Whole Lotta Cheese

If you were to ask me what my favorite dinner in the world is, I would have to say wine, cheese, and bread. If you were to ask me what my favorite cheese was, you would be hard pressed to get an answer. I love cheese. I love blues, and goats, and even cheddar. Among my favorites are Cypress Groves Truffles Tremor. It is just knock your socks off good. In fact every cheese I have had of Cypress Groves is outstanding and their Humboldt Fog is another love of mine.

I digress, though, sadly I could talk to you forever about my many cheese loves. So one Saturday gal pal extraordinaire and I, decided to finally venture out to the far west end to visit Whole Foods. We decided that while we were out there we would just grab some dinner. First, we swung by Trader Joes (because how could you not really). While there I got a Trader Joes reserve zinfandel and a soft blue cheese. Then off to Whole Foods we went. Whole Foods is quite impressive and brings a lot to the table (sorry I really couldn’t resist). It is a really visually beautiful store. So we mill about and she settles on some ethnic food from their enormous food bars (really, I have never seen anything like their prepared food section in my life). I walked past the cheese section and the smell of good cheese stink seduced me, as always. I settled on the Truffle Tremor which is a semi soft goat cheese, surrounded by a very soft truffled cheese layer. I also got some Ahi Tuna salad from their deli section.

I was impressed to see that Whole Foods carried Epoisse an extraordinary cheese. They really had quite a selection. We took our finds home and enjoyed some wine (very good, highly recommend the Trader Joe Reserve Zin, at $9/bottle, can’t beat it!), and each others company. Sad to say, but it was a great Saturday night for me!!

So would I go back to Whole Foods? Absolutely. It was beautiful, a very sensory experience. However, I wouldn’t make a special trip there for anything other than the beauty of it. Quite honestly, for cheese, hands down, I recommend Ellwood Thompson. They don’t have the selection that Whole Foods does, but they have the best of what Whole Foods has to offer, plus local cheeses that Whole Foods doesn’t carry and you would be sorry you missed. Also, if you like cheese but aren’t super familiar with it, go to Ellwoods. There was no one to assist me at Whole Foods, and Ellwood always has folks to offer me tastes to see if I like it first, and to point me in the right direction (how do you think I found the Truffle Tremor in the first place).

….that is all for now, I feel some cheese calling me….