Flipping to Grilled Cheese
He founds a chain of grilled-cheese-and-soup restaurants.
That’s right. He plans to open five The Melt restaurants around San Francisco this year, then 500 more nationwide by 2015. You’ll order online or from your phone; you’ll be sent a QR barcode, which you hold up to a scanner when you arrive at the restaurant. Your sandwich and soup combo ($8) will be ready in one minute.
They’re upscale grilled-cheese; the combos will include “aged gruyere on wheat with wild mushroom soup,” he says, or “goat cheese and mint with carrot ginger soup.” With each visit, you’ll be asked if you’d like to round up your purchase price to the nearest dollar, with the difference donated to a charity dedicated to fighting world hunger.
It sure sounds—unusual. But if the industry has learned anything from the dearly departed Flip, it’s that it’s not wise to bet against Jonathan Kaplan.
David Pogue shares some more information about Jonathan Kaplan’s intriguing new venture. It sounds appealing to both the stomach and the techie brain.