Recently we had a cheese monger from the St. James Cheese Company on the radio show. The idea of a job description entitled Cheese Monger is mildly amusing to me. I would never want to be a monger of anything, though technically that is exactly the right term. Not only do cheese mongers not mind the appellation, it thrills them. And for the first time I really understood why.
I have talked to my share of cheese mongers both on and off the air, and while all of them have been impressive, none has made me as enthusiastic about what they do as Molly Bourg. In the beginning of our conversation, she explained that she had no training for the job, and simply took it to “try something different.” Her level of knowledge peppered with whimsical and obscure cheese-making facts made me excited about cheese. I wanted to get up from my chair and go to the St. James Cheese Company as soon as the show was over.
I wasn’t able to do that, but it wasn’t even 24 hours before I dropped into the Warehouse District location of St. James Cheese Company. I went mainly to try the Cheese Monger’s mac’n’cheese, which she described as all the straggler cheese bits left from the previous day, stirred into cream and pasta.
This impressed me as exactly what it was, a meal made of leftovers, and perfect for millennials looking for a quick, cheap, but interesting bite to eat. For $6.50 you get a pint size of mac’n’cheese, which is light on the cheese and cream, and basic in the pasta - elbow macaroni. The ordinariness of its appearance belies the richness of the cheese, which changes everyday based on what’s hanging around. But what is hanging around at the St. James Cheese Company is not ordinary cheese. It is premium cheese of the highest quality, so a lot of it goes a long way. It’s also a fun idea. I would get it again and again, just to taste the blend of cheeses.
But that is hardly the best thing you could get at St. James Cheese Company. I have no idea what that might be, but I sure plan to explore it some more. That same day we got two sandwiches, which were an astonishing value and a delicious taste.
Though they had a hip muffaletta on the menu (which always annoys me anywhere I see it. Can we leave some classics alone?), we got the Italian meats sandwich, called Il Mostro. This was a massive thing of beauty, overstuffed with premium meats like spicy capicola, rosemary ham, and rosa salami, and Provolone cheese, bookended by inventive condiments like herb and pepperoncini mayo, and pickled things like red onion, all arranged artfully between two halves of a perfect ciabatta roll. Bellissimo!
The sandwich was so generously endowed it was plenty enough for two people to eat, in portions enough to make another sandwich. This was a delicious bite of food, and it was hard to stop eating it.
The other overstuffed sandwich we got was a cold roast beef with smoked blue cheese and Worcestershire mayo, pickled red onion and interesting greens. The roast beef was very thinly-sliced and rare. This was a nice flavor combo, served on toasted Wildflower multigrain slices.
We had to get a basic grilled cheese, if for no other reason than to satisfy our curiosity. It was exactly as we would have imagined, cheeses so intense it was too rich to finish.
It wasn’t long before I was again drawn into the St. James Cheese Company.
I have loved this place since the day I walked into the original spot on Prytania. Just looking at the website intrigues. There is a lot to try, be it platters for parties or individual blocks of unusual cheese, charcuterie boards for two, or other interesting sandwiches. They have great salads too. Even the light frisee and French vinaigrette salad that accompanies the sandwiches is simple and divine.
I had to try the Manchego salad, because Manchego is a favorite. They like arugula here, and why not? It is the “gourmet” green. Paired with a trendier leaf, watercress, this is a very hip salad. The dressing surprised me with its hint of sweet until I learned it was quince, and it was a nice complement to the sharpness of the cheese. A lot of slivered almonds rounded out the ingredient list, and slices of pear were included in the mix. This was an interesting (and by that I mean good) combination of flavors and textures. Very nice!
We also got a Ploughman’s Lunch, something which has intrigued me since I first heard of it heading to London on the Queen Mary 2. One of the restaurants in the transatlantic ocean liner is a British pub, and I ate a lot of these in the weeklong crossing of the Atlantic. A Ploughman’s Lunch is a plowman or workmen’s midday meal, consisting of meat(s), cheeses, and bread. Often pickles and mustard. A deconstructed sandwich. All ingredients vary from day to day and place to place, but I love this idea.
The Ploughmen’s Lunch I got from St. James had a really strong British Cheddar, two kinds of forcemeat (pate), some cornichons, a generous amount and variety of bread slices, butter, and great coarse mustard.. It also had a delicious frisee salad with more of their delectable vinaigrette dressing.
But this place is more than just a place to get great food. It’s an education. Owner Richard Sutton worked as a cheese monger in London and returned here to open St. James (named after the London shop’s neighborhood) with his wife Danielle. It was an unlikely idea at the time, but its success can be attributed to top quality offerings and pure passion. There are special pairing events, and classes to learn more about cheese, and the enthusiasm displayed by the staff is contagious.
The St, James Cheese Company is one of a kind, a sumptuous journey into a world where nature’s bounty can be downright decadent, and not to be missed.
