SAN FRANCISCO FERRY BUILDING, Pt. 1

I
magine a location that unites America's gourmet creme de la creme. The finest cheeses, wines, chocolates, coffee, pastries, breads, olive oil, cured meats and fresh produce and meats. I know it's a bold assertion to name any one place, so I'll make the leap to at least proclaim one place that comes pretty darn close: the San Francisco Ferry Building. If I had to choose one place to grocery shop and eat from for the rest of my life, I would choose the San Francisco Ferry Building. It  contains one of the strongest collections of suppliers of artisan/organic products I've encountered yet.

When I started writing this post, I thought that it would be a good idea give a cursory introduction to each vendor in one post, but then realized that I was doing an injustice by glossing over the unique detail that inspired my admiration.  It would be akin to taking you on a trip to go window shopping, without pointing out the distinct attributes that make each shop so special. Since there is much ground to cover in the Ferry Building, I'm going to break it up into a couple of posts over the upcoming days to highlight the significant detail of each vendor.

Cowgirl Creamery, does this name sound familiar? You may recognize it from the several award-winning cheeses that carry their name: Mt. Tam, Red Hawk, Pierce Pt, Inverness, and St. Pat. In addition to aged cheeses, they always have on hand same day freshly made mozzarella (heavenly!), cottage cheese, fromage blanc and creme fraiche - the last three are also award-winning. If the accolades are not enough to convince you, Cowgirl also carries a stunning collection of great cheeses from highly regarded producers from across the US as well as France, Italy, Spain and Greece.

Mimolette, Extra Vieille, Jean d'Alos, Normandy, France($36). If you cut into a well-aged mimolette, it's unlikely you'll ever forget its intense reddish burnt orange color, which is reminiscent of the maddening and entrancing color of a harvest moon. For its complex, earthy and nutty flavors, this is my husband's favorite cheese.

Roncal ($25/lb), made from rich sheep's milk of the Lacha and Aragonesa breeds of oveja sheep in region of Spain, adjacent to the Pyrenees, makes our list of our favorite semi-hard cheeses.

Mont St. Francis, Capriole Dairy, Greenville, Indiana, ($27/lb). I haven't had this cheese but was intrigued by the notes: Mont St. Francis is a hearty, stinky, cheese, semi-hard and rich. We love it but it's not for the faint of heart! One of our customers has described it as "a cheese you would not want to eat on a first date, but maybe on the 2nd if the first one went well."  I dare anyone of you guys to eat this on a first date!

 

Sofia, Capriole Dairy; Greenville, Indiana ($26/lb).

Wabash Cannonball, Capriole Dairy; Greenville, Indiana ($9/ea).

Cowgirl also offers the additional supplements to the cheeses such as jams, sauces and crackers from local artisan producers. 

If one whiff of the odoriferous cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery knocked you out, then the heavenly aroma of freshly baked breads will be sufficient to restore and tickle your senses to reflate your appetite. Next door is Acme Breads, which carries a full selection of warm and crusty artisan breads. Acme uses only organic flour and works closely with multiple farmers in selecting the finest grains to source their ingredients. Friends from France, who lament about the inaccessibility of good crusty and chewy baguettes, say that this is pretty darn close. Given that nothing will ever match up to what they've grown up except for the real deal, it is a very good compliment. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, but here is one from flickr.

If you're looking to make a sandwich with the cheeses from Cowgirl, and loaf of bread from Acme, you can look to Boccalone, which offers handmade artisan cured meats, from salumi, bacon and sausages to cooked specialties such as mortadella and pate.  Boccalone is also mobile, offering sandwiches and cookies in the pictured food cart that can be tracked by twitter, where it has over 2,200 followers to date.

The sandwiches are huge and delicious, however, I have found the salumi to be excessively salty at times.

Rounding out cheeses, breads, salumi would be the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, which offers an amazing selecion of wines, a large portion from California. How amazing you might ask? I've been able to taste wines that I've never seen sold anywhere except by exclusive auction houses such as Christie's or Sotheby's. The first and last time I tasted the 2002 Screaming Eagle Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was at the Wine Merchant. Even though I wouldn't have even coughed up the insane amount of dough for a bottle of this cult classic, I was impressed that the wine bar was able to offer it at all. And after tasting it, I can confidently say that I will not pay the asking price of this wine. This is a picture I took of the wine bar I took over the summer.

The wine bar is full-service with a knowledgable and friendly staff that will run a few shops down to bring charcuterie from Boccalone, breads from Acme, cheeses from Cow Girl, and even sturgeon cavier from Tsai Nicoulai cafe, another amazing vendor that I've barely made a dent in because it's so expensive, to pair with your wine.

There's more but it will have to wait until the next post!  In the mean time, I'd love to hear about your local vendors that are notable.