Yee-Haw!

I love cheese.  While most of us get out cheese from a grocery store, either buying store brands or the national brands like Kraft, Sargento and if we feel like springing for it Tilamook.  Some stores are have small sections near deli's with more craft cheeses in them and if you're in an area with a good dairy supply, you'll possibly be blessed with local artisan cheeses!  With the rise of the organic and explosion of local and specialty shops, there are a number of towns that now have specialty cheese shops springing up once again, selling local and fancy cheese varieties.  Here in the Bay Area, one of the bigger and better known producers of local artisan cheese is the Cowgirl Creamery. 

Located in Pt. Reyes Station (an hour north of San Francisco) the Cowgirl Creamery started making cheese in the early 90's and today sells cheese at two shops, the Tomales Bay Foods location in Pt. Reyes Station and at their cheese shop at the San Francisco Ferry Building.  They've also got a milk bar and cafe right next door to the SF shop and they've got their cheese in Whole Foods stores across the country and if you've got a local cheese shop, they may carry some of the Cowgirl varieties as well. 

As I had mentioned before in my most recent adventure in San Francisco that it was my second mac meal of the day.  This, was my first.

The Review

Brand:
Cowgirl Creamery's Sidekick Cafe Macaroni & Cheese 

That horse and rider silhouette sure doesn't look like any superhero sidekick I know.

Price:
$7.25 as Cowgirl Creamery's Sidekick Cafe

Grilled cheeses and mac n' cheese?  It's like I designed this menu!

Packaging Menu Description:
Made with Cowgirl Wagon Wheel and Red Hawk

Preparation:
*Again with finding your way to San Francisco... You've at minimum multiple bridges, BART, CalTrain and ferry services and even an airport that grant you access into the city.  Take your pick!

*Find yourself walking down the Embarcadero towards the Bay Bridge, or down Market St. towards the bay.  Eventually you'll stumble into the Ferry building.  It's quite large.  You can't miss it.

Oh look, lunchtime!

*Enter the building and if you so feel, visit the many shops before you make it to Sidekick which is located towards the middle of the concourse.  There are all kinds of boutique shops inside that serve everything from bread, to chocolate, to fresh meats and even mushrooms!  They really have a wide selection.  Just don't forget why you really came.

*The restaurant is right on the corner of one of the junctions.  Just keep your eyes open for the sign and a little A-frame advertising Cowgirl's Sidekick cafe.  That'll let you know where you should dismount and tie up your horse for a spell.  If you walk past it, you'll be at their cheese shop.

While space is a premium, there is a small bar area where you can sit and eat your cheese and cheese filled items to the left of the register.  To the right are a few standing tables also for Cowgirl customers.

A close up of the important part of the A-frame.  Forget the fancy deserts, this is the only thing calling out to me!

*Wait in line at the register and once it's your turn place an order for some mac.

*After you've paid, you can step to the left and watch them prepare your food or to the right and wait for them to call your name.  It will take a some time before they call your name (about 10 minutes for me), especially if they are busy.  If you're really adventurous, you can also order a shot of milk that they'll serve up for you at the same window your food will be waiting for you at.

I'll pass that breathalyzer test officer, I was just at the milk bar.  I swear all I had was whole chocolate milk.

*Once they call your number, you'll see that your food comes to you in completely recyalable containers.  Welcome to SF, where recycling/compsting is king.  The plastics are all recylable and places must use corn starch or otherwise recycalable/compstable utensils and containers.  It's the law.


I ordered a glass of water as well.  It was some fancy filtered water with a lemon wedge.  Ooh. Aah.



Close up of the lid.  Like I said, everything is compostable/recyclable.

*Take your cup of mac to the table of your chosing.

*Commence with the nomming!

Taste:
Popping the top I was greeted with a mac had an interesting smell.  It was cheesy, but it didn't quite have the typical mac n' cheese smell one is accustomed to (because of the kinds of cheese used i'm sure).  The noodles while cooked, were a bit overdone. The taste was very hit or miss.  While parts were cheesy, most of the cup was pretty light on that cheesy taste I was hoping for.  The flavor of the cheeses was a strange blend, and neither had a taste I could really define. There was one cheese that made up a huge majority of the flavor and while it was distinct it didn't drive me to wanting more, even though it was creamy. One final surprise was how oily it was.  There was a small pool that the mac was sitting in at the bottom of the cup. 

For a small cup of mac, that sure is a lot of oil.

Final Score:

I was really hoping that a cheese shop that used their own flagship cheeses for their mac n' cheese would have been better than it was.  With the bitter off putting taste overtaking the mac (when there was cheese to be found) I was sorely disappointed.  The surprise oil at the bottom also took away from it too.  While I'm all for supporting a local cheese maker I would hope that their macaroni and cheese would be a cut above the rest because of the quality ingredients used.  It just wasn't.  Maybe sometime in the future I'll give it another shot and see if I just had a bad serving or it's really that mediocre.

Nutritional Information:

Checking both at the cafe and online I was unable to find any nutritional information on their mac n' cheese.  As with anything made in the more traditional style with real cheese, tread lightly.  There will be plenty of calories and fat.