Yesterday in the afternoon, my mum and I went to Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder on Bridge Road in Richmond to look for some cheese. I recently made some stem-ginger gingerbread, which, according to Nigella, can be served with Lancashire cheese as "a stylish ending to an informal meal". My dad also bought a loaf of Phillipa's amazing hazelnut and raisin bread a couple of days ago, which I knew would be just perfect with cheese.
I'd heard wonderful things about the Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder's cheese room, so I thought I might be able to find Lancashire cheese there.
Their cheese room is absolutely amazing... it's a specially constructed humidified room, (much like a humidor for cigars), which is kept at about 14 degrees - the optimum temperature for cheese.
Look at that! Fantastic. The cheesewoman was awesome too.
Me: Hi, I'm looking for some Lancashire cheese.
Cheesewoman: Aah, Lancashire, ey? Are you making Welsh Rarebit?
Me: No, actually I want it to go with some gingerbread.
Cheesewoman: Ah, have you just come back from England?
Me: No, unfortunately. I just got the recipe from a cookbook.
Cheesewoman: Well we don't actually get Lancashire cheese in Australia... but as an alternative you could try these...
She let me try some cheeses, including an English cheddah, a crumbly Spanish cheese, which was a mixture of sheep's and cow's cheese (sooo lovely), and a nutty Swiss one. I forget the name, but it wasn't a particularly exotic variety. I ended up choosing the cheddah, for the English connection.
Cheesewoman saves the day.
I also got a wedge of mild French brie for the hazelnut and raisin bread. She let me try this well-pongy soft washed-rind cheese, "I think it tastes like cauliflower and cheese", but I didn't think I'd be able to handle it. So mild brie it was.
Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder
The whole place is pretty damn fab - there's the cheese room, a small larder selling gourmet foodstuffs and Phillipa's bread, and a cafe section.
After getting the cheese, Mum and I had a coffee in the cafe section. Very nice. I'd definitely like to come back to try their food.
It was really funny though, as we were leaving, I saw the magazine rack, full of food magazines...
...it looks like someone picked up all the stuff from my bedroom floor and put it on a shelf!
And the finished product...
2 comments
OH GOOD GOD.
ReplyDeleteTimes like this I wish I never left Australia. The cheese room looks wonderful. I think I would've gone mad.
I love cheese. Even the smelly ones.
The food is absolutely worth trying! It´s a bit expensive but I´d pay anything for thrice cooked mushroom souffle! :)
ReplyDelete