Business Lunch Review
by October 19, 2009 12:00 am 85 views
If you like cheese – and who doesn’t – then Hammontree’s is likely to become your new favorite spot.
The sandwich shop does for the traditional grilled cheese what IHOP does for pancakes.
Our reviewers have been anxious to try Hammontree’s since it turned its take-home gourmet operation into a sit down restaurant inside the Nightbird Books store on Dickson Street.
A quick read over the menu had our mouths watering. Just about every kind of cheese you can imagine is represented, from Mozzarella to wild mushroom goat cheese.
Hammontree’s uses local bread from the Ozark Natural Family Bakery, herbs and veggies from the Farmer’s Market and meats from Ozark Mountain Smokehouse.
After careful consideration, the first reviewer chose a cup of spinach Gorgonzola soup with one-half of the Brie’s Company ($6.50 for both), an adventurous combination of grilled apple, Brie, Gouda, caramelized onions, and fig compote on sourdough bread.
The soup was creamy and had just the right amount of Gorgonzola flavor. It was very rich and probably best eaten on its own on a cold day.
The sandwich is a work of art, she said.
“The grilled apple with the Brie and the fig jam combined with the warm toasted bread is a culinary masterpiece.”
She said the cheesy concoction was very filling and was pleased that she went with the half sandwich and cup of soup combo.
The second reviewer went for the Ozark Monte Cristo ($6.25), two thick slices of Jalapeno corn bread topped with smoked ham, Baby Swiss and Havarti, grilled “French toast” style.
“I wasn’t sure a sandwich made of cornbread would work, but they pulled it off big-time. This one won’t be my last.”
The third reviewer was tempted by the bacon and pulled pork on the Cheebaca ($6.95), which also includes smoked Colby, the house cheese (a blend of Monterey Jack, White Cheddar and Asiago), roasted peppers and onions and garlic cilantro sauce on sourdough bread.
It was truly an inspirational sandwich, he said. The meat was not overpowering; it added just the right touch of flavor to a sophisticated grilled cheese.
The sandwiches at Hammontree’s take a little longer to make, this is not your mother’s grilled cheese after all, but Nightbird has plenty of books to peruse while you wait.
There is also a nice deck for people watching.
With 15 grilled cheese sandwiches on the menu, with names like the Scarlet Cheddar and Parmageddon, six varieties of homemade soup, and three types of salads, Hammontree’s is one of those places that makes you want to return each week to try something new.