Earlier this month, The Oaks Gourmet participated in "Tillamook Cheese Grilled Cheese Week" in Los Angeles. Their special of the week was a grilled cheese made with Tillamook Cheese.

The Oaks Gourmet in Los Angeles, California is an upscale neighborhood market serving breakfast, lunch and dinner items, baked goods, and fresh espresso drinks. Gourmet items, such as imported oil, vinegar, spices, pasta, and sauces are available, along with assorted artisanal cheeses, chocolate, beer, wine, and liquor. Known for their friendly, knowledgeable staff, Oaks Gourmet is committed to serving their local community.

Sample Menu
Visit their website for a full menu.

The Oaks Bacon Breakfast Burrito ($7.00) – Three eggs prepared over-medium with black forest bacon, sharp cheddar, and spring onion

Breakfast Calzone ($9.50) – Scrambled eggs, bacon, fennel sausage, spinach, mushrooms, red onion, and sharp cheddar cheese.

Sesame Chicken Salad ($9.95) – Spring greens, watercress, cabbage, wasabi peas, black radish scallion, snow peas, grape tomatoes, and miso vinaigrette

The Oaks Grilled Cheese ($7.95) – Cranberry-walnut bread with Fontina, extra sharp cheddar, and Camembert

Pancetta, Cracked Egg & Crispy Potato Pizza ($10.75) – Caramelized onion, smoked mozzarella, and white truffle oil

Tip: Every Wednesday is Grilled Cheese Night at The Oaks Gourmet! Order yours with Tillamook Cheddar.

The Oaks Gourmet
1915 North Bronson Ave.
(At the corner of Franklin)
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 871-8894

Open 7 days a week
7am – midnight

By Loafy

Win a trip for 2 to the Grilled Cheese Invitational!
Tillamook Video Competition
April 1-14

Take your grilled cheese masterpiece all the way to the Grilled Cheese Invitational in L.A.!

Thousands of grilled cheese enthusiasts gather to express their love for the brilliant blend of bread, butter, and melted cheese at the nation’s greatest and gooiest cook-off, the Grilled Cheese Invitational! Flex your melt-making muscles by taking your grilled cheese recipe all the way to Los Angeles where you’ll fight for the toasty title of Grilled Cheese Invitational champion.

How to Enter:
Create a video showing us how to make your one-of-a-kind grilled cheese masterpiece (Need inspiration? Visit the Tillamook Kitchen!). Post your video to YouTube and email a link to the video to fans@Tillamook.com. If you’re selected as the winner, you’ll have the opportunity to enter your sandwich in the Grilled Cheese Invitational!
 
A Few Requirements:
-Your video should be no longer than two minutes (Don’t worry about sharing every step of the process, like slicing and other prep work. Include steps such as assembly and cooking.)
- Your sandwich should use at least one type of Tillamook Cheese (duh!), but other cheeses are welcome too.
-Your videos should be appropriate (please wear pants and keep language kosher).
-Have fun and be creative! Show us that your grilled cheese is a standout sammich.
-To submit your video, email the following to fans@Tillamook.com: your full name, daytime phone number, and the URL to your YouTube video.
-Last day to submit videos is Thursday, April 14!

Please read the official rules before participating.
 
Prize:
The grand prize winner will receive a trip for two to sunny Los Angeles, California!  The trip includes two nights stay in a hotel, car service, meals, and cost of entry into the Grilled Cheese Invitational. Tillamook will also provide the ingredients for your sandwich at the invitational.

Bread, Butter, Cheese, Victory!

By Loafy

Loaf Love Pyramid

For the record, our ”Day of Loaf” in the Orange County area has been by far one of my favorite days on the Loaf Love Tour… so far, at least!  We started the day early by unloading the Tillamook Baby Loaf buses and driving to Angel Stadium (which I’ve become very familiar with since my daily running trail loops around the stadium). We took some pictures and video of the buses in front of the stadium, then we wanted to do some group photos.  I got super excited and talked the team into doing a pyramid photo! Lucky for us, our Brand Manager Susan was a college cheerleader so she was able to instruct us on how to properly execute ‘The Loaf Love Pyramid.’ 

After we took some cheesy photos around town, we headed out to Huntington Beach.  The Baby Loaf bus caravan certainly made lots of heads turn as we drove around the beach area. Talk about feeling like a big deal! It’s not every day you see groups of people shuffling through their bags to find their cameras and phones to snap photos of you driving… I loved it! We parked our buses and enjoyed a team lunch at Wahoo’s Fish Taco’s (a recommendation given to us by one of our Twitter followers – thanks to them)!  I enjoyed my ninth order of fish tacos since the tour began. I just can’t get enough of them.  After lunch and pictures, we cruised down to Newport Beach, all the while hearing honks from smiling drivers and loud hollers from bystanders informing us how much they love Tillamook Cheese. 

Newport Beach was awesome. I may be a little biased since I’m from Newport, OR and naturally felt connected to this little coastal community.  People came up to us and shared their Tillamook stories and truly seemed so happy to see us down in their neck of the woods!  I love hearing how much people love Tillamook and seeing the excitement in them when they talk about their experiences with our product. It’s just another reminder to me of how lucky and happy I am to be a Tillamook Cheese Loaf Love Tour Brand Ambassador!

Loafin’ My Time in Orange County,
-Jenn, Loaf Love Tour Ambassador

By Jenn

Brand Ambassador Noelle and me with a stingray!

Saturday was a great day for everyone wearing orange in Long Beach, California. The Loaf Love Tour visited the Aquarium of the Pacific, and we were met by Tillamook fans showing off our favorite color. The first 100 people wearing orange were happy to receive free admission to the aquarium (and lots of tasty cheese samples, of course!). The day was perfect: we had beautiful weather and a gorgeous view of the lighthouse atop the hill at Shoreline Park.  The masts from a schooner in the harbor towered amongst the palm trees and reminded me of the Morning Star of Tillamook, the schooner that graces all of our cheese labels and the front of our Baby Loaf buses.  I truly “loaf” our sailing vessel, as it reminds us of the history and tradition of Tillamook and it makes me think of fond memories I have sailing tall ships prior to driving short buses on the Loaf Love Tour!
 
Meanwhile, inside the aquarium, Loafy was a splash with families, schools of students, and schools of fish. Loafy even made a new friend with a stingray, and I took my photo with it!
 
As the day progressed, the orange outfits were replaced with masks, beads, face paint, and outrageous costumes. The Mardi Gras celebration was beginning, and we had lots of “Loaf” buttons to add to the outfits! The Mardi Gras parade started at the Aquarium, and Loafy brought lots of smiles and energy to the festivities. Meanwhile, I used up most of my energy attempting to run ahead to catch Loafy on film and video. This was quite the task because Loafy was surrounded with many excited Loafy lovers!
 

I hope sharks don't eat cheese...

As the sun was dropping over the water, we shared our last conversations of the day with new and old Tillamook fans. What a perfect beginning to our time in Orange County and L.A. We are looking forward to the next 2 1/2 months in this area and to reporting back with more stories from the road…  

-Andrea, Loaf Love Tour Brand Ambassador

By Andrea