Bay Area’s best picnic spots: Marin French Cheese Co., Petaluma
Head to the rolling hills west of Novato for this picnic eden, where a creamery store carries all the picnic fare you could ever want, and ducks paddle in the pond.
If you’re driving out to some gorgeous spot on the coast, you could certainly stop at the Marin French Cheese Co. and pick up provisions — the company’s famous artisan cheeses, fresh sandwiches, wine —for a delicious picnic.
But here’s another idea: Make this Marin cheese company your destination. Set amid rolling hills on a 700-acre dairy farm in Hicks Valley, its cheese shop and expansive picnic grounds offer a vision of West Marin pastoral heaven.
The company’s iconic sign along the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road, west of Novato, invites passers-by to stop and stay a while. For locals, the cheese company, known simply as “The Cheese Factory,” has long been a destination for a day out. It’s especially popular with families looking for a pretty lunch spot where kids can run around.
The cheese shop is housed in a classic, farmhouse-style building. The surrounding property is home to cows, chickens, a pig farm and a vegetable garden. And the historic creamery behind the shop has produced award-winning Brie and Camembert-style cheeses since 1865, making it the oldest cheese company in the United States.
Using traditional French techniques, founder Jefferson Thompson created his classic Petite Breakfast cheese to feed San Francisco’s booming population of dockworkers following the Gold Rush. Since then, the company has expanded its repertoire to appeal to contemporary palates, creating Brie-style cheeses made with mustard seeds, jalapeños or imported French truffles.
West Marin’s terroir and climate – foggy mornings, cool ocean breezes and warm afternoons – help give those cheeses their signature flavors, and climate also makes this an especially pleasant picnic spot any time of year, but especially in the spring, summer and early autumn.
Most visitors gravitate to the pond, where ducks and geese sometimes paddle. Picnickers spread blankets on its grassy banks, shaded by trees. There are picnic tables and Adirondack chairs, and behind the cheese shop, more picnic areas, including a huge lawn where children can run and play.
The picnic: The shop offers pretty much everything you might need for a picnic, from local wines and ciders to 4-ounce wheels of cheese, salads and toasted ham, turkey or vegetable sandwiches that feature the company’s signature triple creme Brie or Petite Mustard Brie. Small glass jars of chocolate and snickerdoodle pots de creme made by Sonoma’s St. Benoit Creamery are perfect for dessert.
The details: The cheese shop and picnic grounds are typically open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily during the summer and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter at 7510 Point Reyes-Petaluma Road in Petaluma; https://marinfrenchcheese.com. Dogs on leash are welcome on the picnic grounds.
Extras: Check the creamery’s Facebook page — www.facebook.com/marinfrenchcheesecompany —for recipes, pairing ideas and details about tasting events with local chocolate makers, bakers and other producers. Consider making a day of it with stops at other Marin or Sonoma County cheese makers along the California Cheese Trail; https://cheesetrail.org.