Field Report: Spacebar

It's time for a long overdue field report right here in my own backyard.  Although I have tried The Big Cheese Truck, this was my first visit to a local restaurant that specializes in grilled cheese.  Spacebar is a new kid on the block where local grilled cheeses are concerned, but the key is that they are (as far as I've found) the only local restaurant that has dedicated their menu to the greatest sandwiches of our time: grilled cheeses (some of their melts border on non-grilled-cheese territory, but their intent is still clear).  Located just down Lee Highway from my apartment, Spacebar sits in the heart of Falls Church, so on our way to a concert at the nearby State Theater we decided to check it out.

The parking lot is pretty tiny, which is not ideal for a restaurant that's about 6 miles from the closest metro station, but we snagged a space and headed in.  It's clear that Spacebar's ideal vibe is a night spot that serves a variety of craft beers and grilled cheese sandwiches, so it wasn't that crowded when we came in around 7:00 PM, but presumably business picks up later in the evening.  We ordered at the bar, seated ourselves in a booth, and enjoyed a beer apiece while we waited.  In no time our sandwiches and side of tater tots arrived (Spacebar is owned by the same people who run Galaxy Hut, another local favorite known for its sides of tots).

After much deliberation during the ordering process I had selected Gouda and Havarti on multi grain.  The first thing I noticed about the sandwich was how gooey it was.  Cheese was oozing onto the plate as soon as it arrived.  As we all know, I LOVE CHEESE, and as far as I'm concerned, the more the better.  I was excited and dove right in.  The gooeyness was, of course, the first thing I noticed.  That along with a perfectly charred bread instantly put a smile on my face.  The super gooey texture of the Gouda blends well with the Havarti flavor, so the sandwich has a perfect balance between charred bread and gooey cheese.  Just looking at it right now makes my stomach growl again.  The only minor issue I encountered was that the crust seems dry because the cheese doesn't tend to ooze out of there as much as it does out of the center.  I solved this problem by eating the crust first (dipped in ketchup) and saving the cheesiest bites for last (I always save the very best bite for last, and you know you do too).

Colin had selected pastrami and Swiss with sauerkraut on rye.  He didn't have as much to say as I do because he was busy scarfing his down (I took that to be a good sign).  Since I'm not a mind reader I can't give you his bite by bite analysis, but he remarked on the sandwich's nice even melt.  His was gooey as well despite the abundance of non-gooey fillings like pastrami and sauerkraut.  He noted that for both of us the presentation is understated (a lonely sandwich on a white plate), but that the taste is excellent and more than makes up for what presentation may lack.

In summary, our visit showed us that Spacebar does well with both simple and complex sandwiches and we agreed that the trip was a success and that Spacebar will now be added to our regular restaurant rotation.  Plus, you gotta love the tots!

Field Report: Ms. Cheezious Food Truck

Time for yet another work trip, which means another field report!  This week I find myself in sunny (? it's actually rainy today) Miami where I had a couple of different options for grilled cheesin'.  One was a restaurant and two were food trucks-- in terms of which to go to, no clear front runner presented itself in the time leading up to my visit, so I decided to play it by ear upon arrival.  Imagine my delight when I found out that there was going to be a food truck rally going on the very first night I was here (incidentally also the only night that I assuredly have time to myself)!  But, imagine my dismay when I realized that said rally was going down in Ft. Lauderdale-- 40 minutes and an expensive cab ride away :-( 

It's alright!  I'm able to adapt!  Upon arrival at my hotel I scoped out the Facebook updates for both grilled cheese trucks and concluded that Ms. Cheezious would be parked not TOO too far away, so once I convinced a cab driver to actually drive me to a random intersection I was on my way (seriously, I look like a crazy woman asking a taxi to drive me to a truck: "Are you going to this dry cleaner?" "No, I'm going to that truck parked on the side of the road.")

I had the driver wait in the dry cleaner's parking lot while I went ahead to order.  Ms. Cheezious had 6 signature grilled cheeses on their menu as well as the option to make your own.  I asked what their most popular varieties are and they said that the Grilled Blue and Bacon and the Goat Cheese and Prosciutto are their best sellers.  I wasn't particularly feeling either at that juncture, so I opted for a Grilled Harvest (spiced apples and havarti cheese grilled to perfection on multi-grain bread) and a Crabby Cheese Melt (fresh made crab salad with sharp cheddar cheese on sourdough bread).  I'd say about 5 minutes later my sandwiches were ready and I was headed back to my hotel for immediate taste testing, so let's get down to business.

Crabby Cheese Melt

This one had a perfectly grilled aroma as soon as I unwrapped the foil.  The outside was charred, but just the right amount so as to not be burned.  Pulling the sandwich halves apart I couldn't help but notice that the cheddar is so gooey and smells so good! 

My first bite was mostly cheddar since the cheese was literally oozing out of the sandwich, but this meant that I didn't get a lot of the crab taste initially.  The bites closer to the center of the sandwich had more crab, which is what made me realize that this was pretty similar to the crab-feta melt I made back in May.  The key difference is that with the crab-feta salad, the feta gave the crab a more standout taste so that it could stand up to a sharp cheese melted over it, but here the crab was a very soft flavor.  One good thing about this crab salad is that it isn't heavy on the mayo, which is nice because it keeps the flavor light to offset the ooey-gooey rich cheddar.  I really can't emphasize enough how perfectly grilled the sandwich is-- the outside has that perfect crisp crunch that reminds me of grandma's grilled cheeses (you know, the ones that inspired me to start this blog in the first place).

Grilled Harvest

This one was suuuper stringy and gooey/runny, so I was looking forward to the first bite.  Despite the apples being described as "spiced," I wasn't expecting the sandwich to have a sweet taste-- but the cinnamon on the apples was the very first thing I tasted.   It was almost like eating cinnamon apple sauce along with a grilled cheese.  Since the apples are cooked, they don't give quite as much of a crunch, but they still do add a little something to the otherwise runny filling.  The fact that the apples were cooked also made it so that when I would bite into an apple, the filling of the apple tended to come with me while the peel stayed behind-- not to say this is a good or bad thing, but it makes for a little messier eating. 

The multigrain was good to add some texture since, as I mentioned, the filling is a little softer/gooeyer.  Since the havarti is so mild, it's definitely a secondary flavor to the apples.  This feels like a sweeter, softer play on the apples and cheddar on sourdough that I know and love.  It looks like they use green apples too, which is interesting since I think Granny Smith apples would be too biting for the soft flavors of this sandwich.  Must just be a variety of apple I'm not familiar with (grilled cheeses are my forte, not apples).

All in all, both sandwiches are delicious for different reasons.  Immediately after finishing I would've said that I liked the Crabby Cheese Melt better, but reflecting back on the sandwiches I lean more towards the Grilled Harvest.  Since the Crabby Cheese was so focused on the cheddar, it was a good savory sandwich whereas the Grilled Harvest was lighter and sweet.  They would make a great lunch/dessert pair, which works out well since that's exactly what I had!  This actually ended up being one of two field reports during my time in Miami, so stay tuned for the second!

Field Report: The Big Cheese Truck

Although my vacation schedule didn't allow me to do a standard post this past week, I did get in some quality grilled cheese time nonetheless.  Starting with:

The Big Cheese Truck at Movie Under the Moon!  I love Movie Under the Moon as it is, but once I heard that the Big Cheese truck would be making an appearance (and that The Wizard of Oz, one of my all time faves, would be playing), I knew I had to go. 

Ironically the same day that I saw that the Big Cheese would be coming I had been thinking to myself that I was disappointed that a grilled cheese truck of some sort would never make its way all the way out to my office and that the next time I had a weekday free I should go in search of the truck.  Well, it must've read my mind!

They didn't have a super extensive selection and many of their choices are quite similar to sandwiches I've tried before, but I'm always pumped to get a new take on an old favorite.  Since we were at Movie Under the Moon, I decided to try the "Midnight Moon," which (as you can see) consisted of goat Gouda and caramelized onions on multigrain.  The description reminded me of the much-hated Dutch Grilled Cheese, but it sounded different enough that I was willing to give it a try.

Here's the sandwich-- pretty straightforward.

And here's the sandwich after being savagely ripped open by me :-P

I was interested to find out what goat Gouda tasted like.  Turns out it's basically like a firmer goat cheese (rather than being easily spreadable and runny it has some more substance to it).  I liked the combination of the goat cheese and the caramelized onions (in this case caramelized white onions rather than the red onions used for the Dutch Grilled Cheese), but could've used more cheese.  The bread was really hearty, so it was easy for some of the would-be gooiness to get muted by the dryness of the bread.  On the whole I liked it and found myself wishing that Colin and I were hungry enough to split a second sandwich.  I think this was partially due to their high quality ingredients-- they use artisan cheeses sourced exclusively from Cowgirl Creamery and bread from Lyon Bakery, both hipster-esque DC foodie spots.  I'm glad I got to encounter the DC grilled cheese truck and look forward to the day when our paths may cross again.

Stay tuned for my mass production grilled cheese making at the beach (special guest appearance by the Cheese Whiz Kid).