The queen of cheese shares her top ten spots for a winter toastie
The chef Holly Chaves became London’s Queen of Cheese while running her popular and longstanding pop-up, Wind & Rind, in Tottenham. Here, she shares her top ten picks across the capital.
Cafe Cecilia – cheese & pickled onion toastie £9.50
This unpretentious but effortlessly gourmet toastie at Max Rocha’s Café Cecilia is exactly what you’d expect from the new-bistro-kids-on-the-block: a classic toastie, perfectly executed with exceptional ingredients. Max uses a mix of Paxton’s cheddar, Red Leicester, mustard and pickled onions on potato sourdough.
Bake Street – four cheese toastie £6.50
Much like Café Cecilia, Bake Street’s lip-smacking menu, boasting seasonal snacks like the lamb birria tacos and the Nashville hot chicken burger, make it easy to bypass the humbly named ‘four cheese toastie’. But, like everything else coming out of the kitchen, it is proficient comfort food with a connoisseur’s touch. And unlike some of their Insta-famous weekend specials, it’s available all week.
Ham & cheese toastie at Cora Pearl, Covent Garden, London
Cora Pearl – ham & cheese toastie £12
The most ‘cheffy’ contribution to this list is Cora Pearl’s nod to the traditional triptych of cheese, ham and pickle. This toastie fuses Montgomery’s cheddar and Guinness ‘ganache’ with ham hock terrine, and it’s served in thick white bread alongside a homemade, Branston-style chutney comprising puréed pickled walnuts. I really appreciate the dedication to sliced white here. This is high-end nostalgia.
Cora Pearl is available on the CODE app
The Wigmore - XXL stovetop three cheese & mustard toastie £11.50
Could you imagine a toastie created by Michel Roux Jr? No need, it’s on the bar menu at The Wigmore. A mix of the best British and French mega melters Montgomery cheddar, Ogleshield and Raclette, the dish is uplifted by Dijon mustard, red onion, cornichons and chives. Served in sourdough, it arrives with the iron press still atop…
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