Grilled Cheeses of the Month at 831 Cheese Shop

January 13, 2023 – Maybe you can’t judge a book by its cover. But you can judge a cheese depot by its facade just fine.

Cheese Shop 831’s cover consists of several elements that all say Get. In. Here. Immediately.

There’s the prettiest neon sign I’ve seen—reading GRILLED CHEESE—amid an otherwise strip mall-chic storefront.

Then there’s what owner-operator Jillian Pirolo is wearing: a “Let it brie” cap and a “ Last night a cheesemonger saved my life” T-shirt.

Then there’s every corner of the modest space, each presenting more first-glance intel this place is limburger legit, which is why Edible Monterey Bay soul sister Amber Turbin was so amped for its opening during COVID, albeit pre-grilled cheese. 

Plus there are more cheesy word play to fondue you right, which is my jam. (Herd that! Life is gouda with puns.)

Speaking of jam, the primary caloric reason for my visit is there glowing in the front window: GRILLED CHEESE. Every single one of them comes with a housemade triple-berry jam that—in flavor and complementary character—is chef kiss squared. 

My first pilgrimage came on a fall afternoon at 3pm, which meant I missed the window for the grilled cheeses, which rotate through flavor-forward versions every two weeks and get dished from 11:30-2:30am every day they’re open (Tuesday through Sunday). 

They also drop treats like giant pretzels, truffle popcorn, tomato soup and mini cheesecake for $2-$8.

The two grilled cheese offerings ($12-$14) for early January 2023: a “Jarlsberg and Bacon” and a “Drunk in Italy” with wine-soaked Ubriaco cheese and provolone.

The made-to-order sandwiches take 10 minutes. That time presents a bonus—and dangerous—benefit, namely to peruse the inventory and sample some cheeses. 

The stockpile of prepared goods, cheese-centric kitchen/serving tools and clever kitsch made me wish I had stopped here pre-Christmas. Note the multi-level, multi-humidity-compartment wooden cheese grottos, locally designed tea towels, sexy cheese boards and more.

After a peek around, an attentive and helpful cheese monk sung me through a flavor hymnal at the display case: a taste of the crazy fruity “drunken” wine cheese in grilled cheese #2; a creamy and tangy water buffalo milk cheese; a bright aged sharp cheddar sheep’s cheese; a levitating herb-crusted “alp blossom” cow cheese; a deeply dank black Italian truffle gouda; and the owner’s fave, a rich but uncloying Spanish “pana cabra” made with the milk of a 100 goat herd.

I left with some of the alp blossom, the pana cabra and a round of cheese wrapped in spruce bark that was the week’s featured 50-percent off option (hence $10 instead of $20 a half pound). 

And, yes, an excellent grilled cheese, not too thick, satisfying and rich but somehow restrained, with sourdough bread crisped up wisely. 

[Editor’s note: Some readers may think I have a bias toward grilled cheese. They would be correct. Note the recent takes on truck-turned-restaurant Toasted and another supercharged Santa Cruz-area grilled cheese at Far West Fungi.]

But as much as this spotlight is about grilled cheese, it’s also about Capitola and the rain. 

The Santa Cruz coast has taken the onslaught of atmospheric rivers very hard. I planned to take my grilled cheese down to the Esplanade to assess the damage personally, but one staffer advised otherwise. 

He told me he used to work for the city, and his former co-workers had closed the whole area down to manage what repairs they can. (So I headed to a friend’s place on the Westside, two blocks from where Westcliff partially collapsed.) 

Capitola has become one of my go-to getaways personally, a top place to take visitors, and a darling of the Found Treasures thanks to spots like beach-friendly Reef Dog Deli. (At some point I have to write more about the superlative Trestles, one of 2021’s Best New Monterey Bay Restaurants.)

After the rains paused yesterday, I made it down to the beach. Like most locals, I’d seen the videos and heard tales of Zelda’s destruction, but there’s nothing like seeing it with your own retinas. The effect is humbling and intimidating, easy to gawk at and hard to describe. 

But like we’re learning about so many things over the last few years, Capitola is more fragile and more resilient than we might’ve imagined without a challenge like this. 

The story has become a national and international tale. But ultimately it’s a community saga.

An individual or group from the Capitola community arranged a mandala near the sea wall that the ocean recently roared over. 

In a space cleared from bulky lumps of driftwood curled a pattern of sticks and stones, unbroken. 

More at cheeseshop831.com.