Mac and Cheese Madness: The Swiss Restaurant and Pub

By Ron Swarner on November 28, 2014

I pondered skipping this week's Mac and Cheese Madness Friday posting. South Sounders are either one big mashed couch potato after feasting on tryptophan-releasing flesh (and 10 tons of other comfort foods) nibbling on leftovers throughout the day, or, if out and about, will choose lighter fare to counterbalance yesterday's glorious gluttony.

Then, I remembered my mission, to report on a South Sound mac and cheese dish every Friday up to our Tournament of Mac and Cheese in March 2015. I need to spread the cheesy word, ease into tournament research and, obviously, build hype. I can't let the South Sound down. It's my life's mission ... and derision from my wife.

The Swiss Restaurant and Pub knows the two guiding principles behind awesome mac and cheese: a combination of cheeses, never just one, and a high proportion of cheese to everything else. The type of pasta isn't as important, so long as it's short and dried; fresh pasta will collapse under a cheese sauce. Tubes and spirals help the sauce cling to the noodles.

The downtown Tacoma restaurant blends cheddar and jack cheeses with extremely short elbow macaroni. The dish is almost soupy but the high cheese ratio forces five twists of a fork to break free. The addition of spicy Andouille sausage makes it badass. Graininess doesn't make an appearance.

Note: The Swiss has this mac and cheese on its special board. Its fate will be determined by its patrons' reviews.

THE SWISS RESTAURANT AND PUB, 11 a.m. to midnight Monday-Wednesday, 11-2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday, 1904 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2821

LINK: More mac and cheese dishes in the South Sound

LINK: The answer to why this mac and cheese column exists