If you know me at all, you would know that I love cheese. So much so, that it seems that I’m overcompensating for being lactose intolerant in a past life or something. I overcompensate for all the people around me who don’t eat cheese. It is a smelly, wonderful, varied thing, and I’m actually not too aware of another Chinese person who is quite as obsessed as I am. If I meet one someday I may form a weird little club… Church of Chinese Cheese Chumps. Cha-ching!

In my many conversations about food, somehow raclette has come up a bunch of times, and I was dying to find a place that served it. I had my fix of fondue already, which wasn’t overly difficult to get, and so it was time to step it up on the melty cheese scale. Well, I was elated to know that there was indeed a place I could get raclette, since a new wine and cheese bar had just opened up on East Hastings. Maybe elated isn’t the word… I think I got a bit epileptic and foamy at the mouth when I heard.

Oh and how foamy at the mouth I was, as I couldn’t keep my proverbial shiz together because I was so excited. Actually, I wasn’t really entirely sure what to expect, but I assumed APC would be sort of like Salt Tasting Room, and it was. Except it was in what felt like a pretty empty part of town, right across a massive table tennis hall (which is also open until 11pm everyday, says the sign in Chinese).

We spent a bit of time studying the menu, trying to come to grips with the sad realization that no, it was not a good idea to actually order everything on the menu, and yes, there will have to be some sacrifices. Cry. What was my limit for cheese in one sitting, and if I didn’t know my threshold, will I die from overconsumption of the pungent dairy products I was willing to pay good money for? I then realized it felt like I was a junkie having momentarily rational thoughts before reaching for more heroin. It was futile. I was going to do lines of cheese. Metaphorically.

I ordered a 3 taster-tester, selection of which was up to the chef because I couldn’t settle on anything, and I figured it would be nice to get a surprise. The top left is a soft goat cheese called Juliette from the Salt Spring Island – extremely runny and eventually evaporating in my mouth, it was very full-flavored and a bit meaty. The top right is a cow cheese, Lincolnshire Poacher from England. It was sharp, salty, tangy and crumbly, with a tough rind. The last is a sheep blue cheese, the Roquefort Société from Aveyron, France. As roqueforts go it didn’t seem too strong even though it was labeled so on the menu – I thought it was rather buttery and a little perfumey, and made it the perfect accent to little bites of everything else.

I ordered a croque madame as well but since it was covered in cheese I couldn’t really figure out whether it was a madame or monsieur (heyo!). Turns out since it was eggless it was a monsieur, but I was enjoying it so much and realizing how dairy and protein-filled it would be with an egg. This was quite possibly the best croque monsieur I’ve ever had in my life – no exaggeration, this was a bread, cheese and ham pile of perfection. Each was done so well: the cheese of course was phenomenal (I was getting palate fatigue at this point but I could taste the gruyere and the béchamel), the ham was flakey and almost like smoked meat, and oh, the bread. Usually this is where more common croques fail. It was toasted, of course, but the bottom slice was exceptionally crispy, and so with the top slightly softer with the cheese, and the crunch on the bottom, each bite was harmonious heaven. Thinking about it makes me sweat a little.

E had the soup du jour which was carrot and ginger (amazing), as well as the watercress salad with beets and roasted shallot vinaigrette (equally amazing). I tried a bit of both and didn’t regret one bit that my order was sorely lacking in the vibrant, healthy colors of vegetables (green? orange? preposterous!).

You might remember how this all started – I wanted to have raclette. Well, since DF decided to order it I got something else and we’d share the gluttony. It was quite the affair – a tiny flaming contraption box was set up at our table, and we stared at it while the server explained to us how it was done. Of course, no one actually paid any attention the first time around so we asked them to explain it to us again later. There were small little spatula trays that inserted into this little mini oven/stove with the flame underneath, and you would take a perfectly square piece of raclette, place it on a tiny spatula, hear it sizzle and then drop the hot cheese onto the ready-to-be-cheesified foodstuffs.

Melting raclette action! The plate comes with cornichons, silver onions and fingerling potatoes. For +$5 you can also get Bündnerfleisch, which I had a lot of fun saying incorrectly to ask the server what it was.

Oozy, melty, cheesy heaven.

I had frites on the side with my croque monsieur, and our server suggested we try the green peppercorn sauce with the frites. It was like the fates had conspired to maximize the very real possibility of a heart attack from the cheese crusade I was embarked upon.

Check it out – we suddenly had gourmet poutine. I suppose we were so intriguing with our squeals of excitement it must have been quite the eureka moment when the owner came by and told us of his possible eventual plans to include poutine on the menu. I think it’s just a matter of time.

Our bills came to us on these little plates that were covered in a melange of cheese labels, which was a cute little art item. My bill came to about $30, which was alright; truthfully, I had ordered too much. I asked the server if she thought it would be excessive to get the 3 cheese plate and the croque avec frites and she didn’t seem to think so, but I may have said that I would share the cheese plate. Um.

APC has just opened up recently and it’s pretty obvious with the giant handwritten street number hung up on the metal gate outside. The space next to it is currently mostly vacant but there’s supposed to be a store opening up, and we spotted some goods that were already shelved. I’d love to go back again to check out the shop and to spend another evening at APC and to try something new. The mac & cheese is an intriguing option. Service is good, atmosphere is nice, food is excellent. Cheese lovers, give it a try.

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» Au Petit Chavignol on 845 E Hastings near Campbell Ave [604-255-4218]