Melt: The Restaurant

[glenn]

Thanks for the update Allie.  Apparently Al Roker and crew were at Melt this past Thursday to film a segment for "Roker On The Road" but I don't know when it will actually air. I imagine Glenn will provide us with an update when he gets a spare moment of time out of his busy schedule.

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The show will air on 7/5 on Food Network at 9pm, 7/6 at 1am and noon. Also, our Adriatic sandwich will get a mention (and picture) in the June issue of National Culinary Review in an article about upscale sandwiches. Now all I need is customers. ;)

edited to add that the picture that appears in NCR is courtesy of ace food photographer Jason Perlow.

Edited May 12, 2005 by glenn (log)

[suzilightning]

and you are in this month's New Jersey Monthly (the shore issue) as well

[glenn]

Cool! thanks to Rosie.

[chefreit]

Hi everyone,

I have not posted for a few months, so forgive me if this is a repeat.

I noticed Glenn's Melt has made June's National Culinary Review.

Just wanted to say,

Congrats Glenn!

[FoodSnob]

My daughter and I had lunch at Melt on Tuesday - we really loved it!

We shared The Adriatic (feta, fontina & olive tepanade) and the French Blue,

cucumber, & smoked turkey special. Both were great, but the

blue cheese special was our favorite. The fresh squeezed lemonade was

marvelously tart and not sweet - it hit the spot on a hot and humid day.

The Cinammon Bassets Ice Cream was delicious. It is light and creamy

and the flavor was subtle and not overpowering.

We got to meet Glenn and must say that he is a very gracious host.

While Melt is not near my home in Central Jersey, it is a stone's throw

from the Holland Tunnel approach. I highly recommend that you stop at

Melt on your way to or from the city! We had a morning appointment in NYC,

so we got to Melt in time to have a late lunch. I would gladly go there for

dinner as well.

[adamru]

I often commute through downtown jersey city to reach manhattan and today stopped off the hudson bergen lightrail at the jersey avenue stop and it was only a five minute, direct walk to melt. lunch was so fresh and filling, my indecisive friend settled on the happy jack which was enormous and came with a light pasta salad and I had the meltburger deluxe with swiss, bacon, citrus dijon and mango chutney. I know it's all about the grilled cheese here but the burger was such a great alternative to the neighborhood fatburger which doesn't offer as many cheeses, creative toppings nor cooks the burgers to order. bassetts ice cream was a welcome end to it all, and we lingered over the free-refill fresh lemonade as it's a not at all rushed environment. great to meet gleen to wish him well and if it's not inappropriate to say here, even the waitress was cute. looking forward to going back and best of luck to glenn!

[Curlz]

I finally made it to Melt today, and I'm still thinking about my lunch... I had the Great Dane (horseradish havarti, smoked turkey and peach chutney on the multigrain bread) but swapped out the chutney for the orange fig jam. Like I said, I'm still thinking about it! DEEEELISH. I drank a 1/2 and 1/2 (lemonade and iced tea, aka an Arnold Palmer), and it was, imo, exactly what it should be--refreshing, but not too sweet. At Glenn's insistence, I finished my lunch with a scoop of the Bassett's cinnamon ice cream--also terrific!

It was great to finally meet Glenn, who takes great pride in his place (with good reason), which is funky and comfortable. I really wish he was in my neighborhood--it would be a great place to pop in on a regular basis, but the ride to Jersey City isn't that bad, so I plan to do so anyway! In addition to my free copy of Marlena Spieler's cookbook (get on the Melt mailing list, folks!), another bonus/pleasant surprise was finding a fellow eGulleteer (ejebud) sitting out on the back patio. Eric, great to meet you and your business partner! We'll all look forward to hearing more about your new venture in Verona.

Glenn is sincerely appreciative of the input and support he has received from folks here on eG; if you haven't been to Melt yet, I hope you'll make a point to do so, as it's well worth the trip.

[phaelon56]

I will finally make it to Melt one week from today barring travel complications - we're heading to DC for a long weekend and will detour a couple hours out of our way to go there but I'm sure it will be worth the drive.

Suggestions other than the Great Dane... which I've heard so much about? Let's hear them!

[glenn]

Just a quck note to say nothing gives me greater joy than having eG'ers here and enjoying. It's a total trip getting to meet you all. My only complaint is I generally can't sit down and join you for more than a few moments.

Curlz, that orange fig jam substitution was a first. Very interesting and I'm sure it worked quite well. Ironically, I was thinking of taking the GD off the menu and putting on a special that's worked quite well. But the GD seemed to pick up again in popularity.

Shameless self-promo - Melt will be on the "Roker on the Road" show on 7/5. It airs on Food Network at 9pm and again at 1am. We'll also get some sort of mention in the August issue of "Restaurants and Institutions" - once again, our Adriatic will be pictured.

[Josh]

Hey, Glenn, a friend who just moved up the block from you was raving about your burger tonight. I know you were a bit nervous about it, but it sounds like you found your groove with it. For what it's worth, this guy's a skeptical eater... Congrats! I'll have to check things out again the next time I swing by there.

Edited July 2, 2005 by Josh (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Here's a photo (from my cellphone) of Marlena Spieler at her book signing at Melt:

[glenn]

Hey, Glenn, a friend who just moved up the block from you was raving about your burger tonight.  I know you were a bit nervous about it, but it sounds like you found your groove with it.  For what it's worth, this guy's a skeptical eater...    Congrats!  I'll have to check things out again the next time I swing by there.

←

Thanks, Josh, and looking forward to seeing you.

I must say, this whole burger thing has me scratching my head. They were popular from the day we introduced them 2 weeks ago and they now rival the sales of grilled cheese. It's not exactly what I had in mind when I opened! Then again, compromises and giving people what they want is what it's about too. [glenn sells out.] The hotdogs haven't quite caught on like the burgers, but I suppose that's to be expected. Kids love 'em, though, and I also think we have a product to rival the best of them. [a BIG thanks to Eric for that tip of not putting slits in the dog.] Next up, a grilled veggie sandwich with olive oil. Gotta get those dang health-conscious people off my back!

[i have to figure a way to post a picture of my autographed copy of Marlena's book - she drew a picture of Melt!]

[JeAnneS]

Next up, a grilled veggie sandwich with olive oil.  Gotta get those dang health-conscious people off my back!

[i have to figure a way to post a picture of my autographed copy of Marlena's book - she drew a picture of Melt!]

Or skip the olive oil and smear a little chevre on that sandwich...mmmm :D

Edited July 3, 2005 by JeAnneS (log)

[LJC]

I stopped into Glenn's place with a co-worker a few weeks ago and had a great experience that I have been meaning to write about.

The place is very cute and Glenn is a gracious host. Our sandwiches were sensational. I had a special whiskey cheddar and bacon and my friend had a combo of jack mozz and fig jam. Both sandwiches were enormous and filled with just the right amount of cheese and perfect ratio of bacon to cheese. They were toasty and tasty. An other big hit was the imported cokes (huge difference) and great ice cream.

I can't wait to be in that neck of the woods again.

Edited July 7, 2005 by LJC (log)

[phaelon56]

I'm in DC for the weekend visiting friends but made a two hour detour on my way - just to visit Melt. Glenn is indeed a gracious host and I love the way the place turned out (I saw it during construction phase but had not yet eaten there).

We had a Fizzy Lizzy bottled sparkling fruit drink, a Barritt's Ginger Beer (excellent ginger beer without the bite that I associate wirh Goya or D&G brands). My sweetheart had the Happy jack and I had the Great Dane. This is the smoked turky, horseradish havarti cheese and mango salsa combo - on multi-grain bread. Hands down: best sandwich I have ever had in my life!

Cajun fries were excellent and we took two milkshakes for the road. I gave Glenn instructiosn for a mocha milkshake:

Half coffee ice cream, half chocolate ice cream, three squirts of chocllate syrup and then add iced coffee (without the ice). No milk needed for this if you're using a ricj ice cream like the Barrett's. These shakes were so darn good I won't be surprised to see him add it to the menu. Great going Glenn! I wish Melt were in my town instead of being 250 miles away....

[glenn]

Half coffee ice cream, half chocolate ice cream, three squirts of chocllate syrup and then add iced coffee (without the ice).  No milk needed for this if you're using a ricj ice cream like the Barrett's. These shakes were so darn good I won't be surprised to see him add it to the menu. Great going Glenn!  I wish Melt were in my town instead of being 250 miles away....

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Hey, I started a discussion over here on that great shake, now known as "O'Neill's JAMM [Jersey Avenue's Mocha Madness], aka, The Best Milkshake Ever."

Btw, the dog [great dane] is with peach chutney not salsa - the cool jerk is with the salsa. And thanks for coming!

[Curlz]

Melt got some nice press today in The Hudson Current. Congrats, Glenn!

[Jason Perlow]

Something tells me I should have trademarked "Jersey Avenue Mocha Madness".

[glenn]

thanks, evie!

Something tells me I should have trademarked "Jersey Avenue Mocha Madness".

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If the truth be know, and I think it is, hardly anything at Melt is original, or at least a product of my imagination. After all, I'm only a fucking accountant ). But I had the sense to "borrow" and ask for ideas from the right people. And a large percentage of those people are right here on eG. thank you thank you.

[JustTia]

I'm coming out of my self-imposed perpetual lurkdom to give some praise to the JAMM. Today was my third visit to Melt, but this is only my first time posting about it (I guess I'm shy like that ). This time I brought my MIL (and my kiddos, of course since I'm a SAHM), even though she is the plainest Jane of them all when it comes to eating. We all enjoyed ourselves, especially my daughters when it was dessert time.

Ok, I'm really writing this because I've been feeling bad about reading all the posts about Melt and never responding with my own praise. Each time I've been there, it's been great and I look forward to the next time I can get a moment to drive out to JC again. Honestly, I have to say, today I wish I would have ordered another JAMM shake 'cuz it was so delicious. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was because I needed coffee, or maybe it was just because it was good, but it completely hit the spot today.

And thanks, Glenn, for not looking totally shaken when my kids came through the door. We don't go out to eat often because frankly it's just too hard with two toddlers who are under 3 years old, but mostly because other people react strangely to us. It was nice not to get "the eye" when we were just trying to get a bite to eat for lunch (and pick up my DH's birthday gift -- 3 pints of Bassett's ice cream).

Edited August 13, 2005 by JustTia (log)

[glenn]

Tia, you should have mentioned eG... we give a free complimentary small ice cream cup to anyone who sez they saw us here.

And we love kids! From the outset, I wanted Melt to be kid-friendly. Unfortunately, it's turned out to be more of an adult place. I guess you can't be everything to everyone. But I wish we had more custoemrs as kids, not just toddlers. In any case, don't ever think twice about bringing your kiddies. I will do whatever I can to accomodate children, i.e., serving half sandwiches or extra small cups of ice cream (with extra sprinkles!)

[phaelon56]

I'm really just a big kid and Glenn was very nice to me when I visited. He even named a milkshake after me

Regrettably, I'm much too far away to get there very often but I've been dreaming about grilled cheese (sort of) since eating there in July and now plan to have a melt party on my deck when fall rolls around. All those invited will each have to bring three items - be it unusual cheeses, meats, condiments or bread. We'll get a bunch of George Foreman's and maybe a home panini grill or two fired up, takes notes, do some sampling and have a sandwich contest.

The winning entries.... hmm... I think after they're eaten I should send the recipes to Glenn and see if we can get a sandwich named after Syracuse

And yes - O'Neill's JAMM will be served.

[glenn]

You've all been so helpful in the past, thank you thank you. Once again, I need some ideas if you don't mind.

As mentioned elsewhere, I'm having a problem making much progress picking up delivery business. I came up with an idea for a somewhat different marketing strategy and need help in its execution.

Okay, don't laugh or snicker (too much) or call me the sexist pig that I am. The idea is to have a very enthusiastic attractive person (most likely female) wear one of those sandwich signs and walk enthusiastically around the business commercial areas in JC, mainly the waterfront. I want the sign to be unique and somewhat mysterious. Like, simply have one side with my web address and the other saying something like, "grilled cheese better than mom used to make." And my logo would be on either side. The person would hand out business cards instead of menus (we've inundated the area with menus.)

The goal is to increase delivery business AND in-store business, particularly from office workers on the waterfront. Right now, the vast majority of the business is from local residents.

I need help in the wording of the sign. I'm trying to keep graphics to a minimum since I think that would make it costly. I also want to offer an incentive (like, mention you saw this sign and get 20% off) but don't know the best way to do this. I've already talked to one sign company (Sign Expo in nyc) and haven't gotten costs yet, but I can't afford to spend a fortune on this, like more than a few hundred. Also, any other ideas about the concept would be most appreciated. thanks!

[fyi, regarding the other quesiton I posed about a fax service, I'm meeting with a marketing company that specializes in that sort of thing.]

[menton1]

Have you tried ValPak or one of those coupon mailers? Those are usually very effective for the type of promotion you want to do, you could do a sale or a coupon for delivery, and you can target exactly by zip code where the mailing will go. Not real expensive, either.

[Curlz]

I've always thought you needed a tag line, Glenn! Without thinking too hard about it...

Melt: Grilled cheese for big kids or Grilled cheese for grown-up kids

Melt: Sophisticated grilled cheese

Melt: Grilled cheese that's far better than mom's!

Melt: Because grilled cheese is good for you

Edit: I think this is a great idea, especially if you can do it SOON. I'm assuming that people do get outside at lunchtime; capture them now while the weather is still in your favor!

I also like the idea of a tasting cart if you can do it; nothing like knowing that the food is good before you order from a new place.

Edited August 19, 2005 by Curlz (log)