Growing up on the East Coast, I've always heard of these mythical lands out west. A left coast, a better coast. Well, tomorrow I will be flying to San Francisco and honestly, I'm not sure what to expect. I've heard a myriad of things ranging from "most beautiful city in the U.S." to "literal human waste all over the place." Seems contradictory. Despite anything I've heard, I'm very much looking forward to the trip, mostly for the food, but also to soak in that California lifestyle. Before traveling to a new city, I like to do a little research on the history, so here are some unbiased SF facts. San Francisco was founded on June 29th, 1776 by Spanish colonists looking to start a Catholic Mission in the bay area. California (which included SF) was claimed by American Commodore John Sloat on July 7, 1846, following American victories during the Mexican-American War. Perfect timing by my guy John Sloat because three years later gold was found in the area. As you can imagine, all sorts of people came west in search of fortune and the city of San Francisco ballooned from 1,000 people to 25,000 in less than a year. With great wealth came the grubby bankers, and Wells Fargo was founded in 1852 (thanks for the credit card I will likely max out this weekend). The U.S. Military was quick to defend their new gold mine and established a fort on Alcatraz Island (touristing the hell out of this place Friday), which would later become a high-security prison and much later a Nic Cage movie set. Immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia began pouring in as great of numbers as Europeans were coming to New York, with promises of work and riches. Things were going great for SF until 1906 when a major earthquake struck and destroyed most of the city leaving half of the town's population of 400,000 homeless. The rebuild was accomplished quickly, and the city reestablished itself as a financial capital, with not a single bank failing following the 1929 market crash. During WW2, the port of San Francisco was used as a huge embarkation point for service members shipping out to the Pacific. Like most American cities, post-WW2 families flocked to the suburbs, and with it came freeways that nearly destroyed the city as we know it. But the city was again revitalized by America's counterculture of the 1960s as the artists returned to the city in droves. More recently, the internet industry has brought unprecedented wealth to the area leaving many without affordable homes, but at least they became the first city to ban e-cigarettes. Anyway, I'll report back next week with my actual review of the city, not what I read online. Let's check out this grilled cheese.
The Golden State: Lacey Swiss, Mozzarella, Turkey, Avocado, Tomato
This is the first of nine grilled cheeses offered by Taliercio's and they are all named after locations. (Which means I'll have to travel to these places when judging these things.) This one set the bar pretty, pretty high. I really love how by putting avocado on anything that automatically turns it into a "California" themed food on the East Coast, which seems incorrect. Regardless, I will ask everyone I encounter this weekend to get to the truth. If every grilled cheese from Taliercio's is like this one then they are all going to be grilled to perfection. It honestly didn't need the turkey but after a month of eating sandwiches from here without any meat on them, it was a welcome addition. The melted combo of swiss and mozzarella was just delightful and something I would definitely order again.
Rating: 7.7/10
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