So I was on Wait Wait Don't Tell me Today. 

Technically Thursday and technically you are on the show but calling in.  So technically hundreds of people were in NY, NY while I was huddled in the corner of my local Savemore Market in Oakland, CA.  Huddled with a phone that was handed over with the warning that it is really hard to hear.  Huddled not trusting it's strength so staying near the front window near the rain and pushing my other ear in as hard as possible.  Huddled hearing what was definitely Mo Racca and some other familiar voices including a guest host.  

When it was my turn I was ready to say my occupation was GrilledCheezGuy and not caterer or chef or whatever I am supposed to say.  And I did.  And before I say what happened (or better you listen) let me that before my segment there just happened to be a lot of talk about cheese and sex and pizza (I think) that I wrote down a line I was ready to say.  It was along the lines of "Cheese and Sex are very fluid in my life if you know what i mean." It is funny but like George and his shrimp joke I focused on it too much and missed the landing which I assume (and maybe hope) did not make the final cut. 

In any case, WHAT DID HAPPEN both humbled me and shocked me yet again.  And to not ruin a very fun show I will say that the man who shocked me is Glynn Washington and I hope to meet him someday in the near future, like April, at our shop. 

Sincerely,
Michael GrilledCheezGuy Davidson

NPR: WAIT WAIT DON'T TELL ME: ​http://www.npr.org/2017/02/11/514683514/limericks

I know we all thought 2016 was rough but 2017 has not been any prettier for us here at GrilledCheezGuy.  ADA & Permitting issues, waiting for TV news, truck accidents AND break-in's in Berkeley, Donald Trump Donald Trumping, the list goes on and on.  One non-food goal of 2017 is to start sharing my story of how I got to this moment as GrilledCheezGuy.  I think the story behind the business will be englightening for those curious of starting a small food biz, entertaining for those who want to know what truly goes on behind the scenes, and downright scandalous at points for many of us actually in the food scene of the bay area.  To do this, I will be writing and releasing a chapter a week on my blog for you to enjoy.  

I hope each week's will be just short enough to read on your subway ride or lunch break or in bed while you gram & tweet & stuff.  Please leave comments or share stories of your own if you were at any of the events or memories and want to add your own. 

THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE. A FOOD CART LOVE STORY.
BY: GRILLEDCHEEZGUY
TO: TT, MOM, DAD, MATTY, RIPLEY, MY FRIENDS, AND ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE BAY AREA FOOD SCENE & BRIEYOND!
The story will be shared in small bite chapters online and hopefully one day as a real book! For the purposes of this autobiographical recounting of the GrilledCheezGuy, my primary sources will be my brain, my friends & corworker's brains, articles & blog posts, and most importantly the all-important leather bound calendars I started carrying in 2012. The story is going to start in 2009 with the first entry into the Grilled Cheese Invitational (GCI from now on folks) world and go from there. Well, maybe a little prologue first.
PROLOGUE: BEFORE ME BECAME BRIE
As mentioned, I don't have my fun little calendars filled with journals and notes and gigs to reference for how exactly this story started. Therefore, I used the next best thing which is Facebook. I went back to 2008 to see how life was, and if there was any yet mention of cheese & grilling. The posts and pictures were all gleeful and gay and one literally said "MY LIFE IS PERFECT!" so things in 2008 from what I see and remember were good. Those are the BC years. Before Cheese. Life was simpler. I had hobbies like being a shark naturalist, white water rafting, camping, throwing dinner parties and the like. I didn't know that a call to cheesy arms would soon lead me to go from the labs to the commissary and how much of my life it would briecome.
Food and cooking have always been a part of my life. What has become my most told story of stories because once you are in the food scene and people write, talk, or tape you is this...."So how did this all start for YOU?????!?? Who was your insipiration???!" Granted I love grandma and all that but after a while it just becomes a part of the drill that you can't really change too much. "This is my grandma. There are many like it, but this one is mine.......Without my grandma, I am useless" True statement. With two working parents growing up in a small beach town of West Palm Beach, FL, the classically trained french cook & babysitter of my brother & I made sure most every meal was made from scratch. Even after school treats weren't some packaged good, they were something made in a pan or the oven. The curiosity side of me always watched on to notice the tricks and techniques she used in the kitchen. Meals truly were the place that brought the family together every night to catch up on school and stories and everything in between. That power to bring busy people together was not lost on me, but actually implemented into dinner parties and sit down meals with friend's in college. Dinner parties really did mean a college like party with drinks, drugs, and all that jazz combined with seriously fancy side dishes. Coca cola chicken friend chicken? Sure. Kingfish Fish Tacos? Yup. One of my favorite semesters involved mastering the outdoor grill pit and BBQ'ing Costco steaks & killing purple bags of Crown Royal weekly. Nevertheless, college was still a low period in culinary prowess and epicurean adventures but I made up for it with my decision of where to move to after college.
At this point my life was a combo of Florida & New Jersey. I was born extra-warm blooded in sunny FL but was lucky enough to get trained in the tri-state area attitude as well. I saw Florida as a great place to visit the family and take advantage of the beaches and fishing but that was about it. The state lacked in too many other departments to make it somewhere I wanted to try out in my 20's, despite many college friends keeping in place there. New Jersey friends were all parlaying to neighboring major cities to give it a try: Philly, NYC, Boston. I voted all those down because I didn't want to continue the trend of suffering through snow storms in my life when I had the choice not to. My move to New Jersey was not of my own doing but my father's loss of a job and career change. This was my time to shine and I wanted it shining a lot. Two other friends & I decided to go West like those before us and make a stake at California. For me, my motivating factors were the following in order or importance: Liberal lifestyle being a gay American, lots of outdoors of various types, and a place where food & the food scene was happening (also sharks as mentioned above). So we decided on San Francisco & the bay area. A place I had never visited and actually knew very little about. After a LOT of google and wikipedia I learned it met my requirements and the science company I was working for had a large division in the area in case I wanted to continue with them. And I did, for almost 8 more years before giving it all up and going full time GrilledCheezGuy. But before we get to that year, we have many more to cover in between starting at Family Night(s) and the first Bay Area Regional GCI Contest of 2009.
Next week:
CHAPTER 1. FAMILY NIGHT.  LAUGHING SQUIDS.  COOKING WHILE DRINKING (OR VISE VERSA)

After 5 weeks battling it out with 50 other food trucks across these great United States, we came in 2nd place.  2nd place after being the last minute entry and only having 1 week to prepare as prepared to 4+ months.  2nd place being only one of two competitors who were NOT food trucks. 

So if anyone else was going to win, I am glad it is the non-food truck, homeless feeding and supporting, fellow Southern gent that is Ken's All Star Cart from Columbia, SC.  I knew from week 1 that if he made it to the end we were going to have a serious breakfast battle on our heads.  He did, and he won.  It just so happened that Vicki Liviakis from KRON 4 called me up to have me on her "Dine & Dash" segment to talk about the contest and try my entry.  After a hearty bite she declared me a winner which is good enough for me!  Check out the clip here to see me and my GrilledCheezGuy van in sunny San Francisco.

Now that the bread dust has settled I'm excited to say the NorCal Nook was a huge hit and we hope to serve it as breakfast once we open GrilledCheezGuy SF!  If you live or work in the area, start walking by as you will see a LOT is about to go down. 

With love and cheese, 
Michael 


 

After many years hiatus from the Eat Real Festival, we were finally invited back to our neighborhood nosh fest.  At Year 8 I honestly expected a well vegetable oiled machine but what I found was a lot of crude unfortunately.  Although there were a lot of my favorite vendors & friends, the organization and locations and set-up were frustrating for all. 

That didn't mean that a woman came after all these years b/c she remembered having our grilled cheese at Eat Real Festival.  It didn't mean we didn't have a chunk of cheesy fans find us and eat with us during the non-Cali like heat we experienced.  And for that, I thank you all who came out and enjoyed Classics & Nacho's with us.  Despite the issues, we truly hope to come back to this event it is an important and effective way for us to engage with our fans and communities about eating right and eating real!

My friends from Oishii Moments included us in their Top 12 Food Vendors blog.  Check it out for photos of us and the others.  They will make you hungry!  

Also keep voting at WWW.THOMASBREAKFASTBATTLE.COM

So I was recently interviewed by Brett of FoodTruckEmpire about my little grilled cheese empire and it's growth in the bay area.  The podcasts was focused on the new ways small businesses like me can get no interest loans like Kiva to free money like Kickstarter. 

Speaking of FREE MONEY, we are now in the TOP 10 for Thomas Breakfast Battle. Please keep VOTING everyday so we score the $25,000 prize and open you the most cheesiest cheese stand the Brie Area has ever seen. 

Until then, enjoy the podcast and see you around town. 

PODCAST HERE. 

VOTE HERE. 

Michael the GCG

Just got an email saying I was published in this following article: 

Grilling on Twitter: 50 Grillmasters to Follow in Time for Labor Day 
www.garagecabinets.com/garagetalk/grilling-on-twitter/
Fitting timing considering the last time I was declared a GrillMaster it was during the Bull's Eye BBQ Contest for Boldest Man in America. 

Once again I have been called to attempt to become a champion, this time for Thomas English Muffins and Bagels.  The contest starts Monday and it will require all you fans to vote for us everyday!  Stay tuned for complete details but in the meantime, enjoy the article and thanks to Garagecabinets.com.
​

A HUGE thanks to the talented Nick Lai and the entire team for building us this new and beautiful website.  We hope it will be easier for everyone to navigate and find us at our soon-to-brie many locations in the Bay Area!

In the meantime, I decided to enter a contest from Nuts.com.  To enter the contest I had to pick 2 ingredients from a list, and I chose nuts and candy.  When I am wilderness camping in Yosemite or hitting the highlands of Point Reyes here is my go to mix to make for the trails. 

The California Crunch recipe: 
​Roasted Almonds
M&Ms (regular)
Freeze dried organic blueberries/raspberries  
Crushed granola 
Raisins 
Peanuts

What do you think? I go nuts for that stuff.  That being said, I hope to keep this page as nutty as possible as I use it as my personal blog and a glimpse into catering life & the food scene going on in the bay area.  Grilled Cheese Wars?  Forged Kitchens? Bowl To Bowl dinner walks? Yes, yes and more yes.  In the meantime, let me know what you think of the new website and thanks again for all the love and support, especially our newest lOAKal friends over at Hack the Hood!

GrilledCheezGuy