Last night, I took Nicole to the St. James Cheese Company for Valentine's. St. James is a cheese shop, recently opened by Richard and Danielle Sutton. Before returning to New Orleans, Richard managed Britain's oldest cheese shop, supplying cheese to the royal family, among others. Suffice to say, they know cheese. So we were really excited to there, and it didn't disappoint us.
After tasting some generous samples, we ordered a seven cheese board. While the cheese was prepared, I went next door to the Wine Seller and got a bottle of Coq du Rhone. After providing us with glasses, out came the lovely cheese board and baguettes, garnished with grapes and honey-drizzled walnuts. My favorites were the Cambozola, a Camembert-Gorgonzola hybrid, and Durrass, an Irish cheese. (One clerk, a friendly Brit, corrected my pronunciation of the latter, instructing me that it doesn't rhyme with "ass.") Well, it was delicious, and though I'd intended it as a snack, it was so satisfying we skipped dinner. (And most importantly, Nicole was very happy this Valentine's Day.) On top of all of that, it was a real bargain, less than $20.
St. James is primarily a specialty shop, though they do serve sandwiches and salads until 3 pm. My only complaint as a vegetarian was that all of their sandwiches featured some of the cured meats they sell. I love my own grilled cheese sandwiches--I've got have one of those crazy, Prince-Charles grilled cheeses! Come on, St. James, make it for me!
My rating:
A horn of plenty meriting 3 tomatoes.
After tasting some generous samples, we ordered a seven cheese board. While the cheese was prepared, I went next door to the Wine Seller and got a bottle of Coq du Rhone. After providing us with glasses, out came the lovely cheese board and baguettes, garnished with grapes and honey-drizzled walnuts. My favorites were the Cambozola, a Camembert-Gorgonzola hybrid, and Durrass, an Irish cheese. (One clerk, a friendly Brit, corrected my pronunciation of the latter, instructing me that it doesn't rhyme with "ass.") Well, it was delicious, and though I'd intended it as a snack, it was so satisfying we skipped dinner. (And most importantly, Nicole was very happy this Valentine's Day.) On top of all of that, it was a real bargain, less than $20.
St. James is primarily a specialty shop, though they do serve sandwiches and salads until 3 pm. My only complaint as a vegetarian was that all of their sandwiches featured some of the cured meats they sell. I love my own grilled cheese sandwiches--I've got have one of those crazy, Prince-Charles grilled cheeses! Come on, St. James, make it for me!
My rating:
A horn of plenty meriting 3 tomatoes.
