NYC has such great restaurants besides outstanding cheese shops. I was in New York attending the Fancy Food Show on Sunday June 28th. I had nothing to do on Saturday (ha) besides getting a wonderful facial @ Bliss in the W Hotel early 8 am (They have Bliss in Dallas but not in h-town) so decided to take the cheese bus tour in the afternoon to four of the cities best cheese shops. One of the stops was the Artisanal Cheese Center on West 37th St. The three cheeses we sampled were the triple-creme French Pierre Robert, a Swiss Schwingerkase that I have never heard of (always a new cheese to try!) made from raw cow's milk with hazelnutty undertones, and Ossau Iraty, a great sheep's milk made in the French Pyrenees. All pretty tasty!
This is the impressive Artisanal tasting room where they do wine, cheese and beer pairings. They were getting ready for a class that evening with David Gremmels from the famous Rogue Creamery in Oregon and Allison Cooper from Vermont Butter & Cheese Co. 
Artisanal is one of the leading cheese purveyors and educators in the city. They brought the art of affinage (properly aging cheeses in caves) to the states. To the right of the pictures are the caves or aging rooms. We weren't allowed to go into but could view the cheeses from the windows.
Artisanal ships alot of cheeses over the world so do check their website http://www.artisanalcheese.com/
Artisanal was born from the renowned cheese course at Picholine Restaurant and lead by famed cheesemonger, Max McCalman. He was the first full-time maitre fromager and was lucky enough he says to help spearhead the Great Cheese Revolution. No, I didn't see him as I was peering into their offices but was able to sit in on a seminar he was giving on Spanish Cheeses at the Fancy Food Show. He has a new book coming out 'Mastering Cheese: Lessons for the True Connoisseurship from a Maitre Fromage' Available this November.
Smack in the middle of one of the most exciting of many food neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Stinky's Cheese and Charcuterie Shop has become the must-visit place on Smith Street. They rate their cheeses from one to four and the highest being the smelliest. Ah! How about some smelly French Epoisse or Grayson from the Meadow Creek Farms in Virginia- the smellier the better it taste, and I bet they rate these pretty good!!!!
We sampled two wonderful cheeses from Spain at their quaint little shop which also boasts an aging room. The first was Zamorano, a manchego like cheese, made from sheep's milk. With smaller production, this cheese is nutty and buttery with a long lingering finish. The second cheese is La Serena- a sheepy taste with a strange bitter sour note due to the rennet of thistle. I like to cut the top off and let it sit for awhile before digging in with a spoon. The warmer the torta gets, the better it becomes. Great for parties like Queso Gallego, a beautiful cow's milk gem from Spain that also oozes when you cut into it.
Stinkys age cheese and salumi (charcuterie is really hot now!) on site, carve Jamon Serrano by hand from the picture I took, and as luck would have it, they also have a wine store across the street. Thats all you need for a evening of good food....
The folks at Saxelby Cheese on Essex Street are all American. I emailed Anne Saxelby, who use to work for Murrays, to see if I could get some of her farmstead cheeses here in Texas. By visiting her store which is very busy, you can see why she sells out of everything.
This is Ann giving us cheese to try from Three Corner Field Farm called Brebis Blanche -a sheep's milk cheese- very tangy and earthy, Square Cheese from Twig Farm, a aged raw goat's milk cheese, and Ouray, a raw buttery cow's milk cheese from Sprout Creek Farm. You quickly see American Cheeses have come along way from the Velvetta era. Ann has a great blog about her travels and work on many of the farms that produces the cheeses which she carries. http://www.saxelbycheese.blogspot.com/
Essex St Market is on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that houses an array of culinary foods from meats, fish to cheese.
Liz Thorpe, managing director at Murray's Cheese Shop on the Famous Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village gives us information on the cheeses she is serving. It was so busy at their shop, we all went across the street on the corner to hear her talk about the following cheeses.
La Tur is a three milk cheese (cow, goat, sheep) that taste like ice cream. Bonati Parmesan comes from a small farm in Italy that produces only 4 wheels a day. What a wow crunch in your mouth. And lastly, Gorgonzola Cremificate-deliciously creamy blue.
Liz has a new book coming out in August called The Cheese Chronicles -a journey through the making & selling of cheese in America, from field to farm to table.
Here you see we scarfed up all the cheese.
Its 5 p.m and am in a hurry to catch a cab back to my hotel just in time for a party down in Soho starting at 6 p.m. Did I say there was nothing to do today in the city?
