First-ever grilled cheese fest set for Saturday
Melt N’ Toast, the Capital Region’s first-ever grilled cheese festival, will take place this weekend in the Collar City.
A celebration of grilled cheese and craft beverages, the festival showcases the Capital Region’s culinary and craft beverage landscape, featuring the creativity of local food vendors paired with regional craft beverage producers.
Melt N’ Toast is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Takk House in Troy. The event will provide festival-goers an opportunity to taste different area chefs’ choice grilled cheese creations paired with a featured local craft beverage selection, then vote for their favorite Melt N’ Toast combo. Whether it is stacked with classic or artisan ingredients, the combinations are endless, and everyone has their own way of enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich. Attendees should also be prepared to “melt n’ groove” with live DJ talent.
This new event was founded by Albany-based media relations agency Relentless Awareness.
“There are all sorts of cuisine festivals -- macaroni and cheese, pizza, sandwiches. There’s never been a grilled cheese festival, and given our experience with creating innovative events and improving annual affairs, Melt N’ Toast was born out out the fact that nobody has done it before and we’re thrilled to do so,” said Joe Bonilla, managing partner at Relentless Awareness.
Ty Versocki, partner and director of events for Relentless Awareness, said her vision for the event includes bringing the community together -- and what better way to do that than with grilled cheese.
Participating local businesses providing the grilled cheese will be Troy’s own Slidin’ Dirty, Sun-
hee’s Farm & Kitchen, Mud-daddy Flats Quesadillary and Merv’s Meatless, along with Savoy Taproom, Fresh Greens At The Park, The Cheese Traveler and The Beer Diviner.
Owner Tim Taney of Slidin’ Dirty restaurant and food truck said he and his wife are thrilled to participate
in the first-ever Melt N’ Toast grilled cheese festival. “As we’ve grown from the food truck to now having restaurants in Troy and Schenectady, Brooke and I haven’t had much of a chance to do a lot of cooking at Slidin’ Dirty. This festival has given us the opportunity to get back in the kitchen and allow for the creative juices to flow! We thrive at competitions like this and we’re confident in bringing home Judge’s Cheese and People’s Cheese.” Slidin’ Dirty will serve a play on a BLT grilled cheese as its Melt N’ Toast offering, Taney shared, but to find out exactly what it is cheese-lovers will have to come to the event on Saturday, he said.
For Korean restaurant Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen, the idea of entering a grilled cheese festival was a little out of its comfort zone and therefore a good challenge to come up with something creative and innovative, said owner Jinah Kim. “Korean food surprisingly goes very well with cheese, so we’re very excited to be able to introduce an American classic with a cultural twist,” she said.
Dan Frament of Muddaddy Flats Quesadillary said he often gets teased that his eatery is just a Mexican grilled cheese place, so when he heard about Melt N’ Toast happening just a few doors away from his shop, he thought it would be great fun to join in the festivities. Sticking to what he knows best, quesadillas, Frament plans on serving event-goers a prosciutto, pear and smoked gouda quesadilla and a Heart Attack Mac quesadilla. “One - a little upscale, one - down and dirty,” he said. “I’m thinking fun eating not fine dining.”
Tickets to Melt N’ Toast, available at meltntoastny.com, are $40 each including general admission to the event, a souvenir glass, 10 samples of any grilled cheese sandwich, and one craft alcoholic beverage ticket. VIP tickets, which cost $70 per person, include unlimited samples and open bar, in addition to all general admission amenities.
Additional festival information can be found online at meltntoastny.com, on Facebook (fb.com/MeltNToastNY), on Twitter (@MeltNToastNY), and on Instagram (@MeltNToastNY).