Sandwich Monday: A Very Fancy Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Fancified comfort food is where it's at these days. Some places serve mac-and-cheese with gruyere and pancetta, you know, or pot roast wearing a monocle. Chef Graham Elliot just opened up Grahamwich here in Chicago, and we decided to try his take on the grilled cheese. Rather than American cheese on white bread, it's: wisconsin cheddar, shaved prosciutto, tomato marmalade, and cheese curds on a pullman loaf.

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Mike: This sets a bad standard for kids learning what a grilled cheese should be.

Peter: Yeah, you don't want your kids screaming when they don't get their tomato marmalade.

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Ian: Delicious, but when I want a grilled cheese I want a grilled cheese. This is like when I want to watch Transformers 2 and my girlfriend talks me into a Godard movie.

Mike: Yes, this is from the Grilled Cheese Criterion Collection.

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Ian: It's a good thing the guy who opened Grahamwich is named Graham. "Bradwich" wouldn't work as well as "Grahamwich."

Eva: Jon Hamm could open one. Call it Hammwich.

Peter: Ayn Randwich would be good. No sharing, though.

Ian: John Boehner could open Tannedwich.

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Ian: It's got cheddar, ham, and cheese curds. If we need to build a Wisconsinite we have all the raw materials right here.

Mike: Wasn't Shaved Prosciutto a linebacker for the '66 Packers?

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Eva: I ordered their vegetarian sandwich, but why would anyone want to eat that after this one?

Ian: No, don't worry, he took the same approach to the vegetarian sandwich he did with the grilled cheese. Dressed it up with hand-cut bacon and farm-raised bison gravy.

[The verdict: very tasty, but it's probably better if you think of it as its own sandwich, rather than a grilled cheese--that name carries a lot of history. The Grahamwich website is here, watch out for the embedded music.]