2010. One Great Year.

There are some years we live that pass by more or less un-eventful, un-surprising, and un-memorable.  Not for the bad necessarily, but every year can't be the best year.  Then there are those years that are so eventful, so surprising, and so memorable that looking back over those 365 days humbles us as a people for how lucky we are to live in this world.

For us here at Melt, 2010 has been one of those years.

It's certainly been a busy year, a crazy year, a hectic year, but, most of all, an amazing year.  The list of things that we're so unbelievably grateful for that have happened over the course of 2010 seem never-ending.  Bill and I sat down and thought long and hard about how we could even write something that would encompass why we'll always remember 2010.  We decided on our top five things that made 2010 the most unforgettable year of both of our lives to date:

5. Reaching Melt's first year anniversary.
We opened our doors in June 2009, and in June 2010 we hit one year.  It's quite a scary thing to open a business.  To put everything you have and all that you are into something and lay it right out on the line.... it's not easy.  But we did it!

We went from looking something like this...

Then to something like this...

And finally to what Melt looks like today...

Making it that first year meant that everything we did to be here was worth it.  And then some.  Laying all that we had on the line, and not only hitting, but surpassing that milestone of a year..... it was just incredible.

4. Streamlining how we operate not only to move faster, but to be better.
At the beginning, almost everything we did seemed so difficult and so impossible to get past.  Sometimes we would reach the end of the day, look at each other with eyes full of stress and frustration, and just want to cry.  And sometimes we would (Okay.. I would.. Bill's pretty tough ;).  It didn't happen all of a sudden, but over the past year we've realized that those same things we never thought we'd get past are now what we could do probably with our eyes closed.  Sure, there's always going to be more obstacles ahead, and so many more ways to be even better, but realizing how far you've already come can be what gets you to where you want to be.  Knowing what you need to do and doing it.  That is a wonderful gift 2010 has given us.

3. Our incredible Melt staff. 
I do tend to talk a lot about Bill and I, but trust me, we are certainly not a two man operation!  2010 has brought us a staff that we could not do this without.  We may be small, but we're a family.

The longest member of our family is Luis, our delivery driver.  Getting our food across town at lightning speeds, I don't think anyone could do it better.

Next to join us was Matt.  Constantly making all of us laugh, we couldn't be any prouder to work beside him every day.

Then Tomas jumped on the Melt train.  A true family man at home and at work, Tomas is an essential part of our team.

Our most recent addition, Nick.  And Nick, no one wraps a sandwich like you do!

...And of course we have to give honorable mention to our guy Jesse!  Even from India,  he'll always be Melt family.

2. Being honored by Westchester Magazine and the entire Westchester County as having "2010's Best Sandwich".  
Getting that first phone call telling us we had the "Best Sandwich"... no words can describe that moment.

And to top it off, our sandwich appeared in the issue! 

Lookin' good flat brisket Melt mac! Lookin good.

To see the online version of the article, click HERE.

And the last thing of 2010, the thing that makes us who we are and makes sure that we'll always stay this way in our lives and our business.  The thing that will make Melt better for not only 2011 but every other year to come.  Our number one thing that made this the most unforgettable year of our lives was...



1. Becoming husband and wife. 

Photo by Justin & Mary Marantz Photography

You've been good to us, 2010, and now we can't wait to see what 2011 brings.