Cheese Shops We Love: Willow on the Green

Willow on the Green

1327 B, 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122

What’s a former chef and British expat located in San Francisco to do when craving a taste of home? Open a British cheese shop on the block where he lives, basically. Having spent time not only as a private and military chef, but also in film and publishing, “a little part of me always had this dream that when I retired, I would have an emporium, or that type of thing,” says Alex J. Sinclair, founder of San Francisco’s Willow on the Green.

 

Bringing Great British Vibes to the Bay Area

Bearing a sign on its awning declaring “purveyors of British Fine Wines and Cheese,” Willow on the Green began in 2022 as a pandemic passion project, rooted in a craving for the familiar. “When COVID hit, I realized that I couldn’t get access to the food that I truly missed, as a lot of the British type of food that you get in the U.S. is based in nostalgia,” says Sinclair — more low-brow snacks such as crisps, biscuits, and candies rather than fine cheeses.

Opening a shop dedicated to British cheese was also an opportunity to provide a service to the neighborhood. “I had noticed that through living in Japan for five years, and then coming back to America, a lot of Southeast Asian residents have trouble eating American cheese because of lactose intolerant issues,” says Sinclair. “That doesn’t happen when you’re eating British cheese, though, because we are actually quite a lactose intolerant country,” he says, and one whose most famous cheeses are mainly aged cheddars produced by grass-fed herds that have no appreciable lactose.

“I live a block from my shop,” says Sinclair, in a space that opened up next to a famous bakery co-op, “and I realized it was sort of the best path to go forward to allow residents to be able to eat fine cheese.”

 

The Shop

Located next to Arizmendi Bakery just south of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset neighborhood, the pocket-sized shop is a cosy one — note British spelling — simply organized with cases, shelves, and tables of British cheeses, beverages, and other treats. “Beer and cheese never fails,” says Sinclair, for locals and expats alike. While small in size, other expats, Anglophiles, or just lovers of quality cheese will find plenty to linger over among its offerings.

“Some parts are hodgepodge, because in the process of opening, a lot of other British-centric stores closed down, and so we had a little bit of British groceries,” says Sinclair. “Our main focus is as many British cheeses as we can get our hands on,” he says, “which is not a lot, because we’re at the very end of the cold chain in America. And then British beers, ciders, and specifically celebrating British sparkling wines.”

With museum curator also among his many previous careers, “luxury boutique market” is the distinct vibe Sinclair is trying to create, and he is passionate about rotating the stock to keep it interesting for regular consumers. “Trying to find the rare thing and constantly changing the curated collection means that they’re always being kept excited and able to explore,” he says. “Sometimes we’ll bring in something that will never come back again, so now’s the time to try it. If you’re lucky enough, you get to be one of the chosen few that get it.”

 

Selected Cheeses

While primarily celebrating the cheeses of Great Britain and Ireland, Willow on the Green also offers a small selection of exemplary cheeses from around the world, the U.S. included. “It’s always a 70/30, maybe 60/40 split in favor of the UK,” says Sinclair. “We generally bring in Manchego because Manchego is a common cheese that the UK knows, and I have halloumi all year, because that’s our main vegetarian protein equivalent to tofu,” he says. “We do focus a little on French because we’re not only selling British wines, but also Bordeaux and Champagne,” he says. “Then locally, it’s mainly goat and sheep. So Cypress Grove and Laura Chenel.”

Stalwart cheddars from throughout the British Isles prevail, and “Stilton is always on tap,” says Sinclair, but he singled out a few distinctive cheeses that are beloved by his patrons and unique to his stock.

 

Somerdale Red Dragon

Flavored British cheddars are a big hit with Sinclair’s clientele, and he highlights many unique products within the category, with Somerdale’s Red Dragon being his most consistently popular. “It’s a whole grain mustard and ale Welsh cheddar,” he says, a cheese that doubles down on its British pedigree with its flavorful inclusions. Around Halloween, Sinclair also stocks Somerdale’s Harlech, an extremely robust cheese spiked with parsley and horseradish. “Either you really like it or it blows your head off,” he says.

 

Long Clawson Huntsman

Huntsman is made by Long Clawson, one of the few producers authorized to make name-protected Stilton. Spicy and pungent Stilton is layered with Double Gloucester, another name protected cheese from the region that is smooth and nutty, for a cheese that is complex and visually stunning.

 

Snowdonia Cheese Company Black Bomber

“Black Bomber is a massive seller for us,” says Sinclair. “It’s an extra mature Welsh cheddar, so it has all that crystal, calcium lactate forming through it.” Made in a mini-truckle shape, and coated in black wax for a playful “hockey puck” look, it’s deeply savory, while still creamy even with the formation of its crystalline structure. Snowdonia Cheese Company describes it as “demandingly moreish.” (My new favorite Brit vocab.)

 

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While the shop is petite, Sinclair values tasting and education as a means of building clientele, and weekends are prime time to introduce his fare to new patrons, and share exciting finds with existing ones.

“Every weekend we do free cheese tastings and we have done since the inception,” he says. Three to four cheeses — the same on both Saturday and Sunday but with different selections weekly — are on offer for anyone to try.

“I’m mainly focused on cheese board tasting, as opposed to single varietal,” says Sinclair. “I noticed that by doing more of an educated tasting experience, you can see the dynamics between the cheeses, as opposed to just pushing one cheese that you want to sell real quick,” he says. “I did bring in Feltham’s Farms Rebel Nun, which is…pungent, is a nice way of putting it. It’s a cheese where you need to have a conversation with who you live with before you buy it. But it was fascinating, because we were pairing it with Stilton, and because of its depth and pungency, it made Stilton sweet.”