Tom+Chee - Newport, KY

     For my last blog post, I decided to venture to Newport on the Levee, located across the Ohio River from Downtown Cincinnati in Newport, KY, to visit Tom+Chee. Newport on the Levee is Newport, KY's idea of "urban renewal"; most of the time, placing an outdoor mall on top of a massive parking garage on top of the levee for the Ohio River would not exactly be the most ideal option for improving a city of 15,273. However, it seems to have attracted a plethora of attractions, shops, and restaurants to Newport, including one of only a select few Hofbräuhaus locations in the United States across the street (their Dunkel a personal favorite beer of Zack's). Tom+Chee seems to be the most popular restaurant on the Levee: even at 3 pm, the restaurant was still packed.

In what is a breakthrough for this blog, I actually took a good photo for once. Here is the exterior of Tom+Chee.

     Tom+Chee's name, simply put, is simply restaurant lingo for "tomato soup" and "grilled cheese". Tom+Chee is essentially Cincinnati's version of the Melt Bar and Grilled franchise throughout the Cleveland/Akron area or the less-famous Lockview in Downtown Akron -- a popular restaurant specializing in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches -- but unlike the other two, has no beer selection and a heightened focus on soup. I tried a sample of their tomato soup at an event in the Cincinnati area, and it was not your standard Campbell's Tomato Soup that failed movie actor Tim Allen is trying to convince you to eat. It was a tomato puree blended with a variety of seasonings including garlic, resulting in what was the most amazing sip of tomato soup I have ever had in my life. However, Adam did not come to Newport to sip on tomato soup. He came for Tom+Chee's featured dish: a grilled cheese sandwich using a sliced glazed donut as the bread. Would this ungodly concoction be as delicious as their tomato soup?  

The menu at Tom+Chee.

     Walking into the restaurant, I noticed Tom+Chee had a modern vibe, although not nearly as hipster-friendly as Melt Bar and Grilled with their tattoo-covered, gauged bartenders and servers. Their menu was complex enough to intrigue the casual diner, yet simple enough to lure them in. Since I had no idea what Adam ordered, I opted for the most expensive sandwich in their "fancy grilled cheese" category: the Flying Pig. The Flying Pig featured roasted turkey (read: lunch meat), bacon, pickles, and gouda cheese. I asked to have that served in a glazed donut. I then took a number and sat down. The sandwich was served to me less than five minutes later (seriously, what is it with all these places taking no time at all to make complex sandwiches?).
     When I opened up the Flying Pig, I noticed that the cheese was not completely melted -- a mortal sin if you're a grilled cheese restaurant. It honestly looked like they just laid down one piece of gouda cheese and wasted it by nuking it in the microwave for not long enough. More cheese and more time in the microwave or on the grill would have made so much more of a difference. The pickles and smoked turkey were standard in terms of deli fare. Having been cooked, it was hard to gauge how fresh they were, but I felt like the pickles didn't blend in well with the rest of the Flying Pig. Throwing in something slightly sour set the rest of the either slightly sweet or very sweet off a bit, and I felt like that took away from the overall quality of the sandwich. As bacon is God's gift to mankind, I have no complaints. It wasn't turkey bacon or any other healthy bacon alternative concocted by Satan himself, so I was content. Finally, the most unique part of the dish (and the one that I'll remember well after I finish writing this) was the glazed donut. It was a standard Krispy Kreme glazed donut sliced in half and grilled (as an unrelated side note, if you are looking for Krispy Kreme on YouTube, DO NOT play the rap song by risque female rapper Riskay). Some of the glaze seemed to have melted off, so by the time I held it in my hands it was nothing more than a messy standard donut with the sugar glazing falling off of the sandwich. While it is an interesting concept that is sure to be an attraction for years to come, I personally did not enjoy it as much as I would have hoped.

My Flying Pig sandwich, complete with the glazed donuts as the bread.

     Finally, I would like to conclude by stating that there was a food challenge here that I did not attempt. I know, I've let people down by not going out with a bang by trying this challenge. But one must complete 13 Grilled Cheese Donuts (roughly 3 or 4 lbs. of food) in an unknown amount of time -- I want to say it was 30 minutes, but don't quote me on that -- in order to "achieve eternal food glory". As I am trying to stay in shape, I felt like passing on this challenge was wise.

A food challenge. Yawn.

     Overall, my last restaurant visited for the blog was interesting and certainly memorable, but I felt like the grilled cheese needed improvement and fell well short of my expectations.

Tom+Chee
1 Levee Way
Newport, KY 41071
(859) 291-2433

Grade: B (if you include the soup) or C+ (if I am just grading the sandwich)