cheese Archives - Lani Kingston

An Easter Sunday morning in Amsterdam.

I’ve started working at a gorgeous little place in Victoria Park Village. I moved into a lovely flat facing the park, in the middle of my favourite place in London. I love Hackney, it has a wonderful vibe – and Victoria Park Village feels like a little English country town. My first day at work, word got around the village that there was a new girl at the Deli Downstairs, and I started to realise what a tight-knit little community I have chosen to become a part of.

But more on my lovely work and village later. We were closed on Easter Sunday, and quite quiet as many people around the village had gone away for school holidays. I had four days off (as did Husni) so we decided to head over to the Netherlands for a long weekend.
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The Underground Food Collective, a lunch meeting over shrimp & grits + Wisconsin Cheese.

Last day in Madison today – so I head over to Williamson st, or ‘Willy’ st as the locals call it, to check out some of the food businesses that supply all the top restaurants. I had tried a number of Underground Meats at Merchant last night, and a number of restaurants use Madison Sourdough as their house bread.

But first up was a stop into Fromagination on Capitol Square, a one-stop cheeseshop that stocks local cheeses, meats and food products, runs cheese classes and events, and stocks local beers, wines and spirits.
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My 25th birthday in Wisconsin, cheese curds + an official birthday restaurant.

I arrived in Madison, Wisconsin last night from New York at close to midnight. I had been travelling all day and made it in to my fancy hotel thanks to Visit Madison, and made my way up to my gorgeous big suite. It was lovely to sink into my big bed after a day of travelling.

I woke up this morning and had to go to work. It was pretty tough. It was a brunch at Sardine, a gorgeous homey wooden venue on the shore of one of the lakes here in town.
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Sonoma County Cheese Trail.

Known as ‘the heart of artisan cheese-making country’, it’s been called the Normandy of Northern California. Artisan cheesemaking is experiencing a resurgence, and the Marin and Sonoma counties are home to the largest concentration of artisan cheesemakers in California.

22,000 acres of land are dedicated to making cheese and fermented milk products in the region. The free Sonoma Marin County Cheese Trail map guides you through the dozens of cheesemakers in the region.

Local cheesemakers say the salt air, cooling fog and abundant grasslands make their cheeses unlike any other.

In Point Reyes, we stopped in at foodie tourism destination Cowgirl Creamery (also known as Tomales Bay Foods) to pick up some local cheese and have lunch.

The grilled cheese seemed the best way to get the full cheese experience, and it was quite possibly the best grilled cheese I have ever eaten. With honey maple mustard and caramelised onions, on a soft, local sourdough: simple foods are so often the best.

We had a side of hot-smoked trout potato salad, and I picked up an amazing maple-smoked chevre to take home.