11.1.13

Cheesewerks

http://www.cheesewerks.com/

On an unusually warm January Friday evening we made our way to the recently opened cheese themed restaurant at the footing of Bathurst street.



APPEARANCE
attractive golden-straw colour, clear and chilled
Yellow colour dominated the outside appearance through the huge glass panels and neatly designed signage compensated for somewhat generic looking building above the restaurant. Bathurst is somewhat darker in this area, across the street from Thompson Hotel so the bright yellow spot was definitely standing out.

NOSE

pear and citrus aromas, a bit of cinnamon smell
A bright open concept space with a lot of light and a TV screen occupying the wall. The place did create an initial impression of an excellent chillout spot for a group of friends or strangers to come together and do something social. To no surprise, right underneath the TV panel (which was tuned to Food Network channel), there were board games for everyone’s use. Posters on the wall also told us about game nights and trivia challenges occurring there quite frequently. Great idea! We were trying to make our way to Snakes and Lattes with friends for quite some time with very limited success rate – the place is always booked. Maybe we will end up here instead.

SWIRL

pear and more citrus, added notes of vanilla
A lot of distractions around almost made us forget why we came here. Eating a four course cheese meal was the goal. A pleasant waitress sat us down in the corner giving us few minutes to accommodate ourselves. The place was empty and felt colder because of that. We briefly talked about the cute water bottle and called the waitress to start us up.




PALATE

light on the tongue, some crisp acidity
Two grilled cheese sandwiches with a mix of smoked and aged cheddar made their way to our table within 5 minutes. It would be great to get a lengthier explanation of why these cheeses were chosen, but the waitress did tell us the dish is called Cookies and Milk. The grilled cheese sandwiches were accompanied by a side of rustic tomato soup. Two glasses of wine – red and white – also were poured for us to enjoy. Once again, it would have been amazing to get a bit more background into why those were the wines chosen for the pairing. We have been to Sandbanks winery last year, but could not recall anything specific about their wines. The red was Baco Noir and the white was simply called Dunes, we presumed it was a mix of Gewürztraminer and maybe a Chardonnay. While instantly regretting for not bugging the waitress about the wines, we turned our attention to the meal. The sandwich bread was nicely textured and almost felt homemade. The soup was very enjoyable as well (maybe could have used a bit of onion powder). I was a bit distracted by the radio playing in the background and the Food Network showing a documentary about Red Path sugar plant.

When we were done, an emmental and white wine fondue arrived along with a large selection of condiments. Very nice and enjoyable meal, maybe there could be a bit more cheese – we ran out with half a tray of goodies still left untouched.At that time we were already starting to feel a bit full, but Shanghai macaroni with asiago cheese plates came along. Pork and garlic flakes with some chives inside – a very hearty meal which ma Cherie could not find strength to finish unfortunately. So I had to help her out. No big deal since I found the meal delicious anyway. To top it all up, two plates with three pieces of cheesecake each were served shortly thereafter. The pieces were perfectly shape and hopefully made on premises although the waitress did not share any info on that with us on that.


FINISH
a bit heavy, with great potential
We were exceptionally pleased by the food and the place itself. It did fill up pretty quickly and by the time we were leaving, there was no empty tables left. It definitely became a lot warmer (both physically and metaphorically speaking) with more people around. We loved it and are thinking of potentially brining our friends over at some point.
PS: I would still take down the TV and turn off the radio not to spoil the aftertaste.

Overall, an unoaked Chardonnay that could use some finishing depth. 
A bit heavy, but with a great potential.

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