When I urged my family to have lunch at The Rind in downtown Sacramento one Sunday afternoon, it didn’t take much persuasion. What could be better than all things cheese? Not much. And The Rind certainly knows how to stay on a theme. Having never been to The Rind before, I wondered: was it a cheese shop that served up small plates of cheese and wine? Or was it actually a restaurant?
So on a Crocker Museum Sunday, we decided to find out. At nearly 2pm the miniscule place was packed. Small tables were jammed strategically into the pint-sized space, with a decent sized bar at the back that aided in optimizing seating. Hmm. No host stand. So on a hunch that it was open seating we grabbed the last available spot – a high top against the window. As our server greeted us with menus, he informed us as that it was indeed first-come-first-served. We had lucked out.
While the shadeless, window-side table was overly bright at that time of day, our position gave us a nice view over the dining room with its groovy suspended lighting and spare but pleasant interior. Another benefit to our ringside table was that we were conveniently situated under the massive cheese list. The cleverly conceived Cheeseboard menu boasts nearly 50 changing world cheeses. Trying to narrow to just a couple would be challenging.
The full-printed menu made choosing even more difficult, as it was filled with myriad ways to consume our cheese. The Rind does a riff on mac & cheese prepared several ways, not to mention a few types of grilled cheese. Luckily I had people to share with, and we opted for: a 3-cheese plate, a mac & cheese, and a grilled cheese.
When the cheese plate arrived, we found out that they were out of the Oregon Smoked Blue that we had been salivating over – it’s seasonal and apparently disappears fast. While we were at first disappointed, the Point Reyes Bay Blue cows milk replacement turned out to be really great – reminiscent of a Stilton in its coloring. But The Rind staff had sensed our disappointment on that smokey blue and slipped us a bonus cheese of the Wisconsin Roth Buttermilk Blue, starkly white and salty. The cheese plate was rounded out with a Vermont Creamery Bonne Bouche Goat’s Milk and a Cowgirl Creamery Mt.Tam triple cream, brie style.
Given the small wines by the glass list, The Rind had some interesting world options. My mom and I chose earthy Spanish wines to cut through the rich cheese we were about to consume. I had the Mencia (which I typically pounce upon the rare times I find it on menus – and it appears already to be gone!) and my mom had a fruity Garnacha. My Dad opted for an interesting craft pilsner from Dust Bowl Brewing out of Turlock called Hobo. I stole a taste, and it was delicious. It was refreshing to find that it’s not just all about the typicall wine-cheese pairing at The Rind, but that it has a serious beer program with an extensive list of craft and world beers in the bottle, as well as six rotating on-tap.
The grilled cheddar cheese with prosciutto arrived looking melty and decadent, and got the dad seal of approval. The Mac & Blue with figs and walnuts, however was a bit of a disappointment. It had sounded amazingly indulgent, but mac & cheese may be a bit of a misnomer in the classic sense. The Rind’s take on mac & cheese is more melting their fabulous cheese over pasta. But we had imagined a classic creamy, gooey mac & cheese dripping in cheese sauce. Given this experience, I doubt I would order it again, but that’s okay as I would be perfectly happy to eat endless amounts of cheese from the board accompanied by their crispy crostini.
The cheese was all exquisite. The Rind seems to carefully curate its inventory, and keeps things interesting by regularly changing up the list. Not only can you create your own cheese board to eat-in, you can take home any of the cheeses.
The Rind service is knowledgeable and hospitable. It’s not so much I care about the coziness of the space, as it is I worry that I might not get a seat! Given its “no reservation” policy, my next visit will be strategically planned to nab one of the precious few seats. It will be great if The Rind is able to get sidewalk seating to expand their space. One thing I know for sure, I’m definitely coming back for that mascarpone and chevre cheesecake.
