Cheese wiz: chefs grill up medley of garnishes and upscale ingredients to put new face on old favorite

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 17, 2003 by Pamela Parseghian

To "jazz up" grilled cheese sandwiches, Gray has teamed up beet salad with a grilled goat-cheese sandwich. He opened the restaurant four years ago with a grilled Gruyere sandwich and yellow-tomato salad tossed with black-truffle vinaigrette. Then when yellow tomatoes went out of season, he switched the accompaniment to tomato bisque. "We had customers crazy about dipping the grilled cheese sandwiches in the soup," he says.

To keep ahead of demand, Gray precooks grilled cheeses on a sheet pan lined with a nonstick mat in a 325-degree convection oven for about eight to 10 minutes, or until it is "blondish in color." He adds that it is "more user-friendly when doing 20 at a time in an a la carte situation. Sauteing in pans will make you crazy."

He brushes each side of the sandwich with about a half-tablespoon of melted, clarified butter and prefers grated cheese to slices for a more even melt. When the sandwich is ordered, he finishes it for about two minutes in a 400-degree convection oven.

Gray says that besides ease of preparation, the grilled cheese sandwiches offer an "incredible profit margin. It's a winner if it keeps people coming back and the food cost down."