Gourmets Grill Cheese in Mobile Monte Cristo
December 11, 2012 by Hedonista · Leave a Comment
The foodie industry in Seattle is evolving. Rapidly. From food trucks to restaurants to cafés to catering, the business is always changing.
Reinventing itself, even.
The Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO) - with Russell Investments as a client – is an onsite restaurant company with over 400 locations in some 32 states. They provide café and catering services to everything from educational institutions to corporations. They also do specialty venues. Their venues include SAM TASTE and SODO Kitchen – the latter of which was launched on October 5, 2011, is open to the public, and is located on the third floor at the Starbucks headquarters in the SoDo ‘hood. Another two cafes – one serving tacos, the other sushi – are located on the fifth floor and are private for Starbucks staff only.
And now, as of this past October 2012, another evolution has taken form within this foodie conglomerate: the mobile Monte Cristo.
Touted as “Seattle’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese and Mobile Mets” on their website, Monte Cristo is a food truck.
But not just any food truck. A gourmet food luxury vehicle, if you will. (Your Hedonista recently stopped by for an interview, photo op, and media taste.)
The brainchild of this truck? None other than the fine dining dynamic duo Chefs Danielle Custer and Royal Gunter – two in-house chefs of the BAMCO empire who dreamed of starting a mobile restaurant, this truck promises to make you melt.
They refer to themselves as “The grilled cheese girl and the grilled cheese guy.”
Monte Cristo, from left to right: gourmet Food vehicle, egg prep on the "Full Monte" Cristo sammies; Royal Gunter and Danielle Custer.
“So, I’ve had this idea for seven years. It’s been percolating and percolating,” admits Danielle in a recent interview with yours truly.
Almost one year ago, back in January of 2011, Danielle Custer migrated from her position as General Director at SAM TASTE, to work as project manager on the three eateries at Starbucks. The public restaurant, SODO Kitchen, opened up in October of 2011, followed by the two private eateries, which opened in May 2012.
But Danielle – a New Yorker-turned-Seattleite – was already searching for the perfect truck as early as February 2012, while she completed the two private café concepts for Starbucks.
She found the truck she was looking for in May; a truck that Royal plans to hand-wash regularly, even throughout the rainy Seattle winters.
Recently launched in late October 2012, the Monte Cristo truck is stored and charged on-premise at the Starbucks Headquarters in SoDo ‘hood, with the truck’s prep kitchen/commissary located in the Sodo Kitchen.
Monte Cristo’s Executive Chef Royal Gunter – an Atlanta, Georgia southerner-turned-Seattleite – is also a long-termer with BAMCO; he’s has been with Bon Appétit for over 2 years now; before that, he was Café Chef at Russell Investments. Royal trained the catering arm of SODO Kitchen and helped trick out the Monte Cristo truck.
“We play off each other really well. We have very different strengths and we balance each other,” Danielle informs me.
I asked Royal: Why grilled cheese and tomato soup, personally two of my top winter comfort foods?
“Well, it’s Seattle … it’s always cold, it’s always dreary….” Royal begins.
“Get great cheese, get great bread, and everything else usually falls into place after that,” Royal adds.
They serve both regular and creamy tomato soup daily. And they get their bread from three sources: local Macrina; California-based La Brea Bakery; and their cinnamon swirl bread for their namesake Monte Cristo sandwiches from Wagner’s European Bakery and Café in Olympia.
Some of the food options, from left to right: The "Full Monte" Cristo ($8.00), complete with Tim's Cascade Chips, pickled grapes and a $1 shot of their Classic Tomato Soup; the Lobster and Tarragon Mac & Cheese ($8.25), the Big Meaty Madness ($9.99), complete with Tim's Cascade Chips and Southern-influenced chow-chow made with cabbage.
Their best seller?
Why, the Monte Cristo. (Duh.)
Danielle recollects the birth of the truck’s namesake sammy: “So when I was a kid growing up my Mom would make french toast with powdered sugar and lime juice on top as opposed to syrup. And I always loved that. Well, on one of my recent visits to Portland she had this amazing cinnamon swirl bread from … Wagner’s European Bakery and Café out of outside of Olympia. And I thought this was amazing.”
And so the “Full Monte” Cristo Sandwich was born ($8.00): Wagner’s cinnamon swirl bread, Gruyère, cheddar and Canadian bacon, coated in egg batter and fried on the flat top, then butter, powdered sugar and a fresh squirt of lime juice are all added.
The result: a truly gourmet breakfast sandwich. I confess I was a little fearful of the “throw everything that’s breakfast – both savory and sweet – into one sandwich. (I’ve had such combos in the past with less-than-favorable results.)
But this – it’s more savory than sweet, and the little sweet there is is not cloyingly sweet – a fact I attribute to no jam and lime juice over the powdered sugar to add acidity to the sweetness.
“It’s very gooey, very cheesy … sweet, savory … you get a little smokiness with the Canadian bacon,” admits Royal, “It’s like all-in-one.”
The Monte Cristo is both top with Danielle and Royal as well as the customers, for it’s the signature best seller.
That said, Royal also loves the Big Meaty (formerly Messy) Madness ($9.99): braised duck, mozzarella, Fontina, Taleggi0, lemon aioli, gingered rhubarb jam by Deluxe Foods, and braised greens, all on sourdough bread topped with cracklin’s. (Mmmmm … cracklin’s.)
“It’s like a bird-ger,” Royal added as he launched into a truly infectious smile.
It was over-the-top hedonism.
Oh, and they also serve Beecher’s fried cheese curds ($4.25) with an asiago dip or tomato confit; additional dips are $0.50 each.
What a great way to reinvent oneself, eh dear hedonists?
Note: In order to comply with FTC Act 16 C.F.R. 255, Heed the Hedonist would like to disclose that it does receive media “comps” and/or media discounts – but not in exchange for favorable coverage, or for withholding unfavorable coverage, of the given venue/meal/performance/product/service.
Filed under Featured, Food | Drink, Greater Seattle & WA · Tagged with bon bamcoappétit management company, danielle custer, la brea bakery, macrina, monte cristo, royal gunter, russell investments, sam taste, sodo kitchen, wagner's european bakery & café
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