Ok folks, if you like a bit of heritage, as you know I do, Marin French Cheese is celebrating its 150th anniversary this summer. This loveliest of rustic institutions, located the perfect distance between Petaluma and Point Reyes Station, partied it up with longtime friends and neighbors, on a splendidly summery June (14th) Sunday afternoon.
If you haven't heard Sonoma County's own "Dixie Giants" big band-style play live, you're missing out. We're talking typical SoCo in that this exceptionally talented band consists of educators, students and a wine maker. What isn't typical is their unique alchemy, a blend to make any bandmaster or winemaker extraordinarily happy! The Dixie Giants are headed out of SoCo for a summer tour. What a treat to catch them in the (rural) 'hood so to speak, just over the county border, before they hit the road.
If you're looking for "authentic" in the region, you're simply not going to find anywhere more grounded and true to its agricultural roots than Marin French Cheese, founded in the heart of Hick's Valley in 1865.
Let's turn back the clock. In 1865, the Civil War was drawing to an end, railroads connected east and west, European immigrants were settling in droves in Marin and southern Sonoma Counties to farm the lush coastal land.
Jefferson Thompson made fresh cheese using the milk from his dairy cows and shipped it by schooner to the hungry dockworkers in San Francisco. He soon gained renown for his European style cheeses – soft-ripened Brie, Camembert and a simple treat called Breakfast Cheese – and founded a creamery that would eventually be known as Marin French Cheese.
Today, nearly 150 years later, Marin French Cheese operates in the same location, making this the most (stereotypical for the region) unassuming and longest continually operating cheese company in America.
I wrote about the origins of Marin French Cheese in Fog Valley Crush. The "Cheese Factory" as I came to know it over the past two-plus decades in the Petaluma area is iconic to me as a local and as a food writer.
It was an honor to be invited to sign books at Marin French Cheese's 150th Anniversary. As a regional reporter, it was an absolute delight to talk to so many people who grew up fishing the pond at the Cheese Factory, camping out with the boy scouts, working on the property and in the factory. I was happy to meet and talked for several lazy sunny-Sunday afternoon hours with neighbors, 5th generation farm families in Hick's Valley and vendors such as the always delightful and gracious Caryn of Sonoma Portworks.
Neighboring young farmers were on hand with 4H cows, Marin French cheesemakers put on an outdoor cheesemaking demo and Bonnie Morse, of Bonnie Bee Company presented honey tasting and a beekeeping demo.
Author and historian Dewey Livingston hosted a storytelling stage, on which many guests throughout the afternoon shared their heartwarming memories, boy scout camping, fishing, picnics and work experiences of the Cheese Factory from years past.
It's always fun to chat to old friends and new in the unofficial artisan food appreciation society that we share here in southern Sonoma County and west Marin. After all, it's the place where big players such as super-successful Lagunitas Brewing Company happily rub shoulders with the rest of us. I'm super-excited that Rustic Bakery is moving its manufacturing operations to Petaluma this year.
Mark Pasternak of Devil's Gulch Farms runs hogs out on the many acres behind Marin French Cheese. Mark and his wife Myriam's multi-faceted farming enterprise (including summer camp) is as good as it gets if you're looking for impassioned sustainable farming in the region. It wasn't much of a surprise when Mark's barbecued meats ran out after a couple of hours of triple expected crowds.
Still, there was plenty other stellar refreshment to be had at this lovely lawn party under the shade of the Cheese Factory's old -growth trees and Mark was more than busy taking visitors on wagon tours of the property, out to its historic pig barn.
Angelo's Meats crew maintained a steady pace of serving up its barbecued bites all afternoon. Market-style food & beverage sampling also featured cheeses from the California Artisan Cheese Guild, Heidrun Meadery (from flower to flute!), Double 8 Gelato, California Figs, AppleGarden Farm Hard Cider, Marin Roots Farm, Sonoma Harvest, Jimtown Store, Marlo’s Biscotti and Fabrique Delices.
Stop by Marin French next time you're out and about out West. You can find products from all of these vendors (including my book, which features the history of cheesemaking in the area) in the Cheese Factory store.
If you haven't visited Marin French in a while, you'll see that the store and deli has undergone an interior remodel. As well as samplings of yummy soft cheeses made on the property, made-to-order sandwiches, salads and all sorts of on-the-spot picnic items await.
There are acres to roam, plenty of shaded benches and natural leaf canopies to spread a picnic blanket under.
“A picnic is more than eating a meal, it is a pleasurable sate of mind.”
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