Gourmet grilled cheese truck rolls into Ballard

There’s a new food truck in town, and it’s serving up comfort food in the form of gourmet grilled cheese and tomato soup. The Cheese Wizards are Bo Saxbe and his brother Tom, and they’ve been cruising around the city for a couple weeks. In addition to their base at the commissary kitchen in the alley off of NW Market St., between Old Ballard and 24th Ave NW, they’re setting up shop at local breweries Rueben’s Brews on Thursdays and Hilliard’s Beer on Fridays.

Photo by Bo Saxbe

According to their “Wizard’s Creed,” on their website, “After hours spent poring over musty spell-books, Heavy Metal magazines, and Betty Crocker cookbooks, we realized that all our love potions, cantrips, death-spells and hexes couldn’t hold a candle to the power of true grilled cheese magics.” And with that, they created a slew of sandwiches with gourmet cheeses and homemade sauces and soup.

Saxbe, who lives in Sunset Hill, is keeping the “magic” as local as possible; all sandwiches are served up on local bread and rolls from Ballard’s Tall Grass Bakery. The Cheese Wizard menu includes wizardly sandwiches such as the “Voldemortadella,” which is French bread with smoked gouda and thick-cut, pan-seared mortadella. Other sandwiches include “The Critical Hit,” which is pumpernickel with brie and homemade pear chutney and the classic “Wizard’s Familiar:” white bread with American cheese. Tomato basil soup is served as an extra, and all sandwiches have a bacon add-on as an option.

Saxbe says they hope to make the brewery stops part of their routine. “When we post up outside local breweries and watering holes, we both benefit from the symbiotic marriage of super-local beer and food,” Saxbe writes.

To catch the Cheese Wizards in action, visit them at the local breweries, and check their “Wizard Locater” for updated serving spots.