Living the American Dream at La Fromagerie

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, April 13th, 2009

According to nascent entrepreneur Sebastien Tavel, things at his new Old Town Alexandria gourmet shop, La Fromagerie, are going pretty well.

A Rhone Valley-transplant with decades of professional cooking experience, Tavel

threw open the doors to his modest cheese/wine/charcuterie shop just a few weeks back. But he swears the foot traffic is already on the uptick thanks to early repeat customers and positive word-of-mouth.

Tavel hopes to foster the spread of both brand-affirming phenomena by ramping up his wine holdings (currently keeps a few dozen moderately priced bottles on hand) and hosting cheese tastings/dining demos once he’s able to carve out a dedicated tasting nook.

In the meantime, patrons can avail themselves of all manner of dairy deliciousness, including:

organic yogurt from Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, hand-crafted crott from Brad Parker’s Pipe Dreams Farm in Pennsylvania, herbs de provence-spiked goat cheese from CaroMont Farm, applewood-smoked mozzarella from Leesburg’s Blue Ridge Dairy or whole milk from Trickling Springs Creamery.

If cheese seems like mere gastronomic foreplay to you, feel free to get hot and heavy with Tavel’s other savory selections, including:

organic pork jowls from La Quercia, Virginia country ham and hickory-smoked bacon from the pork-loving Edwards clan, spicy plum or erhubarab chutney from the Virginia Chutney Company.

Or pick up a can of Mary Tavel’s (nee Powell)–she’s the cheery blond bouncing around the shop with the infectious grin–family’s “blister-fried” peanuts.

Though it’s probably easier for local shoppers to reconcile supporting a French-run business (just don’t tell GOP-firebrand Bob Ney) than it is to endorse North Carolina-grown nuts here in the Old Dominion.

–Warren Rojas

Tags: Blue Ridge Dairy, CaraMont Farm, charcuterie, cheese, Edwards ham, gourmet, Gut Check, La Fromagerie, La Quercia, Northern Virginia Magazine, Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, Old Town Alexandria, Pipe Dreams Farm, Sebatien Tavel, shopping, Trickling Springs Creamery, Virginia Chutney Company, Warren Rojas, wine