Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Dropped From the Sky in NYC
What started as a conversation between friends turned into much more.
— -- “X” marked the spot for Bethany Watson in New York City.
“They sent out an email with the exact location of the ‘X,’ some basic ground rules like ‘Don’t run into traffic, don’t steal someone else’s sandwich and be nice,’” Watson told ABC News. “So I wandered over to the intersection and there was the ‘X.’ A bunch of us sat around and waited.”
Waited for grilled cheese sandwiches to be parachuted from the sky, to be specific. It was part of a fun side project on Sunday called “Jafflechutes” started by Adam Grant in Melbourne, Australia that through the power of social media came to New York City this past week.
“It really started as a joke that was only supposed to be shared with a few friends but it kind of escaped onto social media,” Grant, 31, told ABC News. “We did a crowd fund campaign and raised a bunch of money to come to New York City.”
People who heard about the pop-up sandwiches could go to Jafflechutes.com, pay $5 and put their faith to the sky.
“The website just said, ‘Pay with PayPal, find the ‘X’ and get your sandwich,’” Watson said. “It was so bizarre. I figured it was only 5 bucks, so if they end up taking my $5, it’s only $5.”
But Watson arrived at the “X” and shortly thereafter received her sandwich.
“When I got there, there was just one other person, but by the end it was maybe 30 of us. I thought it was going to be this whole bouquet of parachutes, but it was one at a time. Someone would grab it and yell out the name for whoever’s sandwich it was and they would come get it,” she said.
The parachutes fell from the top floor of a nearby building in the West Village.
“The sandwich was really good! It was hot still. They had clearly just made it; I even had to wait a few minutes before I could actually bite into it,” Watson said. “The cheese was really sharp, like sharp cheddar. It was really, really good.
Grant said he prepares all the “jaffles,” or grilled sandwiches, the morning of a drop and grills them right before dropping them.
“It went really well. The wind usually concerns me, because if the wind is up, who knows where the parachutes will go,” Grant explained. “Yesterday was a perfect day for it.”
Grant, who works full-time in advertising and social media, is headed back to Melbourne and unsure when the next drop will be.
“I don’t have any immediate plans to do anymore, but if an opportunity arises and it seems like a good idea and I think people will like it and I’m having fun with it, then why not?” he said. “Never say never.”
