Cheese: No Longer a Solitary Experience in Del Ray
Perhaps it’s time to change up the old routine. Maybe, instead of coming home from work and snuggling up on the couch with your block of aged cheddar, smoked gouda, a knife, and a box of Triscuits, it’s time to take your cheese habit to a more refined setting.
If you live nearby Cheesetique in Del Ray, Alexandria, chances are that the lovely folks there are already feeding your cheese habit. To accommodate the growing demand, they recently moved into a larger space, a surprisingly daunting task, according to owner Jill Erber, despite moving only a few doors down the block. But now they have space galore for sitting, chatting, snacking, cheese-ing, wining and even some light dining at their new cheese bar, which opened a few weeks ago. A heavy red curtain separates the store's fully stocked retail cheese counter and wine wall from the spacious cheese bar, which emanates a warm, rustic feel with a brightly lit wooden bar and a dozen or so tables in the dimmer dining area. A simple, classy design seems to embody Cheesetique’s vibe: cheese can be your hobby — your obsession even — and this is a perfect place to relish that. It’ll definitely make for a better atmosphere than your living room with the folding table pulled up sofa-side.
Cheese boards come with any three ($12) or five ($19) cheeses from a regularly rotating selection off of the shop’s impressively long list, as well as quince paste, cornichons and fresh grapes. A charcuterie board follows suit with three ($15) or five ($19) meats with similar accouterments. Those visitors on the hungrier side can partake in a bowl of homemade gazpacho ($5) — just in time for summer — quiche with emmenthaler, prosciutto and peppers ($9), gourmet panini ($9), or arugula salad ($7).
The bar’s wine list and beer menu will complement whatever you decide to eat. Erber, who talks about wine with almost as much enthusiasm as she talks about cheese, has chosen a selection of old world and new world reds, whites and sparkling wines that range from $7 to $18 per glass. Beers are mostly domestic microbrews, with some imports from Belgium and Germany, and range from $5 to $9. Servers at the cheese bar will certainly be able to recommend cheeses with wine/beer pairings, but the helpful tips on the wine list are enough to steer you in the right direction. The cheese bar may be open later in the near future, and there’s even a possibility of happy hour somewhere down the line.
Cheesetique
2411 Mt. Vernon Ave.
Alexandria, VA
Cheese & wine bar open Tuesday-Saturday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.