Business Opportunities Weblog

He’s Making A Gouda Livin’

By on November 2, 2012 in Ideas

Even though his product is available at every diner, deli and corner bodega, one New Yorker has found success selling grilled cheese on the black market.

The underground chef takes orders by text message, cooks his sandwiches on the stove in his brother’s East Village apartment, and then meets his customers on street corners.

“I feel like a drug dealer because I’m handing people a paper bag and they’re handing me cash,” the unlicensed cheese pusher, who, fearing reprisals from the Health Department, asked to be identified only as “Ronnie,” told the New York Post.

The sandwiches go for between $5 to $7 depending on the type of cheese and bread or the addition of extras like bacon or jalapeños.

He grills in a pan with unsalted butter, then wraps the sandwiches in tin foil and pops them into a 500-degree oven for a few minutes to achieve maximum crispiness — a trick he learned from his father.

It started with just a few friends, but now Ronnie is grilling 40 sandwiches a day, he said — a volume he can barely keep up with.

Mostly he’s worried that if he gets too big, he’s sure to draw the attention of health inspectors.

Photo by Allison Joyce.

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Rich Whittle has added 6,226 posts to Business Opportunities Weblog.

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  • Jaclyn Wells

    That sure is a lot of grilled cheese sandwhiches to make everyday! but…if everyone loves his food so much, then maybe he should think about opening up his own deli store in the area, with all the money he’s made so far selling them, i would think that he should have a pretty decent capital to start out with.

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