Epicurious Cow

around the end of 2009, I got an email saying that the café/​grocery will be closed as of 2010: (

Field trip to Warrenton and surrounding area for a gorgeous Saturday… and a friend’s new car to break in. We decided to hit Epicurious Cow for lunch to start. So delicious! The grilled cheese with anjou pears, bacon, and cheddar was fabulous as was the T-​Bird (a grilled turkey sandwich). Someone else had the burger with red onion jam, which was tasty as well. We enjoyed our «ECow» picnic on one of their tables set outside and thoroughly enjoyed lunch. And the bottled root beer we found in the fridge, was good too. I’ll head back there when I can.

For the past 12 years I’ve lived a mere 20 minutes from Epicurious Cow (locally known as «E-​Cow»), and up until recently it was my «go to» place for a fix of fresh seafood (they at least used to get weekly Thursday afternoon deliveries from a purveyor that also supplies/​supplied high-​end restaurants), organic sausages, local produce, and locally-​grown herbs, perennials, and water plants for the garden. While they also have a little «restaurant», my one little lunch here was unimpressive, so I continued to consider it just a cute local gourmet-​type store.
Unfortunately, the past 2 years have seen a definite decline in the quality here. Last year or so, the folks who ran the nursery that supplied all the wonderful garden plants apparently retired, so that’s kaput. And the exterior of the place, which was always somewhat shabby, now looks even shabbier without all that wonderful greenery. At the same time, E-​Cow also decided to put in a «prepared foods» counter, but frankly I’ve yet to see anything in there that doesn’t look old and frightening.
Anyway, I popped in this past Sunday to pick up some dry-​pack diver scallops for dinner and, after passing through the hanging outdoor Xmas decorations (still up in February?), walked into a nearly empty store! The fridges were nearly empty — no vacuum-​packed sausages, just a few packages of raw beef & a few rounds of goat cheese. The «grocery» section contained even less — not even close to what the shelves held last month — and what was there was WAY overpriced. Re: produce — for the very first time I couldn’t find anything that looked fresh enough to bring home. Worst of all — the scallops. In the past they’ve been scooped out of a commercial plastic tub, were always huge, definitely dry-​pack, & delicious. This time, they were plucked from a metal tin (I didn’t catch the brand name), were quite small, & after bringing them home, cooking them, & seeing the extreme volume of watery solution oozing out of them, I’m extremely doubtful that they were, in fact, dry-​pack scallops, which I cook with all the time. In addition, the taste and texture leaned towards fishy and rubbery. Definitely not what one expects for $ 18.99/pound scallops.
It’s sad, because this really used to be a wonderful little place to visit to pick up nice fresh seafood, produce, and perhaps a few gourmet items as well. This past visit found it dark and somewhat decrepit. I’m wondering if they’re on their way out. I hope not, but frankly the signs don’t look good to me.

This is a gem in the middle of nowhere! Cute shop with lots of meats, cheeses, local produce, etc.
I wanted to stock up on most everything, but it was sadly too far away from home and I had no cooler…
But I did have lunch and it was delicious! I had a grilled sandwich with FRESH mozzarella, avocado, and other great, fresh veggies! Yum!

It’s too bad that you missed the lunch, Michael, because the ecow menu is delicious. Try the salmon wrap. My mouth is watering just thinking about it and it’s not even eight in the morning.

This is really more of a grocery store than a restaurant. It’s in a building that was most likely a petrol station in a former life.
I always try to stop here on my way back from Shenandoah. Truly in the middle of rural Virginia, this oasis has:
— 25 unique cheeses
— at least 8 varieties of bread baked fresh every day
— a lot of local, antibiotic-​free, free-​range, sustainably-​raised meat
— heaps of organic products
— lots of local produce in the appropriate seasons
— a nice selection of wine
If I’m lucky I can buy goat here. I LOVE GOAT. It’s chewy and sweet and wonderful.
I’ve never been there for lunch (10 – 3 Weds-​Sun) but I hope to some day.
Skip I-​66 and Front Royal and head down Lee Highway to Amissville (Can’t go wrong in Amissville).