Mission Cheese, San Francisco

My goodness this place is special.

Located on Valencia Street (which is among the best foodie strips and clusters in SF, along with Hayes and Fillmore) it’s an ode to cheese but in a bar environment. San Francisco is a town of boozers who like their bars divey and old school. Chat with bartenders is the norm and even the most dumpy looking bars will offer decent cocktails and top shelf spirit brands to make this Brit blush with Gordon’s shame.

Mission Cheese is set up like that normal US bar, focus centred on the physical bar itself but with some tables dotted around too. But the catch here is that behind the bar features huge fridges of cheese and charcuterie, rather than beers and wine. Well, that’s not completely true as the booze is important here too (had a fantastic Russian River pinot), but this is a cheese bar, if there ever was such a thing.

In addition to cheese flights (and meat ones too) all manner of cheesy creations are offered – raclette, toasted cheese sandwiches (aka ‘grilled cheese’), macaroni cheese and some off menu rarebit. And much more. 

I loved the presentation (individual knives for different cheese types), cornichons quite rightly, and the extra fruits, including some amazing semi-dried apricots and figs. All local of course – the Bay Area is impressively and yet tediously pedantic in bashing you with the provenance of even the humblest lettuce, to the detriment of any brevity in their menus. Like anybody knows the virtue of farmer X versus farmer Y...

Decor is great. The green tiles and fun mural against the moody Edison lighting provide a slight twist on a predictable hipster theme - that of the Saw bathroom and distressed, bevilled tiling.

Service is fantastic as are staff, and they’re hugely knowledgeable. I’ve a weakness for gruyère and other nutty Alpine cheeses, and sheepy pecorinos, and the waitress was able to match these perfectly with US cheeses. Mission Cheese is certainly a vindication for the stereotype that American cheese doesn’t go beyond its eponymous burger slice.

If you’re in San Francisco, Mission Cheese is an absolute must. Up there with the best establishments I visited in 2012, and needed in a dynamic and yet innovation-stalled London scene asap.

  

Anna Mae's

Following my venison burger, it’s another quick one on Anna Mae’s Mac n Cheese. It’s kind of obvious what they’re hawking, but I think there’s a little confusion as I’m sure I saw them pitched up on the South Bank last year, battling Pitt Cue over for the pulled pork crown. A look at their website indicates they still do a range of ‘Southern Street Food’, but on Sunday in Marylebone, it was all about the mac.

Not a huge deal to say really. I had the Don Macaroni which was £5.50 and had some dried bacon bits sprinkled on top. They were good, in that there’s no such thing as bad bacon bits, but there wasn’t anything remotely culinary happening here. 

Yes it was cheesy, but it was all liquid and I do prefer the odd lump or slightest hint of solidity. The pesto was out of a clear squeeze bottle so I have no idea if it was homemade or not, but I’m not too hopeful. 

There is a place near Delicatessen in New York which only does macaroni cheese that I’ve never tried, so there clearly is a pinnacle in this niche which hasn’t been reached in London. Hawksmoor still have this one I reckon.

So Anna Mae’s aren’t pushing any provenance, or indeed any story. It’s comfort food prepped in bulk – the mac could have done with more seasoning, but it did have some bite which pasta at this school dinner scale rarely does. Decent portions and chirpy service. If you see it around, it might just be exactly what you’re hankering for, but it didn’t rock my world.

La Cave à Fromage

Some friends treated us to a wine and cheese tasting evening at a fancy fromagerie shop in South Ken, and we held out a little bit for the champagne evening. Four cheese and four matched champagnes – good stuff.

La Cave à Fromage is on that former roundabout opposite South Ken tube, definitely tapping in to the heart of Paris in London. It has a hugely comprehensive range of French cheeses (with a few English goats I noticed, imagine that in Paris!) and plenty of complimentary produce, such as charcuterie, breads and wine. I believe they even do brunch too. It’s a very professional, passionate business and they really know their stuff. They work with artesian cheesemakers across France to commission their own bespoke products too.

We started with a Chaource, which was a bit of an oddity. It’s a two-tone, two-texture cow’s milk cheese, which is soft, creamy and white in the middle and similar to a Brie or Camembert, but it also has a darker, more crumbly framing surrounding the centre. It’s delicious. The wine (this one was a sparkling, not a champagne – hmmmm) wasn’t very fizzy and quite sweet – from Gaillac in the Southwest.

Next was my favourite, the Beaufort. This had a similar look and feel to comte, but was more rich and creamy, rather than nutty. It is matured longer and was very addictive. In fact I ended up buying some. The champagne was also my pick of the night; crisp yet fruity, from a small, rebellious house near Epernay – Daniel Caillez, Cuvee Brut Premiere.

basque blue

The obligatory blue followed, from the French Basque country. This was good, but a bit forgettable sadly because everybody was crowing on about the Beaufort, including myself! I also had an amazing blue at The Oak recently and this wasn’t as deep in flavour. The champagne was from the same house. Daniel Caillez, but their rosé. Interestingly, this was sharper, drier and less fruity than their blanc. I didn’t like it as much, but it certainly went down easily at this point in the night…

some rustic charcuterie

Finally we had some Langres, which had been menacingly oozing its juices in the corner for quite a while, and giving off a punchy whiff. Somebody told me once that the smelliest, most challenging cheeses are actually a lot milder on taste than you’d think. Not the case with this one – it was hardcore and although I soldiered through it, plenty of others couldn’t finish it. It’s a cylindrical, soft cheese and not for the feint-hearted.

The champagne here was La Cave’s own house champagne – a perfectly drinkable, very yellowy drop. It was quite a simple champagne and I think probably chosen to not clash with the strength of the cheese. Also it’s probably the cheapest champagne too, so not as wasteful on the merry, lubricated palates of the crowd, now clamouring for top-ups.

They also put on some charcuterie for us; some excellent smoked beef slices which tasted intense, smoky and almost gamey, and then some slices of white, smoked pork fillet which weren’t as flavoursome. And there was plenty of bread alongside the cheeses (curiously ciabatta rather than baguette) – but no water.

Overall it was a great occasion and something fun I’d recommend anyone to do. It was about £30 and they do all sorts of different themed evenings, detailed on their website.

Food – 9/10

Drink – 8/10

Service - 7/10

Value – 7/10 (4 champagnes basic isn't great, but lots of liberal top ups so ok)

Tap water tales – 0/10 (no water offered or suggested, not too wise for a champagne tasting!)

Staff Hotness – 6/10 (one guy was Parisian chic, the other more 'garlic-round-neck' farmer - very nice though!)