Located just one block from the Highway
1/Highway 9 intersection in Santa Cruz, the River Cafe and Cheese
Shop is the perfect place for a gourmet lunch—or to grab some
picnic supplies before you visit the wineries of Santa Cruz county.
Best of all, you can taste the cheeses!
MARCH
2007: Sunset magazine's interview with Nell Newman includes
a mention of the River Cafe & Cheese Shop. (Click to enlarge)MARCH
2007: Sunset magazine's interview with Nell Newman includes a
mention of the River Cafe & Cheese Shop. (Click to enlarge)
Santa Cruz Sentinel
March 15, 2006
The
Cheese Stands Alone
By Justine Dacosta
Heidi Schlecht, owner of River Café and Cheese Shop,
opened the River Street store about two years ago because she
wanted to share her love of good food.
While Europe is home to some of the world's greatest
cheeses, Schlecht said American cheese-makers — historically
underdogs in the cheese-making world — are now giving Europeans
a run for their money. She tries to promote American companies,
such as San Francisco Bay Area-based Andante Dairy and Cowgirl
Creamery.
Good Times, March 8, 2006
Value
Added by Christina Waters
"River Cafe & Cheese Shop is the latest
tasty venture of culinary caterers Heidi Schlecht and Amy Linstrom.
The tiny space is loaded with wheels of cheese, freshly baked
breads and scones and walls filled with bottles and jars. Condiments
— mustards, jams, spreads, salts — abound at this
boutique of intense flavors."
Good Times, March 15, 2006
by Christina Waters
River Cafe Expands:
"Now offering designer coffees inside its intimate, window-lined
space, River Cafe & Cheese Shop has even
more to like. If you can get past the astonishing display of ripe,
golden-hued cheeses—imported and domestic—you’ll
want to drool a bit at the shrine of organic tomato preserves,
jams, mustards and other condiment decadence. Feels like a market
in the south of France. The lunches are almost too beautiful to
eat, but it’s easy to surrender to the River Cafe scones.
Last week I ate an entire cornmeal and cherry scone in my car
without leaving the parking lot. God these babies are rich ($2.50)
and creamy the way English bakers have always intended scones
to be."
Metro Santa Cruz
Grate
Expectations by Steve Billings
"Serious cheese eaters and novices alike should rejoice that
Schlecht and Linstrom have surfaced from nine years of relatively
underground word-of-mouth catering work in service of their company
Feel Good Foods. No more drudging
pilgrimages to Carmel or San Francisco for Sally Jackson's hard-to
find sheep's milk cheeses or for complex, exotic rounds of Corsican
Brin dí Amour. Heaven have mercy, for there's a cheesemonger
on River Street."
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Say
'cheese' and smile at the new River Cafe by Ann Parker
"River Cafe [is] an intimate little delight just in front
of Farmer’s Exchange on River Street. Seating about a dozen
folks inside and another two dozen on the outdoor patio, River
Cafe masquerades as a marvelous cheese shop but is much more.
The shop’s shelves are filled: housemade jewel-like jams,
fine olive oils and mustards, gift baskets. Chunky chutneys perch
next to lavender sea salt and gourmet crackers; an impressive
olive bar fills a side counter, flanked by dried local porcinis
and Bartlett pears."
Good Times
River Cafe and Not a Moment Too Soon by Christina Waters
"[T]he cafe is loaded to its pale yellow ceilings with handmade and organic conserves, preserves, condiments, a serious array of artisanal cheeses, myriad olives in bulk—in short, it's a regional foodie's heaven. All this and a brisk menu of gorgeous foods, too—like the frittata I sampled for lunch. "
We'd love to see you soon.
