An already exciting week for new Montrose restaurants just got a little busier. Montrose Cheese & Wine, a new retail shop and cafe from Goodnight Hospitality, is now open to the public.
Montrose Cheese & Wine packs a lot of options into its tidy, 800 square feet. In addition to its namesake commodities, MCW offers coffee, charcuterie, pastries, and a selection of food- and wine-related gifts such as wine tools, dried pasta, and olive oil.
All of these items are available to go, naturally, or for dine-in at the shop's 10-seat counter or its adjacent courtyard. The space's design includes a spiral staircase to the building's wine cellar and a custom chandelier made in Murano, the Italy city celebrated for its glassmaking.
General manager and cheesemonger Shannon McCracken will maintain a selection of 12 to 15 cheeses that rotate based on availability and seasonality. A veteran of Houston Dairymaids, McCracken's current selections include Liteggio di Bufala, a raw water buffalo milk cheese from Italy that's aged for 90 days; Alisios, a Spanish cheese that's made with 70 percent cow's milk and 30 percent goat's milk; and "Cornerstone," a raw cow's milk cheese from Vermont's Parish Hill Creamery.
Working with Goodnight partners (and master sommeliers) June Rodil and David Keck, wine director Ryan Cooper has assembled a list of 125 wines "highlighting organic, biodynamic and natural production from around the world," according to a release. In the interest of offering good value, the bottle list features options for $40 or less, and almost all of the 10 by-the-glass selections are available for $13 or less. At the other end of the price spectrum, Cooper and his staff will also assist collectors looking to add specialty bottles to their cellars.
Pastry director Shawn Gawle, whose resume includes three different three-star Michelin restaurants, oversees the rotating pastry selections. Expect eclairs, Portuguese egg tarts (pastel de nata), pantxineta (Basque almond tart), and other treats.
The opening of Montrose Cheese & Wine gives the neighborhood an independent cheese shop that's distinct from the cheese counters at area grocery stores. MCW also provides another place in Montrose to buy and/or consume carefully selected wines, joining the venerable Houston Wine Merchant and newer options such as Light Years, Avondale Food & Wine, and Penny Quarter, the newly opened cafe and wine bar.
Up next, Goodnight will open Rosie Cannonball, a restaurant where chef de cuisine Adam Garcia will feature items prepared using a wood-burning oven and grill. It is slated to open by the end of the month.
Montrose Cheese & Wine is now open.
