Cowgirl Creamery in Penn Quarter

[takomabaker]

I was in San Francisco on business a few weeks ago. One afternoon, I played hooky from my conference and I made my way to the Ferry Building and did some serious damage to my credit card balances. During my purchasing orgy in Cowgirl Creamery, I asked the salelady if they were opening a store in DC anytime soon, as I had heard. I think the Post mentioned it months ago, but I hadn't heard anything since.

She told me yes, and told me the neighborhood was Penn Quarter (my work neighborhood -- Yeah!). She wrote the address and opening date on a brochure and put it into my bag. But by the time I made it back home, I couldn't find it. I must have left it in my hotel room or thrown it away by accident.

But I just checked their website and they have it listed. It will be 919 F St. I do remember that the salesperson in San Francisco said it was opening in March, but the website doesn't confirm that. I hope it's soon. I can hardly wait!

We had a little San Francisco picnic in our living room when I got home. Cowgirl Creamery cheeses. Sourdough bread. Stonehouse olive oils (VERY yummy -- I'll be mail ordering more of that). Recchiuti chocolates. Macarons from a little organic bakery, Miette. Satsuma mandarin oranges from one of the outside farm stands. It was awesome. The cheeses were amazing. I can hardly wait to be able to buy them on my lunch hour!

[brioboy]

Daily Candy suggests that Cowgirl Creamery is now up and running - competition for Cheesetique in Alexandria! Looking forward to the opportunity to contrast and compare.

Just rang and they say they will be opening their doors around noon today. My lunch just added several thousand calories.

[arbuclo]

Yeah! Wonderful! brioboy, please report back! I won't be able to get into DC to check it out until the latter part of July, I think. I'm hungry...

[brioboy]

Uh oh - I think I'm .... I'm in love.

Front of the bright, airy store features a happy beautiful young woman handing out samples of CG label cow cheeses. Back of store features mounds of hard cheeses and another happy beautiful young woman handing out samples of chevre (somehow made without rennet so they qualify as compleltely vegetarian - who knew?).

Gorgeous bright-eyed women reverently dispensing very good quailty cheese. Bliss.

Small library of well selected books on cheese and cheese-making runs along the middle section of the store along with jars of rather pricey capers etc. The cheese is competitively priced with Dean & Deluca, Whole Paycheck etc at around a dollar an ounce and up.

Peggy Smith - a co-owner - is a wise and grounded presence dispensing advice on all cheese-related matters (the best recipes and methods for novice affineurs, in my case) and gives the feeling she would probably be able to give very good advice on a wide array of other topics. Anyone who can get a bi-coastal gourmet operation up and running out of one 200 gallon cheese-making vat clearly has all kinds of smarts. And passion. Which is what this place exhibits - and evokes - so plainly.

[arbuclo]

Oooh, thanks for the update. Can't wait to get there!

[Busboy]

Sounds like an excuse to get a jump-start on the weekend and hit the Penn Quarter Market -- and cowgirl -- this Thursday.

[RodneyCk]

Wonderful cheeses and great to work with. A friend of mine was setting up a book signing for Martha Stewart and wanted to have some local edibles there for her and her staff for break. The CGC was the first stop. They were so helpful and included a bunch of extras, including fancy name tags for each cheese for display.

It turned out Martha had already stopped there before the signing and purchased some cheeses, of course she already knew about them, lol. So, if you are in a food-related business and want to work with them, they are spot on.

[arbuclo]

In yesterday's Washington Post there was an article about them too. I did wonder why they decided to open up shop all the way across the country... Some Old Friends Say 'Cheese'