CHEESE ALL THAT
Hundreds turn out for Melt ‘N Toast at Takk House in Troy
TROY, N.Y. » Joe Bonilla started something big by asking, “Why not?”
The answer was simple: “No one’s done it before.”
The outcome was Melt ‘NToast, the Capital Region’s first major grilled cheese festival, which attracted hundreds of hungry funseekers to the Takk House in downtown Troy on Saturday.
“This is perfect weather for an event like this,” said Bonilla, looking outside at the cold, gray blustery sky. “There’s all kinds of other food festivals around here — mac and cheese, pizza, sliders. I love grilled cheese. I figured there’s probably others that share that feeling.”
However, even he was surprised at the turnout when doors opened at noon, at the Third Street event venue.
Guests could sample sandwiches from seven different local restaurants, plus a handful of craft beverage companies — Chatham Brewing, Nine Pins Cider, Rare Form Brewing, the Beer Diviner and MJM World Imports.
“We like to explore local communities and try different businesses,” said Jim Light of Colonie.
“We learned about it on Facebook and thought it sounded pretty good,” his wife, Sandy, said. “How do you pass up grilled cheese?”
Sunhee’s Farm & Kitchen, of Albany, served up “kimcheeze” sandwiches made with kimchi, spicy fermented cabbage, and Kraft cheese single slices.
“In Korea they like Kraft singles instead of fancy cheese,” Donna Xu said. “Our kimchi is made in-house, fresh.”
It’s a staple in Korean cuisine. James Stahl, of the Albanybased Cheese Traveler restaurant, grilled sandwiches made with bacon, a special house blend cheese, apple-bacon jam and caramelized onions cooked in bacon fat that forms a tasty paste.
“I’m excited all these people are here,” he said.
Tim Taney, of Slidin’ Dirty restaurant in Schenectady, described his sandwich as a “play on BLTs.” It has tomato jam, fried prosciutto, sharp cheddar and chipotle cream cheese.
“I can’t believe it took so long for this area to do a grilled cheese festival,” he said. “I love it. I hope it’s the first of many for years to come. There’s a great turnout. It looks like a big success. It’s keeping us busy, that’s for sure.”
Other participating restaurants were Muddy Flats, Dinner Demon, Savoy Taproom, Merv’s Meatless and Fresh Greens at the Park.
Combined, the seven eateries gave guests more than 20 different types of grilled cheese to try.
During the day, attendees could vote for their favorite, which received a “People’s Cheese” award.
A panel of judges also selected the winner of a “Judge’s Cheese.”
Bonilla is managing partner of Relentless Awareness, an Albanybased public relations, events and public affairs company.
“We look forward to doing this next year,” he said. “We hold events all over the state. So we’d like to partner with restaurants and breweries to do grilled cheese festivals in Syracuse and Buffalo, too.”