Agnes Restaurant and Cheesery co-proprietor Vanessa Tilaka Kalb just desired to open up a tiny cheese store.
“I’m classically skilled,” she said Thursday morning around coffee on the patio of her and spouse Thomas’s new Aged Pasadena eatery.
“I went to culinary university a lot of moons ago, I worked in eating places and then just fell in love with cheese,” Vanessa said.
Sitting down on a boat off the coastline of Thailand a lot more than 5 a long time in the past, she stated to Thomas, “I just want to open up a cheese shop,’ and he said, “Oh, it’s possible I’ll just open up a small little cafe behind your cheese store, and it’ll be a lovable minimal key.’”
He could picture The Varnish, the concealed speakeasy tucked into the back again of the historic Cole’s cafe in Downtown LA.—a adorable very little secret.
“And then we opened this,” she laughed.
Thomas is from Iowa. The restaurant is in fact named for his maternal Iowan grandmother, Mary Agnes.
As it turns out, Vanessa’s first cheese store expertise was in Iowa City.
And what stood out in Iowa for the Southern California-elevated daughter of Asian market homeowners was the “Midwest hospitality.”
“Everybody talks about Southern hospitality,” she said, “but there is this massive Midwest hospitality that I actually loved while I was out there.”
“We required to emulate that emotion,” she ongoing.
Consequently commenced the Agnes saga and the eventual opening of their cheesery and cafe in a circa-1922 Pasadena Hearth Division livery steady.
But let us be crystal clear. Even with Vanessa’s classic culinary teaching, the Cheesery does not truly generate its very own cheeses. Rather, it curates a hand-picked choice of neighborhood and worldwide cheeses to go along with their present day but standard American comfort food menu.
“Making cheese would demand cows,” claimed Thomas. “We just market cheese.”
Like sommeliers, the Kalbs mix-and-match cheeses in platters, charcuterie and entrees, acquiring the best pairing, considerably as with wines.
These are then paired with a wholesome menu from slight servings to complete entrees with a blend of cheeses, of course, appetizers, salads, residence-produced pastas, seafoods, chicken and meats.
Deciding on liberally from the menu, we began with a cornbread eclair—a delicate loaf of cornbread topped with a liver mousse and cherries.
Alongside with the eclair, we experimented with the Crispy California Cheese Curds, with buttermilk ranch dressing for dipping. Fried cheese. Who does not love that? These were being light-weight, airy and flavorful, and only whet our urge for food for more.
The fifty percent-and-50 percent charcuterie board available a mild array of dried apricots, corn nuts, a FoxGlove Cow Cheese from Indiana, Excellent Mood cow cheese from Germany, a paté de campagne, French Cornichon pickles, raspberry jam, and coppa, a common Italian and Corsican pork chilly slice.
We decided to detour close to the attractive Loaded Baked Potato Ravioli (!) and moved straight to the entrees—BBQ Beef Cheeks and the Crispy Steelhead Trout. The beef is grilled and coated with the restaurant’s signature sauce and served with swissed carrots, which were simply as fulfilling as the beef. Collectively, every carrot and beef mouthful was pure Prairie Residence Companion. In a fantastic way.
The Crispy Steelhead trout could quickly have been mistaken for salmon, an sudden and mouth watering surprise. Served just with tartar sauce, charred lemon and herbs, the fish was cooked beautifully, and the crispy skin was a delight all by alone.
Dessert introduced forth Cherries in the Snow, a heaping spoonful of cherries set atop a cheesecake tart, and a S’Mores Cocoa Taco, with darkish chocolate, graham cracker pizzelle—an Italian wafer-type cookie—with peanuts.
Each choices ended up prosperous and happy, and were the best last chord to a charming night symphony.
The cafe area is substantial, comfortable, with a huge outdoor sunlit patio, and also sells a wide choice of cheeses and cheese similar groceries and accompaniments.
As more pandemic constraints start off to loosen, in accordance to the Kalbs, the cafe will supply particular cheese events, as well as an open, working kitchen to serve as a private occasion hideaway.
Think Varnish, but sunnier.
Agnes is at 40 West Environmentally friendly Road, Pasadena, CA. www.agnesla.com.
@agenes_pasadena, #grandmaknowsbest.


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