When Steve Jones announced that he was moving his revered cheese shop from its cozy Northwest Portland nook to the old Parkside Deli digs in Mt. Tabor and fattening it up into a cheese shop/café/neighborhood hangout, I knew instantly which side of the river Portland cheeselovers lived on by the resulting screams of joy/great gulping sobs.
The wedge and wheel crowd flocks to the straightforwardly named Cheese Bar for creamy Bries and blues and odiferous Langres, artisan charcuterie, organic quince paste, woolly pig plates, savory stratas, hearty sandwiches and leisurely tipples.
Now, the wedge and wheel crowd flocks to the straightforwardly named Cheese Bar for creamy Bries and blues and odiferous Langres, artisan charcuterie, organic quince paste, woolly pig plates, savory stratas, hearty sandwiches and leisurely tipples. A visit starts out very much like a 12-step program—first, you admit you’re powerless over cheese, then you turn yourself over to a higher cheese power (aka Steve, the Cheese Whisperer), and allow him help you assemble the perfect cheese plate. Add a heap of local Olympic Provisions’ chorizo sliced paper-thin, a fresh crusty baguette, a side of pickled vegetables, a bottle of wine and piece of chocolate almond date bread pudding, and you have a spiritual Cheese Bar awakening of the most profound kind.
Not just a one-trick cheese pony, Cheese Bar has a small but mighty lunch/dinner menu that includes a mean grilled cheese sandwich, seasonal salads, soups and stratas, and a dessert or two. If you’re reluctant to leave your cheese bubble, linger over the shelves of Ayers Creek preserves and Ames Farm honeys, stock up on fancy crackers and tinned sardines, you can even buy a fondue pot or a DIY cheese kit, although really—call me co-dependent, but why would you ever need to make your own cheese when you have Steve and his Cheese Bar?