thursday, november 15th, 2007

Friends who know me well would find it hard to believe but I have met (a few) people on the planet who love cheese as much as I do. My friends over at Murray's Cheese fall into this rare and wonderful category. When we talk cheese, their passion and enthusiasm for the stuff nearly makes my eyes well up and I always leave the store or sign off on an email (yes, we even email each other about cheese) feeling content that their are people in this world as crazy for a bacterial process as I am. Considering their single-minded fixation, they knew when I asked them where I should go in London that I wasn't asking for a walking map of the historical sights, they knew I wanted the dirt on where to go to eat good cheese.

The emails that rolled in responding to my question each said the same thing,"You have to go to Neal's Yards". Their trusted recommendation was the reason I spent the better part of the first day I had off from The Fat Duck blissfully nibbling my way through a mother load of cheese. The cheese mongers were so knowledgeable, encouraging and proud of the cheese that they source from dairy farms throughout the UK that I wasn't ashamed to pepper the sampling with moans, pleas for more and I wasn't even ashamed when my eyes rolled back in my head from delight.

Neal's Yards Dairy is tucked into one of the meandering streets of Covent Garden, steps away from the colorful shopping area of Neals Yards, with houses painted so brightly it's easy to mistake this patch of the city for a town along the Cinque Terre or any other coastal village far from rainy London. Established in 1979 by Nicholas Saunders and purchased less than a year later by Randolph Hodgson, the Dairy initially only sold products produced on premises. Fueled by an appreciation for the wealth of artisanal cheeses produced throughout the country, the dairy soon began offering a wide array of products sourced from every region of the nation.

By the mid-1980s, there was no longer enough room to produce both mature and fresh cheeses on premises and Neal's Yards Creamery was established initially in Kent, and soon thereafter Herefordshire, to take over production of fresh products. Eventually the entire dairy at Neal's Yards moved around the corner to Shorts Gardens and in the 1990s a warehouse and second retail shop were opened in the food shopping nirvana of Burough Market. The reputation of Neal's Yards Dairy has spread far and wide and they now supply cheese and other dairy products to restaurants and retail outlets around the world. The retail shops also offer a nice assortment of breads, chutneys, pickles and mustards to accompany the inevitable hunk or seven of cheese you will most take home. They also stock a variety of cookbooks representing many regions of the United Kingdom along with a dairy case of fresh products including yogurt, smoothies and milk.

Subsequent visits followed my initial afternoon at the dairy. The passion and enthusiasm of the employees is infectious and the cheese selection and quality is without compare. I only had a few hours left in London on my last visit and my friends told me I was nuts to purchase the generous sliver of shropshire blue that I just couldn't resist leaving behind. We stepped into a pub a few minutes later and I slowly peeled away the paper surrounding the lovely golden hunk of cheese shot through with veins of blue. Chastisers no longer, one friend ordered a basket of bread, another brought back a knife and we finished off my last offering from Neal's in less than it took us to down a pint.

The next time I stop by Murray's, and that I time is always just around the corner, I look forward to thanking them for suggesting so unequivocally a visit to Neal's Yards Dairy. It was exactly what I wanted or perhaps more accurately, considering how much I love the stuff, exactly what I needed.

NEAL'S YARDS DAIRY / www.nealsyardsdairy.co.uk
COVENT GARDEN / 17 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9UP / Tel +44 (0)20 7240 5700 / coventgarden@nealsyarddairy.co.uk / Mon-Thurs 11am to 6.30pm / Fri-Sat 10am to 6.30pm
Click here for a map