I have always found Murray’s Cheese to be divine. Walk in, and you’re enveloped in that warm, buttery, harmonious scent. For “curd nerds,” it smells like Chanel No.5. And now, this time-tested fromagerie has gotten a makeover and is well worth a (re)visit.
In just two weeks, this Bleecker Street staple has transformed. Gone is that loud red and yellow awning in favor of a more modern one. Inside, the once claustrophobic aisles and islands are clear and glossy. It’s spacious, organized and alluring.
Head first to the new antipasto bar, brimming with olives and roasted red peppers. Then make your way to the sandwich station where you’ll find bacon, egg and cheese on English muffins for breakfast and a BBLT (that second B is for burrata) for lunch. There’s also a classic tuna melt and the You Go Girl sandwich with chevre, kale, roasted sweet potatoes and avocado on gluten-free bread.
And then there’s the Pantry, which boasts 300 new items, from Bittermens Hellfire Bitters and smooth maple cream to jugs of fine olive oil, water crackers and myriad butters. There’s local spelt flour for baking, honey for your tea and barbecue sauces for summer grilling, too.
Toward the front, you’ll find ready-to-heat containers with pulled pork and pimento macaroni and cheese, thick layers of lasagna and even fried chicken with tomato piri piri sauce.
And of course, there is the cheese: huge wheels from countries far and wide, a silky Brillat-Savarin, rustic shards of Parmesan, oblong globes of soft mozzarella and wedges of my favorite — cave-aged Tickler English Cheddar.
It will take you time to fully explore this new Murray’s. It has always been a mecca of all things that are good in the world, and now, it’s even better.
Ariel Kanter is an editor at Gilt City.
