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.

What It's Really About

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve!  We hope your shopping is just about wrapped up (pun totally intended) and you're ready to relax and soak in some good times with family and friends.

Those of you that follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or here on the blog know that we've been busy over here boxing up and shipping out gifts for our Letters to Santa.   Some of the toys that have been coming through our door seriously make me wish I was a kid again.  I mean, a super soft stuffed animal that bursts out into hysterical laughter rolling around at the wave of your hand?!

Literally ROTFL

Just one wave and you're a comedian with an audience that actually laughs!  Love it.

Then there was this jump rope made of rubber bands.. but wait.. you make it yourself.  Um, can I please be 8 again?

Count me IN!

The last of the boxes full of gifts should have arrived at their destination today and hopefully will be opened up Christmas morning!

A truly special moment came for us to actually witness when one of our customers, Steve, chose a letter where a little guy,"J", asked for clothes, an Xbox and food.  We were thinking the clothes would be a great gift, but Steve went even further.  He got all 5 kids and their mom an Xbox, multiple games, and yes, food.  We were able to get in touch with J's mom who came to Melt this afternoon to pick everything up.  It was quite a touching moment that will not soon be forgotten.

Two turkeys, hot cocoa for a year, a ham,
a roast AND 20lbs of potatoes. YUM.

 And this... This is what it's all about.

Never Underestimate the Power of... American Cheese

American Cheese.  It is so quintessentially...well... American.  It's something I would guarantee every single one of us has peeled right from it's clingy clear plastic wrapper and eaten, straight up.  And of course, there's the sandwiches it creates.  I challenge anyone out there to say that you don't love an ooey gooey grilled cheese coated in butter and dripping with that yellow melty goodness every now and again.  Sure it's not the best choice to keep within that steamed vegetable and leafy green diet, but you knoow it's good!  

One of our customers actually refuses to eat his grilled cheese with anything other than our yellow american.  Like a fine wine that's turned murky, he'll take one look at bread containing white cheese and, without hesitation, back to us it comes. 

2,000 calories later, this is now gone.

I too adore a good grilled cheese.  However, for some reason in the past year and a half that we've been open, I had yet to eat one with yellow American.  What's more, I had yet to eat anything with American.  Bill is a huge cheese lover and has stocked our menu full of cheeses.  Aged Vermont White Cheddar, Emmentaler Swiss (with the really big holes no less), Sharp Provolone, Gruyere, Fresh Whole Milk Mozzarella, Feta, Gorgonzola, Crumbled Bleu... the list goes on. So, every day for the past year and a half I've made my own sandwiches with one of these 'superior' cheeses.     

That is... until yesterday.  

It started with my serious case of sandwich envy.  Each day I write down customers' orders and watch as Bill constructs their sandwiches.  But, it is that moment they come out from under the fire that makes me need that sandwich.  The aroma as it flies by my nose on it's way to be wrapped, the look of the sauce bubbling up combining with the cheese, surrounding the late addition of lettuce... Mmm MMM!  That sandwich will be mine. Yesterday one came out spilling over with American Cheese.  It looked good. It looked REALLY good.  I had to make my own.  After one bite I vowed never to underestimate the power of this cheese again.  It brought me back.  Back to school days where my mom packed my lunch with the cookies strategically hidden underneath the American cheese and turkey sandwich, back to summer afternoons making open faced tomato and melted american cheeses in my aunt's kitchen.  Back to fun times surrounded by family.  And a cheese that can do that, well, I don't blame our 7 year old customer.  He knows there's just nothing that compares to that look, that texture, that meltiness, and that unmistakable taste of Yellow American Cheese.  

And that right there is a power to be reckoned with.  

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