Grilled Cheese Cook-Off Ends In a Rock-Paper-Scissors Tie-Breaker, Because Why Not?

By Bee Hill

All photos by Kevin Beard

With such an overwhelming number of options everywhere all the time, sometimes you really appreciate simplicity. A nice whiskey on the rocks? Done. Perfect. Love it. Melted cheese on bread? Nailed it. Gorgeous. Don’t change a thing. Noorman’s Kil completely understands this type of simplicity (and the quality it requires), and for that we cherish them. This past weekend the Williamsburg whiskey den hosted their Second Annual Grilled Cheese Cook-Off, sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery, to give locals an opportunity to compete to create the latest addition to their perfectly simple and delicious menu of grilled cheeses.

Co-owner Gary Forsyth tells us the cook-off winner from last year, DJ Colwell, became a back-to-back champ this year with her “Mackenzie” sandwich. (According to the Grilled Cheese Cook-Off rules: “Your grilled cheese must have a women’s name, as to meet the Noorman’s Kil naming standard, i.e. Maefred, Jane, Karen etc.”) What’s on the Mackenzie, you ask? Fontina, gorgonzola, asiago, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and basil. So, everything good, basically.

And yet it wasn’t an easy victory for Colwell. “She won a tie breaker via a best-out-of-three rock-paper-scissors match that took 9 rounds to complete,” Forsyth says. But, to be honest, this kind of fierce, down-to-the-wire competition on deciding which grilled cheese is “better” doesn’t really surprise us because: Pretty much all grilled cheeses are, by nature, amazing and beautiful and perfect. Big shoutout to the winner and all of the participants for grilling more beauty into the world.