Bree Street plays host to a multitude of artisan restaurants, bars, cafés and bakeries – it even has its own Fromagerie – Culture Club Cheese, situated at 215 Bree Street. It’s hard to miss the bright yellow building bustling with people, and patrons sitting outside at small tables enjoying gooey, warm cheese toasties.

Luke, the owner, is proud to stock 80% locally produced cheese, and 20% imported cheese. He is a cheese expert – originally a cheesemaker from London, he immigrated to South Africa with his wife to open up Culture Club Cheese. He spent over a year travelling around South Africa sourcing different cheeses and visiting dairy mills. Culture Club Cheese has been open for only a few months and already the husband and wife duo are planning on expanding to do cheese box deliveries. We like!

We have such an abundance of great wine in South Africa, and now we have a curated selection of great cheeses with which to pair it with. The two best sellers at the moment are the Boerkenkaas De Pekelaar (a safe bet for a dinner party – nutty and slightly sweet in flavour) and the 7-year aged Gonedsa (akin to an extreme Parmesan, which pairs very well with whiskey). What we found truly special about Culture Club Cheese is that you can go there having a very limited knowledge of cheese, and walk out with a half a dozen new cheeses to take home to the family along a great story to tell about each.

Besides the large cheese selection available, the shop also serves scrumptious breakfasts and lunches. For obvious reasons, their most popular lunch item is the Mac ’n Cheese – made with a rich and gooey Camembert de Normandie, alternatively, if you have a big appetite, try the bourbon-glazed Pork Belly with poached pear, vegetables and cauliflower purée.

Coming in at a close second best, is the menu of toasties. Made with Woodstock Bakery sourdough bread, they have just the right amount of softness and chewiness, to hold the cheesy goodness of the filling. The two most popular toasted sandwiches are the ‘Welsh Rarebit’ your basic cheese on toast with a side of the house sauerkraut and the Myst Hill Cheddar, with walnuts, caramelised onions and apple butter.

The menu at Culture Club Cheese is always changing, using seasonal ingredients and well-aged cheeses. For those looking for a flora enriching meal, they offer a variety of different flavored Kefir smoothies that are totally yum. Be sure to take note of the ‘Ripe Right Now’ board, with specials and suggestions for the perfectly ripened cheese. They also stock a large selection of banting crackers, a variety of different sauerkrauts, Richard Bosman charcuterie, as well as duck fat, tallow, lard, kombucha, preserves, oil, honey, yogurts and dairy drinks.

Culture Club a very special place with a lovely, relaxed atmosphere. It is clear that Luke and his team put is much love into the produce, food and everything they do.

Tuesday – Friday | 08h00 – 17h00 | Saturday | 09h00 – 16h00 |

215 Bree Street, 8000 Cape Town, South Africa

021 422 3515

Relaxed atmosphere | toasted cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese