That's one powerful sandwich

Someone must have been a really big fan of Glee‘s Grilled Cheesus episode.

VentureBeat is reporting that Jonathan Kaplan, who previously founded the company behind the Flip camera, is starting a chain of grilled cheese sandwich and soup restaurants. “Good for him, grilled cheese is awesome,” you may be thinking. And yes, grilled cheese and soup is an awesome combination, but we’re not sure if it’s $10 million good. Someone at Sequoia is though – they’ve given Kaplan enough money to open 20 stores, which cost between $500,000 and $1 million to open.

Well, at least it’s better than Milanoo.

Seriously, the famed venture capitalists (who’ve funded companies like Google and Apple) probably got involved more for the mobile food aspect. The Melt – great name, by the way – is aiming to push users to ordering and paying via phone, where they’ll receive a QR code that can be redeemed at the restaurant. The Melt will have five restaurants in the San Francisco area by November with plans to open 500 locations over the next 5 years.

We know that food trucks are a big driver of mobile payments, so the premise doesn’t sound far fetched but we think the real money would be in the ordering technology. The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen generated plenty of excitement in San Francisco last May, so it’s not that there’s anything wrong with the menu, but as delicious as they can be grilled cheese sandwiches everyday would probably get old (not to mention a bit unhealthy). Being able to get in and out of a restaurant with a QR code during the lunch time rush actually sounds pretty good, but only if it’s an option for the times when someone is in the mood for salad or a burger or anything else besides grilled cheese and soup.

If it catches on, maybe The Melt will be the case study for the technology, but that’s where our faith in this idea lies.

Sorry Grilled Cheesus.

Cupcakes have been the favorite over the last few years, but market research shows that good old fashion pie may actually “take the cake” as 2011’s must have dessert.

Cupcakes have grown to become a trendy and inexpensive favorite as far as satisfying your sweet tooth goes but U.S. citizens on average ate 18% less cupcakes at home this year compared with 2010. On the contrary, Americans ordered 12 million more slices of pie in 2010 than they did  the previous year. Looks like the classic is making a comeback.

“We have always thought it was a great dessert, I guess everybody else finally agrees with us. People just have such great memories of pies.” says American Pie Council Executive Linda Hoskins. {WalletPop}

She goes on to note that in comparison to cupcakes, “Pie is so much more of a dessert and I think the fruit aspect of [some] pies give them a lot of appeal as well.” Like cupcakes, Hoskins points out many pies are being personalized with smaller single-portion sizes and individual details. “They are small, cute little pies and the people who make pie are very proud and passionate about their dessert…they love their product.” Ooh, pie is more dessert than cupcake? Sounds like dessert fighting words to us.

The dinner table isn’t the only place for pies these days either. In a world where tiers of cupcakes out-shine traditional wedding cake, couples are now opting for pie as their feature desert. Towers of mini pies, pie cakes, pie wedding favors and even mini pies-on-a-stick are in demand.

Sunday is National Pie Day, and Hoskins predicts it will be the most successful year to date due to increased participation, contests, giveaways, coupons and activities.

So what can we expect for the year of the pie? Just like we saw emerge from the cupcake-craze, expect to see more specialty pie shops, pop-up bakeries and even pie trucks opening this year. Mobile food vendors have a great advantage in tapping into this growing trend since the concept is ideal for pre-made items like pie that are quick and fairly easy to sell.

And if you just can’t decide, there’s always a big slice of pumpple piecake.