You’d better brie-lieve that Londoners love cheese – cheese pop-ups, cheese bars, cheese markets, we just can’t get enough. Luckily the city is home to some epic cheese shops to keep us all in a steady supply of fromage.
One of the jewels in London’s cheese crown has to be Paxton & Whitfield. The shop on Jermyn Street goes all the way back to 1797, but even that stems from a market stall set up in 1742. That’s 278 years of cheese mongering experience and an absolute mountain of cheese that’s passed through this shop’s doors. It even holds two Royal Warrants, one from the Prince of Wales and one from Her Maj herself. If it’s good enough for royalty, it’s good enough for us.
The three outposts of La Fromagerie are a celebration of all things français (although they do stock stuff from further afield) and they’re the places to go for a glass or two of vin to go with all that fromage. Hop over the border (and into Stokey) for Swiss cheese from Jumi. The family behind it have five generations of experience in making cheese, so they seriously know what they’re doing, with a focus from quality all the way from the milking of the cows to the delivery of the produce to customers
But if you want to be surrounded by the British stuff, Neal’s Yard Dairy is the place to go – the cheesemongers, all dressed in wellies, white coats and hairnets, will cut you little slivers to nibble as you go. Provisions Cheese and Wine on Holloway Road is ideal for both perusing and partaking – you can stop in to buy a bottle, or a hunk (or even a wheel) of cheese, and in the evening you can pitch up with a date or a mate.