The air conditioned cool room is the academy of dairy, mostly, but not exclusively French. Aged Conte, young Conte, they have both and probably one in between. They have blues and goats and sheep’s milk. Staff are knowledgeable and interested. A model of a specialist shop. Everything is wrapped in thick wax paper to keep.
The grocery area is no place to find a kitchen roll, but anything that might go with cheese, obviously salads, wines and breads, also peaches and biscuits or even mints. The long table caffe has finally been moved to the right side where a new New York style comptoir and slick tables have been maneuvered into position.
The original shop in Highbury where all this began, still trades as does a third outlet in Lamb’s Conduit street. Much of the selection is available online including interesting accessories like damson paste, fig balls, even jars of picallilli. Cheese can even be selected by country – 39 from France, 34 from the UK, three for Ireland, or by milk, or by price. The English hard cheeses get more prominence on the web site partly because the bias is towards hard cheese that post well. And they have wonderful names like Bix, Besace or Bergfichte. There are regular cheese events, or you can have a box complete with a 20 minute recorded tutorial from Max.
The Fromagerie
52 Lamb’s
Conduit Street
London, WC1N 3LL
Mon – Sat: 9am – 7pm
Sun: 9.30am – 5:00pm
Friday night supper: 6pm – 10pm
No reservations, just walk-in, except for Friday nights 6pm – 10pm. Please email [email protected] to book.
Evening Private Hire Monday – Thursday.
