bedford cheese shop on irving place

R. and I were wandering around the neighborhood tonight and stopped by the new outpost of the Bedford Cheese Shop on Irving Place (between 18th and 19th). We live right down the street from here and our old apartment is just around the corner, so we are already huge fans of the establishments on Irving Place (Casa Mono, Pete’s Tavern, Pure Food and Wine— all of them are favorites) but this is going onto the already long list of fantastic spots on a very short street. (Irving runs from 14th Street to 20th Street right below Gramercy Park where Lexington Avenue should be).

They have tons of “pantry-esque” items: canned anchovies, mustards, pastas, candies. But they have a fantastic selection of cheeses, fresh bread, meats, and other goodies. Below are some pictures of the shop and a list of the cheeses we got.

Mustards and Mayonnaise

Olives and cured meats

They let us sample cheeses.

Pastas and Anchovies

The massive cheese selection. They have sentences of description — amazing and witty.

My favorite (a cheddar with big crystals): Crawford Wheel made of raw cow’s milk from 5 Spoke Creamery in Lancaster, PA.

R.’s Favorite: Soft Wheel made of raw goat’s milk from Twig Farm in West Cornwall, VT.

We also got the best butter ever: Sea Salt Flake European Butter from Vermont Creamery that I tried a few months ago at an Edible Manhattan Dairy Event.

Team favorite: Australian Feta made of sheep and goat’s milk with olive oil from Meredith Dairy in Victoria, Australia.

The fantastic Australian Feta

All in all, a fantastic cheese shop with so much selection (for stinky and non-stinky cheese lovers). And, with a baguette (which we got there too), it was a delicious dinner!

Baked Ricotta — looks like a delicious cheesecake. I want to go back just to get some of this.

Some of their aged cheeses. They look like green marshmallows.

R. checking out (and trying) many of their cheeses.

Our selections of cheeses, butter, and bread.

Vermont Creamery butter.

The beautiful Australian Feta.