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John Birdsall
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Mousetrap ($6) with smoky tomato soup ($4).
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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It was Brillat-Savarin who said that the discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star. Too bad he wasn't around last Friday, for the opening of
The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in South Park. The launch of a new grilled cheese restaurant seems to have masses of local humanity hoping for the kind of happiness that makes nearly hour-long waits irrelevant. Does The American deliver? Sort of. The Mousetrap (white cheddar, Havarti, and Jack between buttery slices from
Pinkie's Bakery) is iconic enough, though the
TurboChef impingement oven used to cook the sandwiches yields results that are, if anything, too consistent: Look in vain for the darkened edges, the crisped-cheese spillovers that only contact with a hot skillet can yield. And if it were up to us, we'd lower the filling-to-bread ratio ― this is one mousetrap that needs to be set with a bigger hunk of cheese. But the crème fraîche-enriched, crouton-topped smoky tomato soup is delicious, and while The American might not be the new star many of us were hoping for, it
does manage to serve up finger-glossing slices of warm comfort.
The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen 1 South Park (at Second St.), 243-0107.
Follow us on Twitter: @SFoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
