3621 18th St San Francisco, California 94110, (415) 552-4055
tasted on Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Bottom Line:

Delfina has a small but focused cheese selection and I found all the cheeses in exceptional to good condition. The cheeses available are varied and form a solid plate when paired  together.

Score card: 12 out of 20

Menu: 2 out of 4, Selection: 3 out of 5, Service: 1 out of 3, Cheese: 5 out of 5, Accompaniments: 1 out of 3

Full Review:

I’ve wanted to go to Delfina for ages – but my car-bound-butt hates trying to find parking in the Mission. But the weather was gorgeous and a drive around Dolores Park wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, so I headed out at 5:30 pm hoping to find free meter parking. Luckily, parking was relatively easy and I am in Delfina by 6 pm. The décor is open and inviting. I get seated at the bar next to the open kitchen. An additional bonus for me was that I was also ted next to the cheese case!

good thing they had a glass front or I may have stolen the entire piece of Cusie!

The cheese course was listed on the dessert menu so I had to discretely and like a non-crazy person ask for the dessert menu instead of the regular menu – ah the trials of a cheese blogger! The cheese selection was pretty straight forward: Cypress Grove Fog Lights, Robiola Tre Latte, Cusie di Tobacco, Red Cow Parmigiano Reggiano, and Point Reyes Lucy Rose. The cheeses is priced $7.75 each or $16 for a tasting. I of course go for the full tasting flight.

The only thing I would suggest to Delfina about their menu listing is that it would be nice to know if the cheeses were fresh, semi-soft, semi-hard or hard in texture. I think that would make it easier for customers to choose a flight for individual cheeses, if they aren’t a cheese hog like me.

I’ve been trying to limit my alcohol intake to maximize my gym efforts and drinking tends to make my pictures a bit shaky – so I’m going on the wagon for the sake of this blog (kidding but only a little)! So instead of the usual wine pairing I decided to pair with brewed tea. Tea and cheese pairings have been the talk of the cheese world; classes have popped up at the Oregon Cheese Festival; Culture magazine had a feature about it. I decide on a black tea called Jade Oolong tea. What’s great about tea is that you can brew it to match the intensity of flavor of the cheese. So with the Fog Lights I drank it lighter and then brewed it darker for the more robust cheeses like the blue and the Cusie. – but I’m getting ahead of myself

a good alternative to wine - especially in foggy SF!

Unsurprisingly with Delfina’s reputation for great food, I was seduced by a menu item: house made ricotta with a salad of spring asparagus. I love asparagus and it did have cheese as the first ingredient so I felt justified in ordering it for this post! And then the bartender told me that the house made ricotta was made with goat’s milk! Double WIN! I was so excited – I think I even did a little chair dance.

so good - I just wanted more!

But when the salad came out, I was a little disappointed. The headline ingredient (house made ricotta) was just a small schmear on a piece of toast/ large crouton. The serving was maybe a heaping tablespoon. And to make matters worse – it was SOOOOO good! In fact the whole dish was superb. The asparagus was dressed with a balanced vinaigrette with lots of herbs (I distinctly tasted cilantro – love that stuff!). It was bright and quite lovely. The ricotta was light, fluffy, and so delicate with a delicate lemony hint that was perfectly accented by the herbs in the dressing. But for $12 I was expecting a bit more ricotta.

well rounded selection

With the lovely taste of goat’s milk and fresh bright herbs on my palate, I dig into my cheese plate. The Fog Lights, which I sometimes find a bit salty, was very balanced – a splendid example of this fluffy goat cheese from Cypress Grove. The Robiola Tre Latte was very young and hadn’t developed the oozy center that I find so attractive and compelling. Don’t get me wrong – this cheese is delightful at this age I just personally don’t have it very often. That’s one of the great things about having cheese plates – it really breaks you out of your normal patterns and forces you to look at a cheese in a new light. I wasn’t sure if the tea was going to be too bitter for this cheese and make it too “hoofy” for my tastes. But the tannins in my lightly steeped tea cut through the richness of the cheese without masking the tart tanginess of the Tre Latte.

The next cheese, Cusie di tobacco, was really the true star of the plate. It was earthy, dense, slightly sweet, with a great level of moisture – just superb! The leathery notes I tasted last time I had this cheese were non-existent in this sample. Instead there was just a light whiff of leather that just teased your senses. The condition of this cheese was phenomenal especially paired with the tea. It reminded me of a Vietnamese dessert made with lotus seed and seaweed (chè thạch sen). The pairing really made this cheese sing. I love it when yummy things happen!

I don’t know if it was the Cusie that blew my mind but I was disappointed by the Red Cow Parmigiano Reggiano (P.R.). I had heard from a colleague with an exceptional palate that “Red Cow” P.R. really stood out in a tasting of several P.R.s. Red Cow P.R. is made from the rich and creamy milk of the original breed of cow for P.R., the Pezzata Rossa; a breed almost extinct by the by the late 1980s. So I was stoked to see it featured on the menu. But it was just – well, Parmigiano Reggiano. I don’t know if it had been sitting around for a while or if the Cusie blew my tastes buds out of the water. I’ll have to revisit Red Cow P.R. to see. But it was nice to see it served with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. So often we forget that P.R. can be a wonderful addition to a cheese plate.

The anchor of the plate was “Lucy Rose” from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. I’ve only ever seen their Original Blue and hadn’t heard of the Lucy Rose. After some slick sleuthing, I found out that the “Lucy Rose” was a batch of Point Reyes Original Blue made when Craig, Annie and Lucy (their daughter) Stoll came to visit the farm and made a batch of cheese. Incidentally, they were also at the farm filming a segment for a PBS series called “Chefs A’ Field. This season of the series just won a Beard award! It’s cool to know that not only are the restaurateurs so involved in sourcing their ingredients but that they are passing down their knowledge to the next generation!

Overall, I don’t think I would make a special trip just to try Delfina’s cheese selection but if I happen to go there with friends, the cheese plate is excellent to share as an appetizer or to finish a meal.

~keep the cheese rolling~

www.perbaccosf.com
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111, 415.955.0663
tasted on Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Bottom Line

The cheese selection was varied and definitely compliments the overall menu. Cheese handling here is a tad bit uneven but definitely worth a visit or two. Although the accompaniments weren’t the most exciting, they not only went well with all the cheeses but really enhanced one. I would love to see the servers really push table suggestions.

Score card: 15 out of 20

Menu – 2.5 out of 4; Cheese – 4 out of 5; Selection – 5 out of 5; Service – 2.5 out of 3; Accompaniments 1 out of 3

delishioso!

Full Review

We came in pretty late for lunch on a sunny, midweek cheese hunt. There were plenty of the Fi-Di types that you would expect but the servers were very welcoming to our casually dressed group. Actually, the servers were extremely nice; my lunch partners arrived before I did and they did not know each other. But when my second guest asked for me at the front desk the host actually ran out of the restaurant and found my other lunch date in front of Barbacco to let her know that the second person of our party had arrived. Either my lunch dates are extremely beautiful and charming (which they are) or the servers here go above and beyond the call of duty!

Even though, I did not have a prior reservation we were seated promptly in the bar. We were presented the lunch menu by our server. There were a few cheese related dishes on the menu that looked good:

• COUJETTE – POTATO GNOCCHI / FONDUTA DI GORGONZOLA DOLCE LATTE / TOASTED WALNUTS (yummm – fonduta ; definitely need to come back for this one on a cold, San Francisco summer day)
• RISOTTO – LOCAL GREEN ASPARAGUS / LEEKS / CASTELMAGNO CHEESE / MINT
• BROWN BUTTER BRUSSELS SPROUTS / CAPERS / SHALLOTS / PARMIGIANO REGGIANO

But on this occasion, I could not be derailed from my cheese mission. But turn as I may, I could not find the cheese list anywhere on the menu! A moment of panic raced through me. Did they change the cheese service since I was last here? Do they only have cheese service at dinner? YIKES!

I gingerly asked our very nice server, if there was cheese available during lunch. Luckily, it was just on a separate menu with dessert and after dinner drink selections. I thought that the main menu could have mentioned the cheese selection in part because the cheeses that Perbacco offers would make a great light lunch paired with a salad. Several of their selections are meaty enough to fill in for a protein.

The majority of the cheeses were imported from Italy and 3 were from a local producer, Bohemian Creamery in Sonoma. I don’t see Bohemian cheeses that often so I was excited to try their cheeses here. Of the Italian cheese, 6 of the 11 were from Luigi Guffanti. Luckily Guffanti, a well known cheese refiner (most cheese professionals would call them affineurs though that is a French term and Guffanti is an Italian company – gotta look that one up) more often than not ships great cheeses.

It was a real challenge to decide between the cheeses as many of them sounded really tasty. So instead of ordering everything I could pronounce, I kept my cheese munchicon in check and ordered one soft, one hard and one blue cheese and one cheese from Bohemian Creamery. The server wasn’t particularly helpful with the cheese selection. In response to my questions of “is there any cheese in particularly good condition today,” he said that all the cheeses were good and didn’t try to delve deeper into our preferences. That’s not surprising as I don’t think servers are really trained to know the condition of the cheeses. Though to the server’s defense we were pretty hungry and wanted to order quickly. We finally decided on the Tomino Elettrico (toh-MEE-noh EE-let-TRICK-oh), Strachitund (strah-CHEE-toond), Cusiè Sotto Foglie de Tabacco (I really like saying cusiè – COO-zee soh-toh fohg-LEE dee TAH-bah-coh) and the Boho Bel.

The cheeses came out on a good size plate; the oil from the Tomino had room to pool but didn’t touch the other cheese – nice attention to detail. The accompaniments were Muscat raisins, chestnut honey and roasted almonds.

muscat raisons, chestnut honey, toasted almonds

The arrangement of the cheese (according to our server) had the “spontaneous blue” Strachitund (I don’t really know what Perbacco meant by that – see below for Perbacco’s response to my inquiry) set first, followed by the Tomino, Boho Bel and anchored with the Cusiè. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t always believe that blues have to be the last on the plate, but with a strong and salty cheese like the Strachitund, I would think it would come later in the lineup.

pretty good size portions - they must have known I'm a cheese piggie!

So here’s what I thought of each cheese in the order that I ended up eating them. Oh and as a side note, I picked these cheeses from the selection because I’ve never had them before; so I can’t speak to what they “should” taste like but just what they did taste like on this day.

Tomino Elettrico – the texture was reminiscent of fresh chèvre, bright with an acidic kick. The herbs were vibrant – popped in your mouth with flavor – not muddied or dull. The olive oil imparted an additional layer of flavor and fresh wood taste – like sucking on the wooden stick of a popsicle in a good way. The olive oil was a bit much for me until I paired it with some chestnut honey; the pairing made this cheese extremely divine! The raisins were really good with it too. Surprisingly this cheese had a bit of heat from the chili peppers on it – not too much but enough to make things interesting.

Boho Bel – I had to knock of a half point because of this cheese – not because of the cheese but because of the way it was served. The piece that was cut for us had one extremely dry side –not just a little bit dried out but a seriously huge dry, thick, scaly cheese scab; pretty gross. It really disappointed me that the server or whoever was plating the cheese did not notice this and trim it off first. When I flipped the cheese over, I found that the other half was edible. It was a shame that we got such a gnarly piece because the Boho ended up being really delicious with hints of honey, vanilla, steamed eggs yolks and a creamy texture. According to Bohemian’s website (http://www.bohemiancreamery.com), Boho Bel is made with organic Jersey cows’ milk. I was surprised the organic label wasn’t called out on the menu as that a big selling point for many San Francisco consumers.

Cusiè Sotto Foglie Di Tabacco – On the menu, this cheese was said to be made with cow and sheep’s milk. According to the cheesemaker’s website (www.occelli.it):

“This cheese is produced with either sheep and cows’ milk or goat and cows’ milk from animals that are free to pasture in summer and is aged for up to 24 months. The cheese wheel is then wrapped in tobacco leaves enriching its complex smell and multiplying its perfumes and aromas. It is best accompanied by a fine red wine or a dark specialist beer and even by a fine cigar”

I definitely got a sense of old, worn-in leather (in a good feeling way not a beef jerky way). It had a dry, flinty texture. When I closed my eyes and ate this cheese, I got this image of sitting in a study filled with books near a roaring fireplace sipping on some smooth whiskey (neat with a few drops of cold water, please). Ahhhh – I definitely could have that cheese again.

Strachitund – I was a little hesitant to try this cheese. And that’s saying a lot because I’m ALWAYS the “hmm, is this cheese any good – here try this for me” go-to taster. It definitely was the back rind piece. Normally this is fine with me because the paste to rind ratio is usually still balanced. But you could tell just by looking at this cheese that it was LONG in the tooth. The rind was dark, the paste was dark and heart of the paste was tiny. I definitely would have liked to see more of the center paste especially on a cheese this old. The taste reflected the age. It wasn’t bad just probably paste its prime. There was no acidity, it was a tad flat but not unpleasant. I tasted lost of deep, dark and earthy notes. It had a peanut buttery texture and a taste, particularly, right under the rind that reminded me of a 1,000 year old egg.

While being nosy, I wanted to get a picture of the full cheese selection (I’m not sure I was supposed to get so close to the naked cheese – I didn’t touch anything I promise). I was quite impressed. They put the cheese in an area with little wind movement, little foot traffic and away from any sunlight. They also covered the entire selection with moist cloth napkins. That’s pretty good – I’ve often seen cheese carts that end up in drafty hallways, near the bathroom (yikes!) or cheeses that come straight from the walk in.

Overall, it was a very good cheese plate, with healthy portions and a selection that won’t get boring anytime soon. I can’t wait to go back again and try some others on the list!

**** Post post note****

As noted above, I was unclear as to what a “spontaneous blue” was under the description of Stratchitund. I sent an email over to Perbacco and received this prompt and very nice email back from Umberto Gibin (owner):

“The term “spontaneous” is used because the cheese is not inoculated with bacteria to produce the mold. The cheese is punctured with needles to allow the bacteria to form on its own. Attached is link that explains the procedure.

Strachitunt: a traditional cheese produced in Bergamo’s valleys …”

Thank you Mr. Gibin!

~ Be cheesy and prosper ~

Round 1 - raschera, brebiou, Andante crottin (right to left)

301 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94199 415.543.7474
tasted on November 18, 2009

Bottom Line:

Even though the cheese selection was not very adventurous in flavor, taken all together they made a nice flight. Because of the mildness of all the cheeses, not one was lost in the crowd and as you dig through the line up the subtle differences in each cheese slowly started to emerge. I would love to see RN74 be a bit more creative in their cheese selection and accompaniments. Overall, RN74 did a great job and I definitely would recommend this cheese plate but I wouldn’t make a special trip out for it (again).

Score card: 13.5 out of 20

Menu – 3.5 out of 4; Cheese – 4 out of 5; Selection – 3.5 out of 5; Service – 1 out of 3; Accompaniments 1.5 out of 3

Full review:

Just because the bar is open does not mean that the MENU is available – such is the lesson I learned while trying to get an afternoon cheese plate at RN74. The kitchen opens at 4pm daily and by 6 pm the bar becomes quite crowded with swanky, well-heeled happy hour revelers. But enough of that we’re here for the cheese!

The wine bar menu for the cheeses is laid out very clearly and distinctly. Surprisingly not only did the menu list the name, description of the cheese, and location of origin but also the cheese maker! Sometimes even cheesemongers don’t always know the name of the cheese maker (especially European ones) – which I think they should since quality can change drastically between producers of even AOC/ DOP cheeses. The descriptions were straightforward and utilitarian but not really all that alluring.

Pricing was very standard at $9 per cheese or $17 for the “Chef’s Selection” of three cheeses.

The cheese selections are very mild in taste and not extremely exciting:

• Brebiou – SOFT SHEEP – GENTLE, RUSTIC – FOMAGERIE DE LA LEMANCE, FRANCE
• Raschera – SOFT COW – CREAMY, EARTHY – VALGRANA, ITALY
• Young Crottin – SEMI-SOFT GOAT – LACTIC, NUTTY – ANDANTE DAIRY, CALIFORNIA
• Ossau Iraty – SEMI-FIRM SHEEP – SUPPLE, BUTTERSCOTCH TONES – ISTARA, FRANCE
• Montgomery Cheddar Reserve –  FIRM COW – SHARP, SAVORY – NEAL’S YARD DAIRY, UNITED KINGDOM

Though all of these cheeses are pretty mild in taste, the rustic line up paired nicely with the rest of the menu – simple and straight forward but with an eye to quality.

I think that the menu should have mentioned that the Raschera, Montgomery’s Cheddar and Ossau Iraty are raw milk cheeses with origin protected status and Neal’s Yard Dairy is listed as the maker of the cheddar instead of the cheese finisher (affineur). Montgomery’s cheddar is produced on Manor Farm in Somerset, UK.

I’m extremely happy that the cheese section was given the same amount of real estate as the desserts! So often there is just one sad little entry for a mysterious “Artisan Cheese Plate” floating around somewhere on the menu – sometimes with desserts sometimes at the end of the appetizers. Even online the cheese and dessert section had its own tab at RN74. YEAH CHEESE!

It was obvious that RN74 takes their wines and training the staff very seriously. The bartender was able to talk about most of the wines and the intent of the owner regarding the feel of the list –big shout out to Rajat Par for eschewing oak and having moderate alcohol levels! Unfortunately training on cheese service is not so highly rated. He wasn’t really able to give suggestions or expand on the menu descriptions. I don’t think he was very familiar with the taste of the cheeses either as the wines he (or the sommelier) suggested were not really on the mark and sometimes brought out an unpleasant bitterness in some of the cheeses. Though I really appreciated the tastes he offered! There was one wine he suggested that turned out to be a nice pairing with most of the cheeses – Coutale Malbec from France. Pairing wine and cheeses is not an exact science so I definitely can’t fault him on any of the suggestions. I also loved RN74’s nifty automatic wine preserver/ pourer.

I do have to admit that as much as I wanted to stay focused on the cheese plate I was sidelined by some other menu items. I eyed the Fondue au Fromage ($18) but it serves 2 to 4 people, so I was able to easily turn away from that. But then …but then I saw the magic word – epoisses. The “RN74” ($12) is a freshly baked flatbread with fingerling potatoes, epoisses, rosemary and Fleur de Sel. I was hooked – I could not resist.

Epoisses Flatbread - so yummy I wanted to order another one!

So, I ended up ordering the RN74 flatbread and the Chef’s Selection of the Brebiou, Raschera and Young Crottin. I also ordered a separate Ossau Iraty because – well – it’s one of my favorites and I’m a fatty.

The RN74 flatbread arrived first and was so incredibly delicious. There were light hints of garlic and rosemary that set off the sweet meatiness of the delicate pockets of epoisses. The bread was thick and fluffywhich was needed to handle all the flavorful toppings. I was definitely hunting around the flatbread looking for the pools of melted epoisses! I wish they had included more of the rind to add to the earthy pungency of the dish. But I guess iIt could have gotten a little stinky. I asked a few people sitting around me and no one found it overwhelming or very noticable. The only thing I could have asked for to improve the dish was if a round of epoisses came with the flatbread so I could dunk it in there for more epoisses-y goodness or if the “accidently” let the epoisses melt more over the sides creating those crispy cracker like pieces of cheese! But of course that’s my cheese freakiness coming out!

When the cheese boards came out, none of the cheeses were identified and the food runner that dropped of the plates did not tell me in what order the cheeses were being served. I don’t think that there needed to be a particular tasting order with thee cheeses anyway since they were all so milk and mild, anyway. The board size (12 in x 6 in)was great for the single Ossau Iraty (about 1.5 oz in total). The trio of cheeses came out on a similar sized board (led by the Raschera, then the Brebiou , and anchored by the Andante crottin )and I felt that everything was a tad bit squished together even with the bread on a separate tray. The trio was about 2.5 ounces total– nice, healthy serving sizes. Each board had chunky almond butter and some other kind of fruit with a slightly sweet jelly/ fruit gummy type thing and Della Fattoria walnut bread.

I was very happy to see that the cheeses were all served at room temperature – not even a hint of walk-in chill, ammonia smells or plastic-y taste residue often found in cheeses that have been stored improperly or not cleaned correctly. Overall the presentation was good – the cheeses had a great ratio of center pate, or paste, to rind and they were cut thick so there wasn’t a problem with them drying out. The only thing I would have to say as a negative was that the Ossau Iraty was cut a bit thin and uneven. But even then the cheese itself was very tasty with a luscious mouth feel and hints of butterscotch.

Round 2 - Ossau - Iraty

The Brebiou was simple and very balanced in flavor. It had no barnyard funk at all. I think this was a very young cheese – maybe less than a month old with a soft, creamy paste. It tasted very much like fresh milk. The almond butter brought out a nice earthy roundness of the raw milk and added a good textural counterpoint. There was a good bit of sheep fat playing on my palate but not in a gamey way.

The Rachera had a bit more heft with a firmer texture and a slight animal taste. This is a hearty cheese. In the whole scheme of things, I would rate it as still being very mild but next to the Brebiou it had a more mature and complex flavor.

Even if I didn’t know that Andante made the Young Crottin, they would have been my first guess. The crottin had the unmistakable Andante rind – pillowy soft without a trace of ammonia or any other imperfection. The paste was dense and rich. I didn’t think any of the accompaniments went particularly well with this cheese. I would have loved something savory, like a caramelized onions, with this cheese to bring out more depth of flavor.

$26 for both cheese plates is a fairly decent price. The “Chef’s Selection” on its own would do very nicely for a 2 person snack. Add on the flatbread for $12 more and the whole meal will definitely let you enjoy a happy hour for about 3 hours!