Here’s your trusty guide to Bath, a city in Somerset, England, that was once home to the Pride and Prejudice author
It is a truth universally acknowledged that England’s Somerset County has outstanding cheese. And what better time to visit the cheddar-toned streets of Bath to explore its Regency-era ballrooms, cobbled squares, and generous cheese boards than the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.
In a letter penned in 1805, Jane Austen alluded to her own love of cheese, describing how one Edward Bridges ordered a toasted cheese for dinner “entirely on my account.” From the artisan cheese stalls at the Saturday farmers’ market to the city’s sixteenth-century pubs and sophisticated wine bars, here are the spots Austen would be browsing if she were alive today.
Where to Go
1. The Fine Cheese Co.
Garbed in trademark pastel blue, The Fine Cheese Co. is the city’s leading cheese shop. Its shelves are stacked with a heady array of domestic and international wheels (as well as all the mini-batch Italian salumi or gooseberry chutney you could ever need). It also has a café with marble tabletops that serves breakfast cheese plates with fresh fruit and Moscato grape nectar ($23); seasonally changing toasted cheeses (about $16); Croque Monsieurs (about $22); and cheese plates (that come with three cheeses for $27 or cheesemonger’s choice for around $23).
29–31 Walcot Street
finecheese.co.uk
2. Paxton & Whitfield
Tucked along Bath’s foodie-friendly Green Street (which is really more of an alley with ideas), you’ll spot Paxton & Whitfield by a stack of truckles. The granddaddy of British cheese shops, its original Jermyn Street location opened in 1779 (when Jane Austen was 4), and there’s been a branch in Bath since 1997. It mostly carries British cheese, working with local producers to create intriguing one-offs, such as a Kaldi Coffee and goat cheese collaboration. The partnerships extend to Paxton-branded sparkling wine, too, so load one of their branded luxury bags with wine and cheese and head over to Sydney Gardens for a posh picnic.
20 Green Street
paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk
3. Green Street Butchers
This is unofficially the best sandwich shop in Bath. Join the queue for its three-cheese sourdough toastie ($11) before settling on the benches outside. This provisions store also stocks unusual delights such as truffle-flavored chips, raw local honey, and refills of unhomogenized milk. Continental goodies are also stocked, from tiny, bright yellow glass steins of German mustard to a selection of French rosé. Since one visit isn’t enough, come back the next day for another sandwich, such as the roast porchetta with celeriac remoulade and salsa verde.
10 Green Street
greenstreetbath.com
4. The Beckford Bottle Shop
With a view of Austen’s beloved Bath Assembly Rooms, this atmospheric wine bar and shop offers spacious banquettes for lounging, drinking wine, and inhaling cheese. To add to the ambiance, its grand windows stay candlelit in the winter months. Cheese boards, starting from two cheeses for about $15, feature artisanal, local selections from head chef James Harris and are rotated on a seasonal basis. Accompaniments include tomato (or tromboncino squash) chutney, with the zero-waste kitchen redirecting the tomato cores into ketchup. To drink, there’s a growing selection of English wine, as well as locally produced Wilding Cider, Bristol-distilled whiskey, and Somerset Cider Brandy.
5–8 Saville Row
beckfordbottleshop.com
5. The Star Inn
Practically unchanged since the sixteenth century, this is your snug local par excellence. Every Thursday without fail, a selection of cheeses—think British territorials and creamy Wensleydale studded with tangy cranberries—is served free of charge on the polished wooden bar. Try your hand at the Tudor-era pub game shove ha’penny, or simply warm your feet by the fire with a pint of golden Bellringer Ale ($6), brewed in a large shed about five minutes’ walk from The Star.
23 Vineyards
abbeyinnsbath.co.uk/#the-star-inn-bath
6. Comptoir + Cuisine
Just off Bath’s main Milsom Street, Comptoir + Cuisine is a deceivingly small shop front that reveals a warren of enticing spaces inside. Part bistro, part deli, and part subterranean Champagne and cheese lounge, it offers a rotating selection of 200 French farmhouse cheeses paired with close to 40 grower Champagnes by the glass or bottle. The cheese boards (starting from three for $21) are presented as a kind of exploratory lucky dip drawn from its impressive Francophile selection, with choices informed by your preferences. A tempting sharing fondue ($30 per person) is also available.
5 George Street
comptoirpluscuisine.com
7. Bath Soft Cheese
Set in the countryside a few minutes’ drive from the city, Bath Soft Cheese is a cheese shop and purveyor of breakfast, lunch, and outstanding toasted cheese sandwiches. Beneath milk containers repurposed as chandeliers with twisty Edison bulbs, choose from Toasties of the Day or other cheesy dishes showcasing the producer’s award-winning range. The café serves local craft beers, and the wine list suggests cheese pairings. Be sure to book ahead, and pop around to the viewing galleries afterward to watch cheesemaking and cow milking in the adjacent barn.
Park Farm
parkfarm.co.uk
8. Bath Farmers’ Market
Every Saturday morning, the cream of Somerset’s crops is boxed and sold in the stalls of the Bath Farmers’ Market, housed in a former train station. Seize free tasters of Four Bears Slow Food halloumi-style cheeses or discover the range of Homewood’s artisan sheep’s milk cheeses. Beyond the curd, there’s plenty to taste, including locally made Seven Hills chocolate, Somerset Charcuterie, and quality English apple juice squeezed from West Country orchards.
Green Park Station
greenparkstation.co.uk
9. The Cork & Truckle
A cheese-and-wine shop tucked in the corner of picturesque Bath Abbey, The Cork & Truckle sells Bath Soft Cheese and Quicke’s, English sparkling wine, and assorted charcuterie. Enjoy its wine-and-cheese offer ($13 per person) alfresco at one of the abbey-view tables. It’s also possible to book a cheese-and-wine tasting session in its cellar ($40 per person). Reserve two weeks in advance to avoid disappointment.
4 Abbey Green
thecorkandtruckle.com
10. Kingsmead Street Bottle
Kingsmead Street Bottle is one of the city’s best craft beer bars for enjoying a cheese binge in the sun. Its impressive toasted cheeses sport molten fillings of artisan Westcombe cheddar, and the toasties come with cider chutney, Somerset Charcuterie saucisson, and hot sauce. There are also cheese boards, nachos, and cheesy garlic sourdough to devour while sitting outside near social hub Kingsmead Square.
2 Kingsmead Street
palmerstbottle.co.uk
Chris Allsop
Chris Allsop is a UK-based food and travel writer whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, and Yahoo!, among other titles. He lives in Bath, where he eats way too much cheddar.
