The Red Hook outlet occupies the entire ground floor of this former warehouse; there's also a 100-seat indoor-outdoor café out back, where the water taxi lets out. Here's a Macintosh (50 cents, at $1.29 per pound), taking the salt air.
Unsystematic tasting notes from numerous other occasions, mainly from the Upper West Side location:
Meyenberg C&H goat jack ($19.96 per pound), from Turlock, California. White flecked with dark green; fairly firm body gives a little before beginning to crumble; lactic, even faintly acidic aroma, but as for flavor — there's just not much to speak of.
Irish cashel blue ($13.16 per pound) has an off-white body heavily mottled with dark green-blue mold; creamy body always on the verge of crumbling; very restrained aroma and flavor.
Cabra rometo ($11.16 per pound). Semisoft goat's milk cheese; rind rubbed with olive oil and rosemary, from Murcia, Spain. Looks like turquoise with a patina outside, bright white inside. The rosemary is too biting to play well with other flavors.
Rocinante ($8.69 per pound). Goat's milk cheese; rind washed with paprika. A lot like havarti, but whiter, more sour, and a little crumbly; the paprika is more for looks than flavor. Pairs OK with membrillo.
Manchego ($9.79 per pound). Sheep's milk cheese, aged six months, from Castille-La Mancha region of Spain. Firmer, a little sharper and saltier. Good match for membrillo or guava paste.
Aged Comte ($14.36 per pound). More yellowed than the unaged version, with tiny white mold spots; mottled light-and-dark-brown rind; moister texture also a little crumbly; more sour.
English Stilton with apricot ($13.16 per pound). Lightly orange-tinged yellow ("white stilton" per the label), stippled with orange fruit; no rind. No sulfur dioxide, either, which I believe is mandated for all loose, dried apricots sold in the United States. You'd probably find it in most U.S.-processed foods, too, unless the manufacturer had ready access to fresh apricots in sufficient quantity. Very crumbly; tart.
Baked ricotta with lemon ($8.99 per pound). Bright, pale yellow, with a golden orange exterior (think pound cake). Supersmooth and creamy; easily sliced, almost as easily spread. Light, fresh lemon taste with just a little tartness. Dessert.
Primo sale ($8.99 per pound) goes by the name "vastedde" in Sicily (and Bensonhurst, I hear). It's a sheep's milk cheese much like provolone: cream-colored with a waxy sheen (but no rind), a sweet-sour, and a firm, nearly rubbery texture that asserts itself well when you slap a slice on a sandwich.
Portugal Serra ($21.96 per pound), "farm-made in the Celorico da Beira" with vegetable rennet from raw sheep's milk. Firm tan rind whitened by mold; cream-colored and -textured within, and dotted by tiny pockets. Mildly lactic aroma and flavor.
Queso la Leyenda ($15.96 per pound), from La Mancha, Spain. Raw sheep's milk cheese rubbed with herbs and oil that are less noticeable in the nose than on the tongue; bracing undertone from six days' immersion in Solera brandy. Medium yellow interior is very firm, a little dry; rind is notably oily, but pleasantly so.
Fairway
480 Van Brunt St., Red Hook, Brooklyn
(one of several locations)
718-694-6868
www.FairwayMarket.com
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