Maybe it was when you tasted your first creamy bites of fresh Mozzarella Caprese in an authentic Italian restaurant. Or maybe it was at a wine tasting, where the host served bits of mellow Raclette with the Beaujolais. However it happened, it's official: you're a cheese lover, and grocery store bricks of cheddar are no longer going to satisfy your craving for the best. Luckily for New Yorkers, the city has cheese shops offering not just the best in the country, but also the best in the world.
The gourmet cheese shops in New York City can be as diverse as the people who live there, and they can range drastically in selection, service, and price. Stopping at the wrong one can result in overpriced cheeses sold by surly counter help. The best cheesemongers offer world class selections at fair prices, and happily share their knowledge while they sell them. The following three decidedly represent the best of New York's Cheese Shops in every way.
#1) Saxelby Cheesemongers (Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St. 212-228-8204)
If you like for your cheese seller to know cheese more than exceptionally well, Anne Saxelby is your woman. It's common to hear Anne mentioning the people who made a certain cheese by name, and she even knows who owns the cows. When selling a wedge of Bloomsday Cheese, she might mention how it was invented on the spot when cheesemaker Mark Gilman accidentally heated a batch of milk too long. The reason Anne knows so much about each cheese is that she has a close relationship with the dairies themselves. In fact, she's even milked the cows on some of her visits.
All of the cheese at Anne Saxelby's Essex Market shop is not only from US dairies, but also specifically from small dairies in the northeast, each with fewer than 40 cows. This emphasis on small, local producers results in cheeses that are so fresh you can smell the hay. The Atlantic Mist Cheese has a rind described as having the scent of "mushrooms and wet straw." The best part of visiting Saxelby's is hearing Anne descibe the cheeses, from the "butter bomb" of Atlantic Mist to her "desert island" picks. This is the hands-down best place in New York for fantastic domestic cheeses served up by a seller who deeply, truly cares.
#2) Murray's Cheese Shop (254 Bleecker St., 888-MYCHEEZ)
Murray's Cheese shop wrote the book on cheese: literally. You can pick up a copy of The Murray's Cheese Handbook from bookstores or online. The store now has three locations, but it's the Bleecker Street store that earned the distinction as New York City's oldest cheese shop. It was founded in 1940 by Murray Greenberg, and although he has passed away and the store has relocated across the street, it still has the small feel of a neighborhood store.
You won't believe what the new space holds: over 300 artisinal cheeses from around the world. And while you won't find the local focus of Anne Saxelby (who actually worked here for two years), you'll find a variety that makes up for it in spades. The choice is staggering, from Hazelnut-Infused Beaufort Alpage to about a billion kinds of goat cheese. At Murray's you can pick up the accoutrements as well, whether you want your cheese with crusty French bread, Greek olives, or simple crackers.
The only downside to Murray's is a line that frequently snakes around the store. If you're in a hurry, skip it, but you should consider that when New Yorkers are willing to wait for something, it's usually good. Once you get to the head of the line, you'll get personalized service (which often includes free samples), and prices that beat just about anyone in the neighborhood. Murray's also puts the cheese to use on hot sandwiches, and a Smoked Mozzarella Panini will only cost you six bucks.
#3) Caputo's Fine Foods, Inc. (460 Court St., Brooklyn 718-855-8852)
Don't let the word "incorporated" scare you. Caputo's is a neighborhood store of the type that is getting harder and harder to find. The ethnic grocery carries all things Italian: fresh bread, to-die-for olives, and handmade sauces and pastas. While everything is first class, it's the cheese that makes New Yorkers line up all day long. Caputo's may be the only place left where the Mozzarella is made right in front of you, whipped up from curds imported straight from Italy, then given a sea water bath on request if you like it salty.
The Ricotta is also made right in the store, achieving a level of creaminess that most Americans have possibly never even tasted before if they're used to the plastic tub variety. You'll only find Italian cheeses here, but each one is cheese perfection: heavenly Gorgonzola, sharp Parmigiano Reggiano, smoky Pecorino. Some of the varieties here come and go, but that's only because they only stock the best available at the moment. One day it's Tronchetto; another day it's Crescenza. One thing you can count on every day: it's delicious.
Next time you're having a dinner party, swing by one of these shops for a piece of decadent gourmet cheese to serve as a bliss-inducing appetizer. Or, on your next outing, pick up some cheese and bread for a lovely lunch in the park. However you choose to consume it, the cheese you take home from one of New York's best three cheese shops will make your day a deliciously better one.
in New York
