Cheese Heads

Us FDPs have a natural love of food and while we all have different palates and different tastes there is one food that we all have a love affair with... cheese! To satiate our dairy needs we took our ever expanding butts down to Cheesetique in the adorable neighborhood of Del Ray in Alexandria, VA. Just a few years ago Cheesetique began simply as one the most awesome cheese retail stores we've ever seen. It quickly began selling wine as well and recently expanded into a small cheese and wine bar in addition to its retail end. So just imagine your cute, local cheese store with a cute little restaurant attached to it. Sound incredible? That's because it is.

We arrived with our mouths drooling and eyes full of excitement. Unfortunately we had to wait because the rest of the neighborhood also decided to partake in the fermented goodness on that Friday night. This was to be expected though. One of the kind servers, Charlotte, offered to get us a drink while we waited. We started things off the way all things should be started and that's with bubbles! The four of us gave a little "cheers" with our Prosecco, to the cheese that was about to be consumed. As we were waiting more and more people were coming into the store in hopes of scoring a table, but they had to get in line like the rest of us. Sensing that it was going to be an extremely busy night (like all nights we were told), the servers gathered together and ingeniously decided to pull a few tables from the outside and set up impromptu places for people to dine within the store. Because we waited so patiently we were granted one of these tables!

Now for the good stuff. A no brainer was the cheese and meat board. With your choice of 3 cheeses and meats, with cornichons, quince paste and mustard it was the perfect way to kick things off. From there we decided just to order a bunch of things and share them all. The prices were fantastic, with nothing really over $10 (besides our cheese board) so why not try a nice variety? In addition to our cheese selections we ordered the Arugula Salad with bleu cheese, dried cranberries and walnuts and the Fig and Brie Crostini with Prosciutto. Before moving on to our next course we ordered a tasty bottle of Vino (Primitivo) to wash it all down. Our next round brought us baked Mac n' Cheese (yum) and the Artisan Quiche which had goat cheese, artichokes and prosciutto. I must say that the Quiche was much lighter and fluffier than normal Quiches that you come across. It was flavorful and the texture was so delciate.

Although Cheesetique was crowded and busy, we never once felt rushed or ignored. All of the servers as well as the cheesemongers had smiles on their faces and looked like they were enjoying the company of their neighborhood. It makes us jealous that we don't live in the neighborhood! But because of the fun and friendly service, the amazing cheese selections and scrumptious food combined with great prices it is definitely worth the trip outside of the city and we will definitely be back!

For all of the reasons listed above plus the cheesy goodness that is still lingering in our bellies we give Cheesetique 3.5 oinks out of 4!