Murray's Cheese Shop - I Love You!

I just want to say that if there really is a Murray, I would like to kiss him on the lips. Aside from the fact that Murray’s has been bringing us great cheeses from all points interesting, he always has a friendly and knowledgeable staff who make the cheese quest a most satisfying adventure.

My daily route takes me through Grand Central, where a Murray’s outpost greats me just after I buy that fresh Balthazar’s baguette at Corrado’s.

I need cheese. Today, I am looking for French feta and a cheese called Toussaint that I recently tried on an upstate foraging expedition.

“Good morning,” the young Cheese Master says with a smile. His spectacles sparkle under the golden display lights. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

What an awesome thing to hear at 7:15 in the morning. Is there anything? He has no idea of the anything I am capable of.

“I need cheese,” I say.

“We have some,” he replies. “Is there anything in particular you are looking for?”

“Yes,” I say as I scan the cheese landscape in the food TV. “I need half a pound of young Manchego, and there is a particular cheese from upstate that I tried recently, and I wonder if you happen to carry it.”

“Can you describe it?”

Here before me stands a professional, a man who knows his cheese. Panic.

“Well,” I mumble as a woman with a smart pair of shoes sidles up next to me. “It’s called Toussaint, but I can’t remember much else, except that it has a nice, nutty flavor and I want to buy some.”

“Ah,” he says, “Toussaint, from Sprout Creek Farms.”

“Yes!” I exclaim.

The well-attired woman next to me knits her eyebrows together and then leans in to hear more.

“Yes, we do carry that,” he says. “But we don’t have any right here right now.”

“Oh,” I say.

The woman looks up for an explanation. Two more people arrive, one with a cup of aromatic coffee, his tie flipped over his shoulder.

“It’s made upstate,” the Cheese Master explains, “by the nuns at the convent. That’s Sprout Creek Farms. They don’t make huge quantities, so it’s hard to keep in the regular stock. We sell out pretty fast.”

“I see,” I said. The crowd now forming nods its collective head. I move down the counter and gaze at the little pyramids, balls and disks of chevre and pepper-encrusted cheeses.

I am not disappointed – I am amazed that at this early hour I have found a person who knows his cheese, is happy to share and is smiling and friendly. He is still smiling, even though I am wasting precious time. I gather my half-pound of Manchego, my French feta, a slab of Pont L’Évêque and then ask about the high price of the Livarot as I pay the Cheese Master for his wares.

The woman behind me asks about the featured cheeses, and I leave her and the others to find their own cheese happiness. I give a silent and thankful “hurrah” to Murray, who continues to bring cheeses from around the world and right here at home to us, now in two locations and always with joy.

Tags:   cheese, grand central, mancheo, murray s

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Posted on 10/14/2005 ( Permanent Link )
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