Cheesetique

Jill Erber has certainly earned her nickname as the “Cheese Lady.” For the past 20 years, Erber’s been at the helm of Del Ray’s beloved cheese shop and restaurant Cheesetique, a fixture on the neighborhood’s main street reimagined, Mount Vernon Avenue. Today, many people know their brie from their burrata, but when Erber opened Cheesetique in 2004 as a specialty cheese shop, the landscape was very different. She originally worked in tech, and a layoff inspired her to get a job with her brother-in-law’s food import company. Her experience there working with chefs inspired her to bring delicious varieties of cheese to the general public. 

You can find the shop easily, thanks to the life-size black and white cow statue posted outside near Cheesetique’s lovely patio. Step inside, and one half of Cheesetique is devoted to a retail shop stocked with a wide variety of French wines, flavorful fruit jams, hearty italian sausage, prosciutto and country-style pâté, all of which make the perfect additions to your own makeshift charcuterie board. It has everything you need to be a fabulous host. Head to the cheese counter and get a personalized recommendation on all sorts of fromage, from “mushroomy” French Camembert to “velvety” honey goat cheese brought in from Canada. 

The other side of Cheesetique is devoted to the cozy restaurant, where the menu incorporates plenty of cheese in a menu that embraces comfort food. Think dishes like grown-up grilled cheese with cheddar on sourdough, or mac and cheese livened up with truffle-infused bread crumbs and creamy goat gouda, cacio de Roma, and Asiago. This is a favorite neighborhood destination for brunch, thanks to the ricotta pancakes and fried chicken served with cheddar-gruyère waffles.

Today, the Cheesetique owner is still importing and sourcing cheese that’s tough to find anywhere else, and educating cheese lovers via the Cheesetique Cheese & Wine Club, which doles out themed boxes of cheese each month. Something is always happening at Cheesetique too, whether it’s an online cheese education class, a “meet the winemaker” tasting or a fun party like Raclette Fest, which celebrates Alpine ski culture and gooey melted cheese. She’s also expanded in Shirlington, opening Corso Italian restaurant. But on a personal level, the sense of community in Alexandria she’s found is a big reason why Jill has loved running Cheesetique all these years. “I feel so rooted,” she told the Washington Business Journal.