CHEESE WIZZES!
The Mouse Hole a bonanza for queso lovers
At La Finca Bowls, their 2-year-old restaurant on Broadway in East Downtown, Mekala Kennedy and Nathan Sauceda-Halliday took a ubiquitous concept — proteins, veggies and rice in bowl — and elevated it with carefully curated mix of ingredients. The results were something like alchemy, as in the Farmers Bowl, a combination of skirt steak, corn and squash that conjured up a backyard barbecue.
Kennedy and SaucedaHalliday have brought that same magic to the cheese boards at their new place, the Mouse Hole Cheese Shop. The cheeses and accoutrements on each board are chosen to reflect a different region of the world. Thus, the All Local ($22) has New Mexico cheeses, Los Ranchos Bakery bread and red chile pistachios. On the Pardon My French ($24) board, you’ll find grapes, cornichons and baguettes slices. Vamos a España ($26), the Spanish-themed board, offers two different types of Manchego cheese, alongside Marcona almonds and dried figs.
Beyond the boards, the Mouse Hole offers something the city has long lacked: a bona fide cheese shop with dozens of varieties and a staff eager to answer all your cheese-related queries.
The Mouse Hole sits at the corner of the same building on Broadway, just south of the Martin Luther King Jr. intersection, that houses La Finca Bowls. There’s free twohour parking in front. Several spaces were available during a recent midweek lunch hour.
The entrance is set behind a
small patio. A display case of cheeses greets you just inside the door, and shelves of breads, jams and pickled vegetables line the walls. The customers that day were evenly divided between takeout and eat-in. For dining in, you order at the counter, take a number and find a seat in the cozy, light-filled dining room. At
the dining room’s lone couch, I saw three people attacking a cheese board with a zeal that bordered on violence.
The menu, written on a board behind the counter, is divided between the cheese boards and small plates described as Nibbles.
After a brief conversation, the counter attendant steered
me toward Vamos a España, the Spanish board. Along with the three cheeses, it came with an impressive assortment of goodies chosen to complement the cheese. From the savory side, there were marinated cherry tomatoes, Marcona almonds and sliced red bell peppers. Representing the sweet were dried figs and membrillo, a paste made from the fruit of the quince tree.
After a few minutes, my board arrived. It had a casual, unfussy appearance, as if it were put together in the kitchen using whatever ingredients were on hand. The names of the cheeses had been written in chalk on a strip of slate along the bottom of the board.
Manchego, the most popular Spanish cheese, featured prominently, showing up in regular form and in a smoked
WHEN: 4-7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27
WHERE: Santa Fe Farmer’s Market, 1607 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe
HOW MUCH: $30-$35, plus fees, at holdmyticket.com. Information, visit nmwine.com