Murrays' Cheese Shop

Although Murray's Cheese Shop, the place that houses over two hundred cheeses, from mostly France and a few American farmers, mainly focus on cheese, they also have other products.

A few of these products are commonly called olive oil, olives, crackers, Mom's Sauce, pastas, and other grains. Yes, these are all imports from Italy. The pastas and grains are in the back and they're free. (No boxes. You do have to pay for them.) So, if you want to cook for one, you can. And there's something about being able to touch an object before purchasing it that I like. It's a very village thing to do. So, yes after the first visit and the first grilled cheese sandwich, plus a yummy McClures pickle spear, that cost less than five dollars in total, I decided that a closer look was the only honorable thing to do.

On the next visit I was able to secure a tour of the cheese caves downstairs with Murrays' manager, William Russell. (There are tours at $20 if this interests you.) Before gaining any cheese access I was asked to put on plastic footies and a very attractive hair cap. I guess I lost that picture. "Narf."

 Once in the caves I got to see, smell, and touch the cheeses...I actually got to see cheese in the midst of the process of growing skin! While down there Will bestowed a bit of cheese education upon me..."The softer French cheeses get covered in vegetable ash, which promotes growth of certain strains of molds and bacterias." Also: "Michael, (Another manager.) has interns that come in everyday, to turn and pat down some cheeses so that it looks better, and that way the cheese ages more evenly." (He was referring to goat cheese.) I also learned that most of Murray's cheeses rest for about three months in the caves, but there are exceptions, the eldest cheese there arrived on May 15th, 2009. Once all this information was safely filed away I had to ask when and what started Will's cheese career. He told me that it was the day he tried Cana De Cabra while cooking for a Spanish restaurant. He left it at that. It was a very Batman moment, all is and no because. I'm going to have to try this Cana De Cabra.

After the tour I found out that Murrays' offers cheese pairing classes for serious cheese connoisseurs. This would entail experimenting an assortment of cheeses with beer, or wine,  or whisky. Yes, that's or not and, we're talking about three different classes, and there are additional classes to those. If you're sitting at the edge of your seat about this, you may want to check out their Website under Murray's events. And if you're completely relaxed then ask to try which ever cheese looks good to you at the main level when there. The employees are a merry bunch.     

Now back to that grilled cheese before the credits roll. What kind? Smoked Gouda. Yips, Murrays' offers cheese choices. So, do a little jay-walking if you go, which means save the yellow American for a 2 a.m. diner night...Then head over to Grom because the two balance each other out price wise....

Whattah wonderful Saturday afternoon.

"You made me love you. I didn't wanna do it, I didn't wanna do it."