Food vs. Bill

Over the holiday I found out something very important about my husband, our chef, Bill. Something that I have been trying to find out for the past four years and have never been successful in finding. It wasn't what he is thankful for, what makes holidays special for him, or even his goals or aspirations in life. Nope. I finally found, after all these years, a food that Bill hates.

And this for me, is a first.

Before I tell you what it is, I should let you in on a little background about Bill's relationship with food. He loves it. I don't even know if there's a word to describe how much Bill loves food. He became a chef right out of college, finishing top of his class at culinary school, then cooking gourmet food around the world and in his 5-star restaurants for the next 20 some-odd years. When Bill and I first started dating I used to pick up his copy of The Food Lover's Companion (basically a dictionary of every food term in existence) and randomly flip to a page to quiz him on his food knowledge only to find out there was not one word he didn't know.

I quickly learned all of this about Bill at the beginning, and as our relationship grew I realized that his love of food didn't stop at 'gourmet'. Bill loved all food. Packaged food? Give him a bag of Cheetos and 20min later they're gone. Canned food? Well of course no other ravioli could compare to Chef Boyardee. Anything and everything. This is what brought me to my quest to find something that Bill didn't like. He had eaten fish eyes with natives in Bora Bora, turtle meat in Florida, Soursop (a vegetable) in Costa Rica, and loved it all. But still, for four years, I had been forced to settle on the fact that there wasn't anything edible that Bill didn't like.

That is, until this weekend. I found a food that Bill hates. Hates the thought of, hates the smell of and don't even mention how they taste. Personally, I could take them or leave them, but Bill? He despises this food product. Well, what is it??

Pizza Combos.

Thankful for You

This past week we've been getting especially excited for Thanksgiving. For some reason this year seems so different here at Melt than last year. It can't be the weather since that's pretty much the same, we were already open here last year, at that point for 5 months, so that's not it, and we did pretty much the same things that we're doing now. But this year still seems different.

It must the people. The relationships. We've grown to love our customers so much it's crazy. And not just a 'Ya you guys are great!' kinda love, but really love love them. It must be what's making this year so very different. Better. Knowing so many of the faces that come through our door makes it much more real that we are here. We're here and we're here to stay and that is a great feeling to have. Before opening Melt we faced so much opposition and skepticism from strangers we talked to. We heard everything from "You're opening a business in this economy?!" and "Aren't you scared you're going to fail?!" to "Are you sure you guys really want to take this risk?!". But, despite the critics, we opened our doors to an amazing town and a the warmest welcome from everyone that came in.

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around we did have these same great people that we liked and people who liked us back, but, we were still nervous. Still a little unsure of what we had here. We were busy (and we knew our food was da bomb!) but looking back it wasn't the same feeling that we have now. Over the past year we've been able to stand here as a strong part of White Plains. To open our doors every morning to someone that's waiting to get in... To be able to wave to people on the street as they walk by... It's something truly special and something that makes us feel so much more full than overindulging in any meal ever could.

So this year on Thanksgiving not only will we be thankful for our family, our close friends, the home we live in and the food that will be at the table, but we will truly be thankful to you. Our customers. The people of Westchester County that come to us every day with smiles on their faces that open up their lives to let us in. To be a part of that is more than we ever could have hoped for back when we were painting the walls and measuring the space. We had started Melt hoping that strangers would buy our sandwiches, and it's became friends enjoying our meals. Every day. And for that, we are especially excited and thankful beyond words.

image from cgerardin.wordpress.com

Melt Has a Blog?!

...Geeze who doesn't have a blog these days!

Yes, we've started a blog. We have to admit, we're not writers. We make great food and that's about the extent of our talents. And talking. We love to talk. So, we'll to use this blog to talk to you guys about everything we have going on over here at 'the shop' (as Bill and I call it). We'll be starting some pretty cool contests, special menu items, and who knows, maybe one day there'll be updates on a new Melt opening near YOU!

Well, lets not get ahead of ourselves, I did say maybe.

Anyway, as most of you guys that stop in often know already, we love to hear everything about your lives, remember your names, and even your kids names if we can, so we'll probably be gettin' a little personal with us here on the blog too. Bill and I (Kristin) opened this shop together as a dating couple, then an engaged couple 3 months later, and now as a married couple, so needless to say it's a pretty personal business for us. We consider our staff family and our customers friends, which will never change as it's pretty much a part of who we are as Melt.

So hello blog world. Welcome to Melt.