World-class cheese, delivered to your door free

That's the good news.

But it gets even better: The cheeses are from Artisanal, arguably one of the three best cheese shops in New York City and, for that matter, the entire country.

The bad news is that your door has to be located in mid-town Manhattan.

No matter: Next time I'm in Gotham you can bet your Epoisses I'm gonna be ordering a nice selection to be brought right to my hotel room door.

Ummm.

Here's Florence Fabricant's item about the new service, from the April 16, 2008 New York Times Dining In section.

Pedaling Cheeses Across Midtown

Artisanal Premium Cheese, 500 West 37th Street, now has two brightly decorated pedicabs [above] for deliveries of cheeses in Manhattan from 34th to 63rd Streets, river to river. The service is free for orders $50 or more; $6 for all others. Orders can be placed at (877) 797-1200 or artisanalcheese.com. Orders received by 1 p.m. will be delivered from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

One cheese available this spring is a Brillat-Savarin frais, a triple cream cheese that is lush and slightly tangy, halfway between cream cheese and fromage blanc: it could be the best schmear your bagel will ever know. With fresh berries, it’s dessert.

The cheese was actually a mistake. Toni Amira, the director of sales for Artisanal Premium Cheese, had asked one of the producers of the cheese to deliver it unaged, so that Artisanal could let it mature in its own temperature-controlled cave. What he got were fresh cheeses lacking the mold-forming bacteria needed to permit them to age.

But he’s not complaining. The Brillat-Savarin frais, 10 ounces, is $17.50.