Hallelulah...Holy Shit!

The past nine weeks have been quite the whirlwind! This post was supposed to go up the morning of April 13, opening day. I actually had many fond daydreaming sessions about the opening day post when I would write "Mission Cheese is open for business!" Then crazy happened. Good crazy. Delicious crazy. Frustrating crazy. Exhausting crazy. Overwhelming emotional crazy (sorry Oliver). Hilarious crazy. Crazy love. Lots of crazy. There will always be a snippet of crazy, but I feel like we are settling into our little shop at 736 Valencia, and it feels mighty nice.

For a nice trip down memory lane...this (left) is was the space was when we found it back in October 2010. To your right...is what it looks like now (generally with some booties in those beautiful stools). I could not be happier with the way things turned out & there is a long list of people to thank for making it happen. Bringing MC to life was the most humbling experience I can imagine as there is only so much you can do on your own. which also makes the experience very communal & infinitely more special. Lots of love has been poured in from the generous family that has welcomed Li'l MC. What a trip. Hallelulah. Holy shit.

Now that we (we now being an AMAZING team of 7 Cheesers) have had just over two months of getting in our cheese loving groove, we can look back a have a good chuckle at some of the bumps in our road. Ingredient swap-a-roos, dishwasher lessons, undersized oven mits, batched cheese wrappage, scrambling wipe-out caused by a rascally bar towel (yep...that was me), clogged toilets, slow-motion mop bucket spillage...just to name a few. There have also been some classic characters that have entered MC leaving us with amazing quotes & countless laugh sessions. I feel compelled to share at least this one...

Seemingly normal man walks into MC & finds a space at the center of the bar, directly in front of lucky me...

Man: I need a shot. (eyes crossing & lips pursing very strangely)

Me: I'm sorry sir, we only have wine & beer.

Man: I guess what I'm saying is I need something strong...and quick.

Me: (very perplexed perhaps disgusted facial expression)

Man: I need a shot.

Me: I think perhaps what you need is a burger...before it's too late.

Lady customer at the bar: I think it's already too late!

Man exits. Phew.

The MC staff has also already earned their crime fighting badge. That's right. Last Thursday Mission Cheese was Mission Cheese...and Justice, when our man-cheesers (Eric & Steve) confronted a man who tried to steal both a phone & a purse from delightful MC customers. Both were recovered (and greeted with a round of applause from a full house of cheese lovers) & the thief was identified & arrested. We certainly did not want to be responsible for putting anyone in the slammer, but when one messes with our cheese lovers...they leave us no choice. Justice was served.

Most importantly, we have served up some serious amounts of American artisan cheese. Sharing stories & great conversations about our fermented friend...and life. Every day is an adventure, and we feel very fortunate to have such lovely & curious people walk into the shop every day (except Mondays...ha). Ya'll rock.

It has certainly been a wild ride thus far, but I would do it all over again in a half-second.

Next post (yes, we are back in action), it will be my pleasure to introduce you to the kick ass team of Cheesers that make Mission Cheese an amazing place to be.