St. James Cheese Company

I met ellie and camille on my lunch break at St. James Cheese Company, a mere half block away from Camille's house. I can't believe we've never eaten there before given the vicinity to some of my other favorite eateries (Kyoto, creole creamery, crepe nanou). The small dining room was pretty crowded, as it was around noon at this popular lunch spot, so we had to sit outside even though it was sprinkling. We ordered at the counter covered in blocks of varieties of cheese from around the world. Ellie and I both ordered the gruyere (gruyere cheese, caramelized onion "confit", on multigrain bread).
Camille ordered the beechers cheddar (smoked turkey, basil, avocado, white cheddar and tomato on cibatta). We all got side salads, though you could also get kettle chips. The gruyere sandwich tasted kind of like french onion soup.... in a sandwich. Though this may not sound that good, it was really delicious.

It was pretty much like a grown up grilled cheese. The bread was really nutty and seedy. Camille's sandwich was also really good. The basil was a perfect compliment to the relatively mild cheddar and smoked turkey. The bread was really fresh and soft. I wish you could have tasted the avocado, though, as the basil overpowered the flavor a bit. St. James also has salad options which sounded really good, but the bread is so good and fresh that it's hard to pass up the sandwiches. The table next to us (full of belching children) ordered cheese and charcuterie plates which offered a variety of cheeses, meats, grapes, apples, bread, etc... and allowed for a sampling of different things. Maybe next time I'll give that a try. But for lunch, a filling and flavorful sandwich from St. james just hits the spot.