St. James Cheese Company

Restaurant Review

Anecdotes & Analysis

When it comes to cheese, for most Orleanians it's the orange stuff between the ham and a lettuce in a poor boy. Or the half-inch-thick melted rich top layer of crabmeat au gratin. Or the bubbling layer on something Parmigiana, just above the red sauce.

But cheese has all the character, variety, and distinctiveness of wine. Like wine, it acquires those qualities from the kind of liquid (milk) it's made with, where it's made, how it's fermented, and how long it's aged. The best cheeses--and, like wines, there are thousands of them--also require a little knowledge on the part of the consumer. But only a little. No cheese vendor ever equaled what the St. James Cheese Company does to advance that cause.

Why It's Essential

When it comes to cheese, for most Orleanians it's the orange stuff between the ham and a lettuce in a poor boy. Or the half-inch-thick melted rich top layer of crabmeat au gratin. Cheese in its finest forms has generally been something only a few gourmets lamented the lack of. St. James Cheese Company is the first outfit to fill that gap, with a collection of cheeses that's not only extensive, but treated like the living thing that it is.

Backstory

Richard Sutton and his wife Danielle opened their cheese shop in the year after Katrina, a time when all sorts of new ideas were blossoming Uptown. Both of them worked in the cheese markets of London (in the St. James neighborhood, hence the name). The British are passionate and knowledgeable about cheese (how else would Monty Python have been able to write one of their most famous skits about a cheese shop?), and the Suttons got the bug.

Dining Room

The long, narrow space barely qualifies as a restaurant, jammed as it is with mountain ranges of cheese. ("Understocked" is a word that has never been uttered here.) The few indoor tables (there always seems to be one open, though) are abetted by a few more on the porch. The place does a big take-out business.

For Best Results

Come often and try many cheeses. The staff is very generous about sampling.