pickles, Spreads,
w Sides

Nate and I first started to research, plan, and develop The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in the winter of 2009. It was the height of the Great Recession, and the idea of two industry amateurs opening up an artisanal, gourmet grilled cheese restaurant was simply outrageousto our friends, to our family, even to us.

Thirty-five banks didnt believe in us. Industry professionals didnt believe in us. We even doubted ourselves. But grilled cheesecheese toastie, toasted cheese, Welsh rarebit, croque monsieur... whatever you call itis something you have to believe in. Something wonderful happens when you melt cheese between two pieces of buttered bread. The sight and the smell universally evoke smiles; its magical. Everyone can relate to it, everyone can feel it, everyone can love it. Really, somehow, grilled cheese is a culinary miracle that has the power to elicit everything from nostalgic moments from childhood and the laid-back years of early adulthood to the savory satisfaction of being an adult who can eat grilled cheese anytime you want to.

We believed, and continue to believe, in grilled cheese. It inspired us to create and grow a successful restaurant concept that served more than a million people in our community in less than four years. But most important, it brought Nate and me together.

We met in an elevator in an office building in downtown San Francisco in 2007. I had been working at software companies for over a decade. Nate had been billing hours as an analyst for a strategy consulting firm for almost as long. We were not professional cooks. We were not restaurant managers. We were driven professionals.

Yet we still had as much fun as possible. I spent my weekends participating in grilled cheese competitionsI have seven trophies from national contests, displayed proudly in our first restaurantand riding my bicycle across California. Nate competed in chili cook-offs and played accordion professionally in a polka-party band around town. We had an appetite for fun and adrenaline. This served us well as we built our relationship and, in the near future, our business.

As fate would have it, we (us and a lot of the country!) were laid off from our office jobs in December of 2008, after failed mortgagebacked securities took down the global economy. Afterward, we spent a good amount of time thinking about our next steps: scheming and brainstorming fun businesses that we could own and operate, together.

One Saturday afternoon during that time, I brought home my fifth grilled cheese trophy from a regional competition. After a few drinks and a small celebration, Nate took out a pen and paper and we started planning what would become The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen. We soon found we had complementary skills. I had natural cooking and kitchen instincts, good knowledge of food and cheese, and a unique scientific approach to testing and creating delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. Nate loved developing the restaurant concept and our brand, thinking through the entire customer experience, and handling all aspects of administrative business management, from finance to marketing and HR to technology. We divided and conquered.

For a couple with no income, we spent heaps of our scarce cash on fine groceries and specialty foods so we could develop and test our recipes. We studied hundreds of cookbooks, took endless small-business planning classes, and exhausted every professional networking opportunity that might help us. We dined out when we had the chance, sneaking notepads under the tables to document what we liked/didnt like/were going to copy for our restaurant.

We ate grilled cheese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and sometimes for dessert. We tested our baked treats, soups, salads, coffees, and beers with friends and at dinner parties. Everyones opinion mattered to us; every data point was valuable. The coffee-and-cookie tasting party was particularly memorable: After ten kinds of coffee and twelve types of cookies, most of the guests were hovering off the ground from the sugar and caffeine overload.

We completed a seventy-page business plan and secured a brick-and-mortar restaurant space in San Francisco. After being denied capital from multiple sources, we drained the remainder of our savings and our retirement accounts to fund the construction and opening of the first American Grilled Cheese Kitchen.

When you believe in magic, you throw caution to the wind; and we believed in grilled cheese.

Saying it was hard work is an understatement; we were on a shoestring budget and enlisted friends to help with drywall and painting, traded with artists to help with decorations, and lived off of ingredient samples while we developed the menu. Blood, sweat, tears, and LOTS of bread, butter, and cheese (and the occasional beer) is what went into the opening of our first store. But Nate and I, and our supporting cast, were united in serving a common mission, which we by then had defined: To serve the tastiest grilled cheese sandwiches using the highest-quality local and unique ingredients with the best possible service.

And thats what we did.

We opened the first American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in May of 2010. I was the culinary director and champion grilled-cheese maker, with the official title Commander in Cheese. Nate oversaw all business operations, earning the title The Big Cheese. The store was a smash success. We had no experience, but we had no fear. We learned everything as fast as we could and constantly strived for improvement. People lined up around the block to try our grilled cheese and smoky tomato soup, and to enjoy the Kitchen experience. Almost five years later, after dozens of menu revisions, expanded catering services, a close-to-fifty-person staff, three restaurants and more on the way, and now a cookbook, our wonderful customers continue to line up and support our mission. They continue to enjoy the magic of our grilled cheese and comfort foods. Its been the most fulfilling and gratifying experience of our lives. Theres nothing like the anticipation, the satisfaction of making one of our toasty, melty, buttery grilled cheese sandwiches for a customer and ultimately the smile earned after he or she bites into it. In many cases, these customers have become our friendswe host their wedding and birthday parties, make their childs first grilled cheese, and bring treats to their dogs that are waiting on our patio. And we are grateful every day for their loyalty and support.

In 2013, we opened our second location in San Francisco, a larger facility allowing us to expand our menu beyond our grilled cheeses, soups, salads, and baked treats. With additional kitchen facilities, we developed recipes for some classic comfort food dishes like buttermilk fried chicken and a B.E.L.T. sandwich (bacon, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and Tapato aioli, a house specialty). We also developed slow-roasted meat recipes, like our coffee-rubbed pulled pork, which became excellent ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches, mac n cheeses, soups, and other menu items.