April is National Grilled Cheese Month, which is a good excuse to indulge in the crispy, melty, oozy sandwich. For that all-important cheese filling, don’t just fall back on the cheese section of your supermarket.
Take a look at these specialty shops in the Westside — you’ll find some mind-blowing cheeses and cheese accompaniments.
1. Wally’s Cheese Box
Get some wine at Wally’s wine shop, then walk over next door to Wally’s Cheese Box for cheese to go with it. Cheese Box manager and cheese whiz Jenny Knotts says the cheese case here covers a wide variety of palates, everything from happy, kid-friendly cheeses to stinky, pungent ones and rare, limited production cheeses that are hard to come by. Wally’s Cheese Box will kick off National Grilled Cheese Day with a luscious grilled cheese dessert sandwich: panettone bread slices filled with semi-soft Teleme cheese and Vermont Creamery vanilla creme fraiche.
• Wally’s Cheese Box, 2107 Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles. 310.475.0606. wallywine.com.
2. Andrew’s Cheese Shop
A small shop near the western end of Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, Andrew’s Cheese Shop stocks a variety of imported and domestic cheeses picked by the man who first made his name in cheese back in the ‘90s as the Maitre d’fromage at the original Patina restaurant on Melrose. Andrew Steiner knows and loves his cheeses and has a story to tell for each cheese he’s chosen for the shop. He’s also proud of his rotating collection of unusual beers and honeys. They no longer make fresh mozzarella in the shop, but Steiner hosts Cheese 101 classes and Beer and Cheese nights featuring 4 different grilled cheese sandwich and specialty beer pairings, capped by a beer float for dessert.
• Andrew’s Cheese Shop, 728 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica. 310.393.3308. andrewscheese.com.
3. The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills
Open since the ’70s, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills was a foodie mecca before there were foodies. Just follow your nose from half a block away to the shop on Beverly Drive and you’ll find one of the city’s largest cheese selections – hundreds of different kinds – and wines and food items that complement them. The Cheese Store hosts themed cheese and wine tasting events every month; last month it was the wines and cheeses of the Loire Valley in France, next up in April: the wines and cheeses of Spain.
• The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, 419 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. 310.278.2855. cheesestorebh.com.
4. Farmshop
Almost all the cheese at the cheese counter at Farmshop in the Brentwood Country Mart is domestic (the exception is Italian Parmesan Reggiano). The upscale farm-to-table restaurant and market focuses on local artisanal eats, and that’s evident in a cheese case that showcases the growing number of small American farmstead cheeses. The space is bright and airy, and it’s a great place to look at the nice, if pricey, foods on display. Farmshop is owned by Jeffrey Cerciello, an Orange County native whose resume includes many years with Thomas Keller and other luminaries.
• Farmshop, 225 26th Street, Santa Monica. 310.566.2400. farmshopca.com.
5. Westside Farmers’ Markets
The farmers’ markets in the Westside are a good place to buy locally made fresh cheese, the same cheeses you’ll find on the menu of many of LA’s restaurants. For example, at the Sunday Mar Vista market, local cheese broker Lelio & Sons sells fresh burrata, mozzarella, and ricotta cheeses made weekly in El Monte by the Gioia Cheese Company. And local goat cheese makers Julian and Carol Pearce of Soledad Farms in Mojave sell their cheese at several Westside markets — Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, Mar Vista, Culver City, and Venice. They not only make great cheese, their farm is a rescue farm for goats and other animals, with a no-kill policy. They’ve been known to bring along a baby goat or two with them, straight from the farm to the farmers’ market.
• Mar Vista Farmers’ Market, Sundays 9 am to 2 pm, corner Grand View Avenue and Venice Boulevard. marvistafarmersmarket.org.
