With our ferocious invasion of the In-N-Out‘s double-doubles under control, we turn to face our next assault: conjugated linoleic acid from Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker Street in New York City. No, we don’t need any rope, conjugated linoleic acid is a good thing. It is one of the healthy fats (love it!) found in cheese. There are many New Yorkers who think Murray’s Cheese shop is the best in New York. And, like so many New York businesses, Murray’s had humble ethnic start. From their website:
“Murray Greenberg was a Jewish Spanish civil war veteran and communist who opened a wholesale butter and egg shop a few doors up Cornelia street in 1940. The old timers tell me [current owner Rob Kaufelt] that even though he was an old leftie, he was still a street smart capitalist who used to buy cheese cheap and trim it and sell it. In the 70’s he sold the shop to his clerk Louis Tudda, an Italian immigrant from Calabria.” Grab a Kleenex and continue here. (I’d cast Dustin Hoffman as Murray and Helen Mirren as Paula Lambert in the movie War of the Cheeses.)
Fast forward to May 17, 2011. Murray’s has two locations in New York where they sell a gazillion cheeses. They have a books, cured meat, crackers, dried fruit and nuts, and an olive and antipasto bar. Phew! And a serious online shopping site. However, you won’t need to order Murray’s cheese if you like Murray’s cheese because Murray’s cheese has made a deal with Kroger and soon their cheese will spread across North Texas. (They are already in Houston. What else would you expect from a communist cheese maker? No emails please.) It looks like a Kroger store in Irving (June-ish, not sure which location) will be the first outpost for Murray’s Cheese shop. I say shop because they are building little areas inside each Kroger to mimic the interior of the Greenwich Village store. (Twinwillow, I see a job opportunity in your future.) After that, it’s Katy bar the door– I hear the whole Upper East Side is relocating Frisco.
UPPITY DATE:
The first three shops to open in Dallas-Fort Worth are at the following Kroger locations:
-Irving 7505 N. MacArthur Blvd. Irving, TX 75063 (Opening Date: 5/25/11)
-Dallas 5665 E. Mockingbird Dallas, TX 75206 (Opening Date: 6/15/11)
-Fort Worth 3300 Texas Sage Trail Fort Worth, TX 76177 (Opening Date: 7/6/11)
More below.
Murray’s Cheese, the oldest cheese shop in New York City, is known for its huge selection of imported and domestic artisan cheeses and specialty foods. Murray’s opened in 1940 in Greenwich Village as a neighborhood wholesaler of butter and eggs, and has since evolved into the country’s leading cheese destination. The company’s mission is to bring the best cheese selection to the United States and to educate customers about cheese.
Now, through an exclusive partnership with Kroger, Murray’s is opening specialty cheese shops within several stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Dallas-Fort Worth is part of a multi-divisional partnership of 50 cut-and-wrap specialty cheese departments in Kroger stores nationwide. Currently, Murray’s Cheese shops can be found in Kroger stores in Cincinnati, Atlanta, Houston, Huntsville, AL, and Knoxville, TN.
The first three shops to open in Dallas-Fort Worth are at the following Kroger locations:
-Irving 7505 N. MacArthur Blvd. Irving, TX 75063 (Opening Date: 5/25/11)
-Dallas 5665 E. Mockingbird Dallas, TX 75206 (Opening Date: 6/15/11)
-Fort Worth 3300 Texas Sage Trail Fort Worth, TX 76177 (Opening Date: 7/6/11)
In addition to 175 types of cheese, the shops will feature over 300 specialty food items like cured meat, crackers, dried fruit and nuts and an olive and antipasto bar. The shops in Kroger will look much like the Greenwich Village flagship store in New York City. Shoppers can try cheese before they buy it and learn from cheesemasters who have been trained by Murray’s.
What people are saying about Murray’s…
“The temple to cheese” says Martha Stewart Living
“One of America’s greatest cheese shops” says Food Network chef Emeril Lagasse
“The world’s best cheese shop” according to Forbes.com
