Vault

I was so excited that Eric R. found The Vault when researching Emporia for us to visit! We came on a day trip and this is the first time I have traversed Kansas without a cooler and ice packs when I actually needed it! The owner Becky was so knowledgeable about all things cheese, meat, and gourmet treats (and moved to Emporia from New Jersey)! We got to sample a lot of different things, left to explore, and returned before closing to buy our goods. She provided us a cooler and we bought a small bag of ice down the street.There are pestos, tapenades, jarred beets, and other interesting items on the shelves. There is a frozen case with locally raised meat. Yet the star of the show is the case in the center, with cheeses and charcuterie galore!The menu organizes the cheeses by blue, single serving cheeses, soft, semi-soft, firm, and hard. There is a large list of salamis and then whole muscle meats. There were two items I was interested in that were sold out, the duck prosciutto and the queijo toledo. I will have to make my way back!I ended up buying from the single serving cheese a truffle chevre (which I had tonight with fennel, it was amazing), petit basque (my friend Melinda C. asked for a sample and we were all blown away by it), Saxonshires (five cheddars layered in colorful stripes: Double Gloucester, Chesire, Caerphilly, Leicester, and cheddar), and bresaola (salted, air-dried Italian beef that I usually have to get at Dean and Deluca in KC).Melinda C. bought the bay blue and chevrelait (smoked goat) besides a few of the same ones I got. We both are so excited that tomorrow we are having a bread-cheese-cured beef smorgasbord for dinner! Bring your cooler bag and ice packs to Emporia because this place is a must-stop (and has really cute decor too)!