The Ingredient: Cheese

Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CHEESE

Don’t just say it—melt it, spread it, fry it, eat it.

BY CAROLE DIXON

Much like wine, cheese is a living, breathingdelicacy that is multiregional and diverse—and sometimes controversial in its pairings. Whether you’re planning a picnic, dinner party, or just a wine-and-cheese night with friends, here are a few of the best places in town to source fromage. Located in Old Pasadena’s historic rehouse building on Green Street, newbie

AGNES RESTAURANT & CHEESERY is a unique cheese store and full-service bar and restaurant that incorporates the dairy products into comfort-food fare, including childhood favorite fried cheese curds.

Cheesemonger Vanessa Tilaka was a chef prior to opening Agnes with her partner chef Thomas Kalb—they met at acclaimed Flour + Water in San Francisco. Tilaka used to eat Laughing Cow and Velveeta before going on cheese-tasting trips in the Bay Area, prompting her to enroll in a grant program at The Cheese School of San Francisco.

“I like to work with cheesemakers that I have known before,” says Tilaka. So far, customers are asking for comté and gruyère but gaining their trust is important to expand their palates. Expect Tilaka to come up with alternatives such as a Croatian sheep’s milk cheese rather than a Spanish manchego. “It’s fun to surprise people or taste through the case,” she says. “This is a great way for people to try things that they normally wouldn’t.”

The storefront makes cheese and charcuterie platters to go with crackers, jam, and all the xings, plus the shop is packed with pairing items from Portuguese sardines to potato chips from José Andrés.

If you want to immerse yourself in dairy products, MILKFARM is an artisan cheese shop in Eagle Rock that sells 150 different kinds of cheese, along with sandwiches and products for pairings, mostly from Los Angeles–based, small, and independent producers.

The shop has a tailored selection of craft beers and biodynamic wines, but they do something unusual here in the form of a cheese pairing with sake and can recommend 22 different options. Who knew that a cloudy sake was the perfect tipple for a cow’s milk Prairie Breeze cheddar from Iowa?

Owner Leah Park Fierro worked at the Cheese Store in Silver Lake before opening her own shop about seven years ago. If you stop by after hours, you’ll nd the staff quaf ng bottles of wine with tons of cheese to nd just the right pairings—all in the name of research, of course. “Don’t worry if you’re not cheese savvy—our staff is mostly career cheesemongers who are here to educate and guide you,” Fierro says.

For an old-school European cheese haven that has been around almost 50 years, SAY CHEESE on Hyperion in Silver Lake should be on your radar. Owner Glenn Harrell became a connoisseur by traveling in Europe and brings decades of experience to the store. “There is a revolution of different cheese from new young adventurous cheesemongers in the U.K. that I can’t wait to go back and explore,” he says.

Here, it’s all about the rare, fatty cheese—Harrell goes heavy on the French selects and also carries a wide range, from gouda to manchego—plus chocolates and Champagnes to accompany—but he’s starting to have an open heart and mind about vegan cheese and is planning to unveil a new selection for the fall.

For now, there is a café where you can indulge in lunch or brunch with eggs or oven-toasted sandwiches with plenty of melted cheese, seven days a week.

PRO TIP

> As for storing your fromage purchases, Tilaka recommends cheese paper because one side has holes so the product can breathe. You shouldn’t put cheese the fridge with other strong-smelling foods like a cut onion or it will absorb that flavor. Don’t ever freeze cheese (no matter what your cousin from Wisconsin says) and use up what you have within a few weeks.