Ye nibble of Zeus, the stuff of dairy-filled dreams, the light and love of my life - there are a hundred cute little nicknames given to cheese. And rightly so, cheese has the power to change lives; Roman soldiers fuelled themselves on the milky delight, while emperors gorged on the golden goodness. Cheese may have been around since the dawn of time but something this good certainly shows no sign of becoming last season’s fromage. London has been gripped by a creamy fever, a lactose-fuelled temperature, reaching peak heat this year as the capital flows with rivers of melted cheese and stacks of cream crackers. Read on to see the best places in London for cheese-lovers to discover.
Learning stuff has become useful with cheese masterclasses
All those years spent learning cos, sin, tan and I’m still not entirely sure how triangles affect my life. Ditch the sums and pick up a skill that will actually make that CV shine - pairing cheese with various forms of alcohol. Bedales at Leadenhall Market are going with a classic wine and cheese option that includes five different pairs, while The Plough in Clapham are upping the dairy stakes with a tasting session of Black Cow, a pure milk vodka. Head over to Deptford for a night with a beer guru as Archie’s bar couple British cheese with various craft beers or if you fancy a Mediterranean twist, The Guard House is hosting an evening of Sicilian goodies.
Go from mere consumer to wise teacher with a cheese and alcohol masterclass.
All food is improved by dipping it into a cheese fondue
It might be better known for cuckoo clocks, shady bankers who appear in Bond films and Toblerone, but perhaps the greatest gift Switzerland has bestowed on the world is the cheese fondue. The Candlemaker in Clapham is bringing all the Alpine twee you need to tuck into the cheesy delight as they host an apres-ski pop-up. There will be live music, complimentary schnapps and a fondue of emmental, gruyere and cheddar for you to dip your bread into, or let your inner dairy fiend free and take a straw to slurp up three-cheese deliciousness.
The Candlemaker in Clapham is giving guests sourdough bread to plonk into their fondue.
Burgers are bigger and cheesier than ever
There was a time when slapping a piece of processed cheese on a beef patty was known as a cheeseburger, we were philistines and we have paid for our sins. Leading the dairy enlightenment, the Raclette Brothers tour the country grilling whacking great wheels of cheese and scraping the melting gooeyness onto What’s Your Beef burgers. Maxwell’s’ Cheesebomb burger is to the cheese world what Rebel Wilson was to Pitch Perfect - revolutionary; salivate as a jug of melted cheese is poured over 6oz beefburger. Over in Shoreditch, Dirty Bones slather their beefy treats in a gooey, cheesy mac n cheese for added indulgence.
Think you love cheese do you? How about a whole jug of melted cheese to prove your dedication over at Maxwell's.
A dedicated cheese restaurant is opening
The London dining scene will never be the same again as a entire restaurant dedicated to cheese opens. Located in Grade-II listed Camden Stables, The Cheese Bar is the brainchild of Mathew Carver, the bloke behind The Cheese Van and Archies, and promises to fulfil all our lactose desires. The menu includes dishes such as a stilton, bacon and pear chutney toastie, a sexy Mexican fondue and an ice cream sundae with added Benleigh blue. Focusing on British cheeses, The Cheese Bar will include produce from up and coming London dairies, namely La Latteria in Acton and Gringa Dairy in Peckham.
Get your daily allowance of cheese over at The Cheese Bar in Camden.
Mac 'n' cheese has become a gourmet meal
It’s a Saturday and you’ve woken up bleary-eyed next to a half-gnawed block of Pilgrims Choice again. Rather than spend too much time worrying about your life choices, take away the hangover with what is now an accepted restaurant meal, mac n cheese. Spots across London have pimped up the dish to create gooeyer, cheesier and better versions. Balthazar make cheese dreams a reality with gruyere and bacon; adding rainbow beauty to our world of grey, Joe’s Southern Table serve a macaroni with four types of cheese while Burger Shack and Bar cook theirs with Ogleshield, a British cheese made from raw Jersey milk.
Experiment with your cheese consumption by working through a plate of mac 'n' cheese.
Restaurants have upped their cheese board game
Cheese boards were once the preserve of sweaty Uncle Gerard at the family Christmas dinner, but it looks like the old boy was actually on to something. Cramming fistfuls of hardened dairy into your mouth after entire meal might not seem like a good idea but by golly does it taste delicious. Especially as said board is now piled with cheeses from around the world rather than just the standard brie, Stilton and cheddar. Brooksby’s Walk over in Hackney is a reclaimed public toilet that serves up a four-cheese plate of mainly French goodies; Quaglino’s dishes out the fourth smelliest cheese in the world, Epoisse, and Powder Keg Diplomacy focuses on British offerings.
The cheese board has become a bastion of dairy goodness.
A free cheese festival is taking over East London
Stratford's East Village has finally found its true purpose. Those who scoffed at the millions spent building an Olympic Park are looking pretty silly now as the venue is taken over by a FREE cheese and wine festival. Taking place on the first weekend in April, the festival will be packed out with more than 25 independent traders offering their creamy delights. As one might expect, a free cheese festival in East London is sure to be riotous, sharpen those elbows and get ready to sacrifice the weak as you dive for truffle-infused cheese from Lombary Gourmet, traditional bits from Jacob's Ladder and sign up for the cider and cheese tasting by a Somerset dairy; only the strong will survive.
The Cheese and Wine Festival will take place in East Village on 1st and 2nd April.
