March 20, 2011
Charlotte, NC
The majority of the senior management at my company, when trying to convey a point, explain a process or just tell a story, use sports analogies. They often relate a coach’s relationship with a player or a team’s triumph over a one-man show. These are typically lost on me. Not that I am unable to see the correlation between the anecdote and the issue at hand, but it just doesn’t get my creative juices flowing especially when they are referring to a specific game or player from 30 years ago. I like sports, just not THAT much.
In one instance, however, I was all ears while listening the our President and CEO speak when he used a food analogy. He is a very surefooted and pensive man who is not afraid to make fun of an economic analyst in an 8K or curse, with gusto, in a room full of employees in the middle of the bible belt. He was discussing our company’s plans to begin a new service offering and mentioned his only instruction to the group initiating this new product was that “this new hotdog had better not F#@% with his cheeseburger.” Now we’re talking!
Interest now peaked and ready to seriously pay attention, I listened as he explained how a cheeseburger shop can make the best burgers in town. Then, in an effort to follow that entrepreneurial American spirit, they decide to add a hotdog to the menu. The hotdog is subpar and, because of their distain for the new venture, customers stop coming altogether - awesome burger or not. Next thing you know the place is out of business. This is what I thought of the first time I walked into Cast Iron Waffles and looked at the menu.
Aside from their beverages - typical breakfast fare made up of fair trade coffees in all her forms, assorted teas of excellent quality and smoothies along with milks, juices and sodas - they serve waffles. Belgian Liege Waffles to be exact, but more on that in a second. They do not offer hashbrowns. No omelette station, eggs over easy on a griddle or even the fake stuff stirred in a cup and zapped on high for 45 seconds. No pastries, muffins or danish. No toast with jam. And, heaven forbid, NO MEAT PRODUCTS AT ALL! I mean no sausages, country ham or BACON. “How in the hell can a place serving breakfast not offer delectable, crispy, cured pork product to accompany its main lineup and expect to stay in business,” I asked myself on that first visit.
I thought back to the musings of my almighty Chief Executive because when I originally thought about his analogy for a bit I realized that it was quite singular. Think about it, outside of those hotdog and hamburger temples, who else out there is able to get away with cooking only one thing. Its quite the opposite actually. These days most restaurants, especially those in the middle of the road, national chain, category, make a gut-wrenching game of who can cram the most crap on one menu (read Cheesecake Factory, if I wanted to get fish tacos, asian shrimp and a french dip at the same place I would mosey over to the Food Court and save myself 60%). No, those roadside burger joints and downtown hotdog carts are the only places that can get away with it. To try that with any other kind of fare would be financial suicide. Unless....unless, like those hero’s of grease, you take that one item and prepare it as if your life depended on it - because no doubt your livelihood does. You set out and through trial, error, science, common sense, skill and whimsy create something that is absolutely wonderful. Something truly different and astronomically better than anything of its kind that people have had in the past. What I’m saying is that if the Liege Waffles in Belgium are any better than those at Cast Iron Waffles then I can never have them, as I would die. Originating in the city of Liege, Belgium, these waffles are typically a more rich, dense and inherently sweet waffle than the traditional Belgian. Basically the volume on all of the great aspects have been turned up to 12. Adapted from brioche bread dough, they incorporate chunks of pearl sugar. At Cast Iron, when the waffles come out of the namesake Press, they are transferred to an inferred broiler where that sugar is caramelized in the outer crust. This creates an awesome crystalline crunch, not unlike that enjoyed in hunks of really good parmesan, which really adds to the decadence of the experience.
Cast Iron offers their waffles in several forms, Naked - typically dusted with powdered sugar - giving you the ability to simply enjoy it for what it is... pretty damned close to perfection. Extra Sweet are topped with your choice of house whipped cream, an incredible maple butter, melted belgian chocolate or, my wife’s favorite, Nutella. The Deluxe takes the Nutella and whipped cream and ads fresh fruit, typically strawberries, peaches, kiwi, etc. They will top your waffle with a scoop of fat free(which is basically like ordering that Diet Coke with your Quarter Pounder meal) to make it a sundae. They have also started making some specialties such as the berry cobbler and the peanut butter cup, which is what I had this morning and inspired me to write this article. It was a sweet, salty, slightly crunchy square of awesomeness that had that rich mouthfeel of an over-stuffed peanut butter fold-over with a stellar contrast of warm waffle and cold from the fridge whipped cream. 
I have to be honest, the first day that I walked in I said to myself “eat up now because there is no way a place that just serves waffles can stay in business.” But I swear, when they do something this incredibly well, it makes complete sense that now, months later, they are still thriving...and my stomach is very thankful for that.
Cast Iron Waffles
9604 Longstone Ln
Charlotte, NC 28277
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