Posted by Krista on October 19, 2010
It's been hard, finding replacements for all of the London places I've grown to love. Especially when it comes to cheese. La Fromagerie! (Both locations!) Neal's Yard! Paxton & Whitfield!
How I miss you.
Sadly, the average American supermarket is full of cheddar. Cheddar. And while I do respect the cheddar, I also appreciate a little bit of variety.
So I was happy to discover Pastoral on Lake Street in Chicago's downtown Loop. The people who work there actually KNOW SOMETHING. They're real cheesemongers! It's lovely. And they even have some Neal's Yard. So it's almost like "home." Almost.
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Posted in Cheese, Chicago, United States | No Comments
Posted by Krista on February 2, 2009
Paxton & Whitfield
93 Jermyn Street
SW1Y 6JE
Date of Last Visit: Saturday, January 17th, 2009
The Victim: Me
The Damage: £20
The Background: Bryan and Stacey have invited me over for dinner. As the non-cook in the group, I've been assigned the cheese plate. I have to stop at Fortnum & Mason for some foodie gifts, so Paxton & Whitfield, famed London cheesemonger, it is. And I am glad.
The Entrance: Cheese, cheese, and more cheese! I like that at Paxton & Whitfield, the cheese is all out in front of you in nice big wheels. OK, it's like this at Neal's Yard too. But at Paxton & Whitfield, it all just seems so much closer.
The Selection: I put myself in the hands of the cheese monger. I ask for an all English plate. Something creamy, something blue, something different. £20, I've got three cheeses: a smoked cheddar (which ends upbeing my favorite), a stilton, and of course something that I've completely forgotten. Not because it was unmemorable, but because my memory is as holey as swiss cheese.
The Verdict: Pricey, but worth it.
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Posted in Cheese, London, SW1, United Kingdom | 1 Comment
Posted by Krista on September 18, 2008
La Cave a Fromage
25 Cromwell Place
SW7 2LD
http://www.la-cave.co.uk
Date of Last Visit: 16 September 2008
The Victims: Many. Lea from Unchained Guide, a great directory of independent shops in London. Rob and Emily from Qype, who organized (and paid) for everything. Tim. Helen. Chris from Londonist and his own gig. And many other London food and restaurant bloggers and aficionados.
The Background: A few months back, I was invited to a Qype chocolate tasting. I cancelled at the last minute. And I’ve felt terribly guilty about that since. An invitation to La Cave a Fromage was a chance to redeem myself. So I went. (And also felt guilty because I do love the Trusted Places guys too, you know.)
The Entrance: I am smack dab on time, and everyone is ready to get started. Amnon, our host, is informative and interesting. I think he also knows we’re hungry. We start with a brie and then there’s an English ewe’s milk, and then a Gouda and then an Italian blue cheese. We’re then poured a very interesting wine–the one in my last post–and it’s a wine made of WHEY. Yes, WHEY. As in CURDS AND. We move on to a cheese from Burgundy and then a weird goat cheese. I’m still waiting for the official names of what we had, but the English ewe’s milk cheese was my absolute favorite, particularly with a little fig paste.
What I Learned: Parma ham should be aged no longer than 17 months.
The Verdict: I really liked La Cave. This was a freebie, a total freebie. Amnon used to work with big supermarkets, so he’s put a lot of thought into the layout of the shop. There are no tills. There are no counters. It’s all eye-level. There are a lot of options and the staff seem friendly and informative. If I should ever find myself in South Ken–perhaps before a night out at boujis, because you know I hang out there all the time–I’d drop in for some cheese.
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Posted in Cheese, London, SW7, United Kingdom | 1 Comment
Posted by Krista on August 15, 2008
La Fromagerie
2-4 Moxon Street
W1U 4EW
Tel: 020 7935 0341
Date of Last Visit: Sunday, August 10 2008
The Victim: Me
The Damage: £12.50
The Background: My parents are good, decent hard-working people. And they’ve raised a total snob.
How else to describe my decision on a Sunday morning to take myself off to Marylebone for breakfast? I don’t live anywhere near Marylebone.
But it would be nice to live there. I can imagine myself, wandering the High Street, with my brother-and-sister West Highland White Terriers. And big sunglasses. Of course.
Instead I’m there trying NOT to look conspicuously American. I did leave the baseball cap at home…
The Entrance: It’s just a little after 10 when I arrive at La Fromagerie. The place is comfortably full but not overbearingly so. There are still tables to be had. I set myself up in a corner and ponder the contents of all those cardboard boxes.
I also ponder the menu…
And I’m concerned by rules on it. They can’t reheat food. They can’t cook to order. You must spend £10 between 12:30 and 2:30.
I understand maximizing the bottom line, but just because I order "just" an orange juice on Monday at 1 p.m. doesn’t mean I’m not going to go whole hog on Tuesday. Or Wednesday for that matter. Doesn’t it all just average out? I think I have spent too much time calculating expected values.
The Service: They’re nice. I get concerned by the mention of filtered water on the menu and how if I spend £1 on filtered water, they’ll donate it. I just want tap water and wonder if this is a possibility. "Of course it is!" says my server. Thank goodness.
The Food: I try for the Croque Monsieur, but they’re out of Croque Monsieur. I find this fascinating. How can one be a cheeseshop and be out of cheese and meat and bread? Hmmm. Maybe they were missing special bread. Or special ham. They couldn’t be lacking in cheese! So instead I get the gravadlax and it arrives, beautifully so. And it is good.
The Verdict: I like La Fromagerie. I can’t help it. I should note that I had a better experience here than at their Highbury cousin.
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Posted in Cheese, London, United Kingdom, W1 | 4 Comments
Posted by Krista on June 24, 2008
La Fromagerie
30 Highbury Park
N5 2AA
Tel: 020 7359 7440
Date of Last Visit: Sunday, June 15
The Victim: Me
The Damage: About £10 for two hunks of cheese and little lemon tart.
The Background: Sometimes I think about what I would do with myself if I were independently wealthy. (Surely I can’t be alone in this.) Thinking about all the possibilities can keep me occupied for HOURS.
Although I don’t claim to be overly passionate about cheese, I do like cheese. And I like cheese shops. And I really liked La Fromagerie in Highbury where I was so overwhelmed by the amount of goat’s cheese on offer that I surrendered myself to the somewhat surly cheesemonger and had him pick me out two. I would tell you what I ended up with, but he didn’t really tell me (but nor did I ask), and they didn’t put any information about the cheeses in my bag. (Is it really that hard?) So now f I go back, I’m going to have to start all over again.
So when I have the millions that I deserve, I will open a cheese shop. A friendly and helpful one. Really people, is it really that hard?
The Verdict: I’ll ask more questions next time.
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Posted in Cheese, London, N5, United Kingdom | 5 Comments
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