Best Cheese Shop

Cowgirl Creamery Cheese Shop

1 Ferry Building, No. 17, Market & Embarcadero, 362-9354, www.cowgirlcreamery.com

Walking into Cowgirl Creamery is like slamming into an olfactory brick wall. "Heady" doesn't quite describe it. This is living, breathing, ripening cheese, releasing dripping molecules of scent into the Ferry Building's cavernous hall like an animal attracting mates. No wonder Cowgirl was mentioned on Will & Grace. Similar to the famed Cheeseboard in Berkeley, Cowgirl is run by staffers armed with cheese slicers, and they're quick to make recommendations. Along with a wide selection of foreign and domestic options, Cowgirl sells its own award-winning brands, such as Pierce Pt., washed in Muscato and rolled in herbs, and the signature Mt. Tam, both made in a Point Reyes barn by veterans of the Bay Area restaurant scene. Our suggestion is the same as the store's: Pick up some Cowgirl cheese and Acme bread (a few storefronts west) and go sit on the dock of the bay.