Your grilled cheese dreams have been answered – courtesy of a medical malpractice lawyer and an environmental sciences major.
Owned by father-son duo Bruce and Steve Klores, gourmet grilled cheese restaurant GCDC will open next month, featuring an eclectic menu with more than 50 sandwiches, soups and charcuterie – just one block from the White House.
Plus, there will be booze to go with your grilled cheese. Cocktails, beer and wine – and happy hour every day from 4 to 7 p.m.
“There’s nothing else like it in Washington,” the elder Klores said.
The Kloreses are attempting to maintain a local, sustainable menu, incorporating seasonal ingredients. When they open in March, they will serve Stephen Klores’ own vegan tomato soup and a mediterranean grilled cheese with feta, artichokes and red bell peppers among other seasonal items.
Bruce, a 30-year veteran D.C. lawyer, was in California six years ago enjoying a grilled cheese when the divine build-your-own grilled cheese inspiration struck.
”I walked outside and found a Chipotle and I thought to myself, ‘why hasn’t anyone taken this great American food, grilled cheese, and let people customize it?’” Bruce said.
Bruce’s passion for cooking and grilled cheese started at a young age, since he made his first grilled cheese at age five “the old fashioned way – with a plate on top of it.”
But Bruce never had time to pursue his grilled cheese ambitions. Only after his son, Stephen, graduated college and began developing plans for a grilled cheese restaurant did Bruce realize that his dream could become a reality.
“The cool thing about this place is it will be a real environment where you can get your favorite thing or something you’ve never had before,” Sophie Slesinger, the restaurant’s cheesemonger, said.
The team also hopes to create an interactive atmosphere, letting patrons vote on their favorite sandwiches and write music suggestions in chalk on the restaurant’s blackboard.
“I want this to be a place where people can try new things,” owner Steve Klores said.
The restaurant buys its bread from the local Lyon Bakery and cheese from the Virginia, Maryland, Vermont, Pennsylvania and overseas. Each week, the artisan cheese shop Righteous Cheese in Union Market will select a cheese for the restaurant to feature.
The Kloreses have also been involved with local charities such as Children’s Hospital, the Sierra Club and the Maryland Youth Ballet and plan to bring their philanthropy to the restaurant. Every week customers can recommend a sandwich of the week, whose proceeds will go to a charity of the winning customer’s choice.
The restaurant will seat 45 people inside with a 20-seat outdoor patio space. The owners are still deciding whether to accept GWorld.
