Locally produced artisanal cheeses have made such a (delectable) impression over the past decade that it's practically impossible to find a San Francisco restaurant without a platter of Pt. Reyes Blue on its dessert menu. A pioneering influence was the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room, where then–ma?tre d' Nick Peyton nurtured the concept of a dazzlingly well-laden cheese cart to tide his customers over between the shoulder of rabbit with morels and asparagus and the strawberry-rhubarb champagne gelee. Today the cheese cart is the most famous and anticipated aspect of the Dining Room's prix fixe extravaganzas. The waiter wheels more than a dozen cheeses from the Bay Area and abroad to each table, then offers insights and recommendations and, best of all, wedges. All cheeses are carefully handled and maintained in optimal conditions, and are served with bunches of juicy red globe grapes. For fromage-philes, it's a little bit of washed-rind heaven.