by Tracy Lawrence

Mobs gathered at the tables, anticipating. We were screaming, shouting, performing like circus animals—all for a morsel smaller than our outreached hands. Was this ripped from history, a Depression-era image of food ration lines? Hardly. We paid $5 admission for this. Another key difference: we all had smiled plastered on our faces. That didn’t make the competition for food any less Darwinistic.

Welcome to the 1st 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational. Held last Saturday, April 25th in Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown, this competition calls itself the “Grilled Cheese Sammich cooking competition.” And how exactly does a mere mortal like myself get to judge such a competition? It only took the hard work and perseverance…of an internet search. Don’t ask me how and the other hundreds of people found out about this niche of a cooking contest. Call it divine guidance.

And on a Sunday afternoon, with churchgoers and late-night revelers awake and famished, there was something ungodly about the line that snaked itself into a good 45 minute-1 hour wait. Alas, foodies like myself will do a lot for a quality piece of grub, so wait we did. We were richly rewarded.

The competition was conducted in 4 separate 45-minute heats, with each heat having its own category of ingredients (I’m telling you, this isn’t a joke!). And when they call the odious, “SPATULAS DOWN!,” your sammich better be finished and expedited to the judges table and to some of the audience crying out for your attention in front of you.

Category 1: The Missionary— "Standard bread, standard cheese (or cheeses), standard butter and NO ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS.”

Ok, so the creators have a penchant for cheeky names, but there is something to say about the inherent connection between innuendo and food. I guess they find grilled cheese to be just that satisfying. For my tasting of The Missionary, I had some clean flavor profiles—just to butter me up for Round 2. A group of nun-dressed chefs were delivering up a cheddar-coated grilled cheese, with the bread taking just as long to grill, separate from the whole. If you weren't lucky enough to snag a competitor sammich, there was the ever-flowing cornucopia of simple grilled cheese from the Kraft Singles booth. These, in essence, became palate cleansers for the main course.

Category 2: The Kama Sutra – “Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, and any kind of cheese PLUS additional ingredients(the interior ingredients must be at least 60% cheese).”

"MR. PESTO MAN!" I was ravenous, and my gastro-emotions got the better of me. I waved desperately to the young chef offering up his mysterious pesto-garnished grilled cheese. Ugh, too many people were hollering. Time for Plan B: the quiet but desperate plea. I looked over at one point after the first samplers went out and, well, gave him a "I'm completely famished and in love with pesto" gaze. It worked--and he shouted out, "You're #1 for the next sample!" This was certainly music to a salivating foodie. And with its goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, there was no shame in wolfing it down. Not that shame has ever played a role in judging an eating contest.

This category was split into 2 tastings (vegetarian and meat), and we stayed for the former. That said, carnivores don't despair. These samplings were so filling and tasty, we didn't realize it was the veggie round until it was over. The highlights of the day were had here. The Italian, panini-like grilled cheese with basil, tomato, mozzarella, lemon zest, and a chili kick. Each tasty sample comes with a ballot card to judge everything from basic taste to the weirdness factor and presentation. Our grilled cheese with swiss, cheddar, and red paper got top marks here with its inclusion of a yellow duck candle--random, but nonetheless appealing.

For the non-vegetarian category, Chef Eric Greenspan of The Foundry on Melrose did a public demonstration of his entry. With the grilled cheese world as his stage, his audience interaction blasted over a speaker system. His sammich mixed savory and sweet, with a unique blend of arugula, braised beef short ribs, apricot-caper sauce, all housed in raisin bread. As last year'swinner of the Kama Sutra category, he whipped up his blend proudly and with lot's o cheese.

Category 3: The Honey Pot – “Any kind of bread, any kind of butter, and any kind of cheese (the interior ingredients of the sammich must be at least 60% cheese), and with an overall flavor that is sweet and would best be served as dessert.”

Who could forget dessert? One noteworthy dessert grilled cheese was the combo of mascarpone cheese, honey, almond, dried figs all sandwiched between raisin bread. Not heart healthy, but your tongue won't complain.

And just as quickly as we gorged ourselves, we headed off--satiated with dairy and bread, I ask Downtown to challenge me with more food explorations. So far, it hasn't let me down.