Beecher's Handmade Cheese ★ 4.4
Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Seattle is the Pike Place counter where curds get made behind glass: Flagship cheddar, Just Jack, World's Best mac since 2003.
Try: World's Best Mac and Cheese
History
Kurt Beecher Dammeier opened Beecher's Handmade Cheese at 1600 Pike Place in 2003, with the curds-and-press operation visible behind glass. The mac and cheese, code-named World's Best, debuted that year on the counter menu: penne tossed in a sauce of Beecher's Flagship cheddar, Just Jack and a touch of cream, then portioned and re-baked to order. In 2008 Oprah Winfrey put it on her annual Favourite Things list and the line outside the shop has not shortened since. The cheese itself is a Pacific Northwest cow's-milk cheddar, aged on premises and sold by the wedge to the same tourists who order the mac to-go. There is now a New York City outpost in Flatiron and a third location at Sea-Tac, but the Pike Place counter is the original.
Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 300g penne pasta
- 30g unsalted butter
- 30g plain flour
- 500ml whole milk
- 200g Beecher's Flagship cheddar, grated (or substitute a sharp 18-month cheddar)
- 100g Beecher's Just Jack (or substitute a young Monterey Jack)
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
Method
- Cook the penne 2 minutes shy of the box time, in well salted water. Drain and toss with a teaspoon of oil.
- Heat oven to 175 C. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook 90 seconds, until foaming.
- Whisk the milk in a steady stream. Bring to a simmer, whisking, until it thickens to coat the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Drop the heat to low. Stir in the cheddar a handful at a time, then the Jack, then the chipotle, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Fold the pasta through the sauce. Tip into a small cast-iron skillet.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes until the top is bronzed and the edges bubble. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Tip from the editors. The dish was designed for cast iron; the iron sets the bottom crust and the cheese sauce clings to it. A glass dish gives you mac, not mac and cheese.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat beecher's mac and cheese
Beecher's mac and cheese in Seattle
Matt's in the Market ★ 4.4
Matt's in the Market in Seattle is the Pike Place Corner Market room with windows on the clock: a Pacific Northwest kitchen sourcing five floors down at the stalls.
Signature: Catfish sandwich, Salmon plate, Half-pound mac
Order: The catfish sandwich at lunch, on Macrina sourdough with house remoulade.
Tip: Lunch counter seats walk in at 11:30 and turn fast; dinner needs a reservation for window tables.
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