Attorney by day, restaurateur by night: this is the life of the Dupont law firm of Bruce Klores. Running a medical malpractice firm in D.C. since 1978, Klores is in the middle of a career transition as a co-owner of GCDC, a grilled cheese restaurant that is coming to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC in early March.
Why leave law behind for a grilled cheese restaurant? Klores says, “Law lends itself to a certain kind of creativity, but this is a whole different thing.” Bruce has always had a passion for food. Before becoming a lawyer, Bruce worked odd jobs in the food industry in his youth, including selling hot dogs at the Statue of Liberty and bartending throughout law school.
The creative idea of the restaurant came to Bruce Klores about six years ago. After his son, Steven, graduated from college, he brought him into the business as well. In addition to the father-son team, they recruited the New York cheesemonger, Sophie Slesinger, to join their budding restaurant. Sophie curates the cheese selection and wine pairings for the sandwiches. GCDC will be a fast, casual restaurant by day, and a perfect after work bar with beer, wine, and cocktails with cheese.
Steven creates the sandwiches through trial and error. Each sandwich is cooked in a high speed convection grill that toasts the sandwiches in a short 2 minute span. One of the concepts they have come up with is a sandwich version of a French onion soup with caramelized onions and cheese. They also have carbonara grilled cheese (with goat cheese, leeks, pancetta, and black pepper), steak and kimchi grilled cheese, and a “White House Kitchen Sink” sandwich that has bacon, two fried eggs, pepper jelly and cheddar.
The restaurant’s menu has vegan, gluten free, and build-your-own sandwich options as well. Since the restaurant is close to the White House, Bruce Klores plans to come up with politically-themed grilled cheese sandwiches.
From lawyer to restaurant owner, Bruce Klores has enjoyed his time as a malpractice lawyer, and has moved on to help people satisfy their hunger through various delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.
Go check out GCDC at 1730 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Doors should open at the end of February/ beginning of March.