A few months after The Grilled Cheese’s spectacular flame-out over unpaid employee wages this spring, a few changes are apparent on the Kensington’s restaurant exterior: A tiny little “OM” logo over the same old orange “GRILLED CHEESE” lettering, as well as a large, very obvious vinyl banner reading “NEW OWNERS.”
Chef Mark Andrade and business partner Oscar Cabrera, who make up the “OM” in OM Grilled Cheese (see listing) are most definitely not Robbie Yuill, the former proprietor of the Grilled Cheese, who allegedly fleeced staff out of thousands of dollars. “A lot of people ask, are you the same owners?” says Andrade. “A surprising amount of people didn’t know the story. We had a lot of people coming in going ‘Oh, you guys changed your menu!’’” (As for Yuill, rumour is he’s left Toronto.)
The sandwich shack was beloved by locals (if not the staff), and those regulars will recognize plenty. The layout’s the same, save a few tweaks (a fresh coat of paint and some cool Ralph Steadman prints). And, of course, the menu is still a giant ode to melted cheese – with a few extra gourmet twists from Andrade.
The former Greenwood Smokehouse chef had previously run spots of his own in Campbellford, and was looking to strike out on his own again. Sure, he could have made a clean break by changing up the theme – but after working in full kitchens for so long, he was ready to give fast-casual a try. “Besides, who doesn’t love grilled cheese?”
It’s pretty easy to love Andrade’s versions: eight butter-drenched concoctions grilled to order on sandwich presses and served with a pickle and a mountain of chips. The sandwich menu makes liberal use of Mediterranean meats and condiments: pesto, capicollo, Serrano ham, balsamic vinegar, arugula, prosciutto. I pick up a Wine Country, which pairs cheddar and brick cheeses with serrano ham, pickled onions and guava jam, which puts vinegar, sugar, fat and salt all in one bite (in short, it’s glorious).
A daily lineup of two to three soups will be added as the weather gets cooler. I ask Andrade for some of the creamy tomato listed on the board. They’ve run out, he says sheepishly all they have is crab corn chowder. (In my industry, I tell him, we call that “burying the lede.”) The smoky, creamy chowder, perhaps predictably, doesn’t do much to cut through the fat from the sandwich, but it does have a nice kick of cayenne.
In the coming weeks, Andrade is hoping to keep tinkering with the sandwich menu and rebuild the shop’s good name in Kensington. (First order of business: Keep right on delivering hot sandwiches to Ronnie’s Local across the street.)
food@nowtoronto.com | @nataliamanzocco
