ARCADIA: STREET
CHEESE EXPERTISE John Ash and cohorts launch gourmet grilled cheese street food
J
ohn Ash owes his illustrious culinary career to his grandmother’s grilled cheese sandwich. “It was probably the first memorable food that I had. Mine was done on Wonder Bread with Velveeta or something like that, but it’s one of those things you can eat,” says the chef, cookbook author, culinary teacher and owner of the nationally acclaimed Santa Rosa restaurant that bears his name. It’s a scorching July evening on the Windsor Town Green, and
farmers market booths crowd either side of the adjacent street. Despite the heat, Ash toils away next to the griddle in his Hot Cheese booth, forever sophisticated in a white button-up shirt. An ’80s cover band belts “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” as he leaves the booth for a picnic table in the shade where he sits down to discuss street food, the culinary business and why everyone loves a good sandwich. Ash remembers his grandmother teaching him how to prepare grilled
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THE BOHEMIAN
07.28.10-08.03.10
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