56 Lydia’s STYLE Magazine

Gallery walks, artisan cheese tasting, craft beer, tree-filled

parks and highly unique neighborhoods

– you will find all of this and more in

Longmont.

By Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer

travel

Cheese Importers’ retail store.

5757Style 2014

This former colony, turned town, turned agricultural powerhouse is now a city fueled by high tech com-panies and residents who enjoy the

finer things in life.Visitors to Longmont can explore the city’s

rich agricultural past, taste the bounty of one of today’s favorite crops – hops – or jump on a bike and ride one of the city’s many trails. Longmont has activities suited to every taste, including symphony and theater, but if taste is truly what you’re after, then you are in store for a treat.

Foodie FunCheese Importers is a Longmont company

that has been doing the “foodie thing” long before foodie became a word. The White family has been selling cheese and specialty food items since 1976. Today their wholesale customers include more than 400 restaurants, natural grocers, hotels and neighborhood buying clubs.

A happy French tune greeted me as I entered La Fromagerie, the Cheese Importers’ European Marketplace located in a historic building at 103 Main Street. Walking through the doors, I was instantly transported to an enchanting world where the smell of baking bread mingled with the tang of fresh cheese.

I felt my entire body tingle with excitement as I wandered through the boutique section, browsing housewares, linens, specialty foods

and more. Then I entered the cheese cooler where rows and rows of cheese are displayed in accordance with their country of origin. I walked by England, Switzerland and Holland before stopping in France to sample a velvety Brie, one of the best I have ever tasted.

After exploring the world’s many cheeses, I ordered lunch in Bistrot des Artistes, the café inside the marketplace. I got a French club sandwich featuring turkey, ham, French brie, whole grain mustard and arugula on a baguette. It was a delightful combination of crunchy and creamy.

I left with a bag full of cheese, a fresh baguette, some specialty olives and an enor-mous desire to come back as soon as possible. Cheese Importers has more than 350 cheeses in their inventory and the best selection of Colorado cheese I’ve come across, includ-ing Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese from Longmont.

In operation since 1989, Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy welcomes small groups by appoint-ment on Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. An ideal stop for a true foodie, Haystack tours include an educational session on goats and cheese making.

My next epicurean stop was Robin Choco-lates, located at Airport Road and Nelson Road. Owner and chocolatier, Robin Autorino, was recently named one of the Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professionals.

During her culinary school internship in France, Autorino fell in love with pastries and dessert. After returning to the states she worked in the pastry kitchens of a number of historic hotels in Boulder and Denver before starting her own company in Longmont in 2008.

Autorino was working in her kitchen on the day I stopped by Robin Chocolates and she invited me behind the scenes to watch her and an assistant enrobe chocolates, a beautiful and mesmerizing task that involves coating (or enrobing) the chocolates in more chocolate.

I felt like I had wandered onto the set of a Food Network show, but this VIP treatment isn’t reserved just for writers; if you happen to catch Autorino in her kitchen when you visit, you will likely get a sneak peek behind the scenes, too.

Autorino’s chocolates are divine, but tasting these sumptuous desserts may forever spoil the taste of ordinary grocery store chocolate. Robin Chocolates are available in Fort Collins at The Cupboard or you can visit her store in Longmont at 600 S. Airport Road, Building B.

No food-inspired trip to Longmont is com-plete without a stop at Sugar Beet Restaurant. Their seasonal menu often features local deli-cacies. This place is wildly popular with self-professed foodies across Boulder County and beyond. (www.sugarbeetrestaurant.com, 101 Pratt Street, Longmont)

A trip to Longmont would not be complete without a stop at Robin Chocolates. Chocolatier and pastry chef Robin Autorino produces amazing edible art at her Longmont store. Photos courtesy of Robin Chocolates.

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Family FunIf you’d like to experience a day in Longmont

with the family, there are several museums worth checking out. First, the beautiful Long-mont Museum and Cultural Center, just south of downtown, tells the city’s ethnically diverse story. There are lots of interactive exhibits where young and old can touch, see and hear the stories of real people who have called Longmont home; from Native Americans to German and Mexican immigrants.

Don’t miss the third floor where children can play dress up in historical costumes and adults can enjoy a breathtaking view of Longmont. The museum hosts workshops and presentations, and is the site of Colorado’s largest Day of the Dead Festival taking place every fall.

If someone in your family loves automobiles or tractors, the Dougherty Museum, located just south of the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, should be on your must-see list this summer. This museum houses a collection of antique auto-mobiles, including models powered by steam, electricity and early internal combustion types.

In addition to the cars, the Dougherty Museum is known for their enormous collection of late 19th

Century and early 20th Century farm equipment, attracting fanatics of antique machinery from around the country. The museum is open seasonally from June to August, so plan your trip accordingly.

Longmont has a thriving arts community, and several new galleries have opened in downtown just this year. ArtLinkLongmont.org is a good resource for keeping tabs on the city’s growing art scene.

Visitors can try their hand at making art at Crackpots. They offer pottery painting, glass fusing and mosaics for walk-in customers of all ages, and a variety of classes in other mediums including clay and sliver clay. Their upscale studio in the heart of downtown Longmont is open seven days a week.

With 26 parks, five breweries, farms tours and more, Longmont has lots of fun in store for the day visitor. Whether you are visiting alone or with family, there’s plenty to explore in Longmont, Colorado.

Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer is a freelance writer and founder of HeidiTown.com, the place for entertaining information on Colorado festival and travel. Her articles have appeared in IndependentTraveler.com and EnCompass Magazine.

Longmont’s Museum & Cultural Center offers a glimpse into Longmont’s past. Photo courtesy of Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer.

La Fromagerie by Cheese Importers 103 Main St., Longmont

(303) 772-9599 www.cheeseimporters.com

Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy1121 Colorado Ave., Longmont

(720) 494-8714 www.haystackgoatcheese.com

Robin Chocolates 600 S. Airport Rd., Longmont

(720) 204-8003 www.robinchocolates.com

Longmont Museum and Cultural Center 400 Quail Rd., Longmong

(303) 651-8374 www.ci.longmont.co.us/museum/

Dougherty Museum 8306 N. 107th St., Longmont

(303) 776-2520 www.bouldercounty.org

Crackpots501 Main St., Longmont

(303) 776-2211 www.ecrackpots.com