Mmmm, butter! If you’re like us and feel butter just makes things taste better, you’ll be happy to know there’s a place in Longmont devoted to it, Bella La Crema. Writer Ron Stern visited and returned with a tasty story to tell.
Shauna Lee Strecker has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with butter. Her fondest memory was being in kindergarten at age five where they let the class practice hand churning butter. She was instantly hooked! This simple, forgotten art created what she describes as a “vacuole of happiness” deep in her soul. As the owner of Bella La Crema in Longmont, Colorado, she uses her years of experience to create small-batch, hand-packed artisanal butters.
Like the mythical pied piper of antiquity, hundreds of like-minded flavor-seekers have been drawn to her butter shoppe and dairy market. Many have wandered in with dazed looks quizzically asking, “What’s this all about?”
Strecker’s journey hasn’t always been a straight path. Her talents led her to the creative arts such as design, music, and dance. Having pursued a career in ballet, she now calls herself the “Prima Butterina.”
But the siren song of her childhood was invariably calling and in 2018 she opened Bella La Crema in Lyons, Colorado. A full-service restaurant, the bistro became known as the “World’s First Butter Bar” (World Record Academy). Most of her menu items for lunch, brunch and dinner included some incarnation of this creamy condiment.
Rosemary-sage grilled cheese, egg salad, buttermilk waffles, and herb-egg scrambles were all wildly popular as were her butter flights. Similar to what you might expect with a variety of beers, these tasting samples were an instant success.
The concept of infusing butter originally came from her son, Rooks. Even at a young age, he was fascinated with grinding up various combinations of herbs and spices on their home kitchen island. After combining fennel, lemon and cinnamon, his mother tasted it and exclaimed, “This needs to be in butter. It’s beautiful, unpredictable, and perfect!” This flavor profile became one of Bella La Crema’s most requested products called Fennel-Lemon Delight.
The flights ($20) come in four packs with names like Sunrise Saffron Shine (cultured cream, saffron, turmeric, honey, and cinnamon) and French Countryside (cream, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, lavender, and garlic).
After the Lyons building was sold, Strecker had to find a new location. In August of 2024, a building on Main St. in Longmont opened up and the community once again embraced her culinary concept. Although not a restaurant, many of the same items such as the butter flights are offered. Her ten “flagships” are divided between sweet and savory but she is constantly experimenting with new flavors. During my visit, for example, she was offering a Morello Rum Melody prepared with cherry, nutmeg, lemon, sugar, molasses, and rum.
When sampling Bella La Crema’s creamy delights, more than one customer has gotten emotional triggering childhood memories of what “real” butter used to taste like. “I’ve had people crying,” she says which is part of her mission of using pure, clean ingredients in her preparations.
Each vendor is carefully vetted. Her cream, for instance, comes from small farms that graze grass-fed cows in Delaware, Iowa, and other locations. Flour for her baguettes is sourced from Italy and is non-hybridized and pesticide-free. This attention to detail has engendered a fiercely loyal following and some occasional sad faces as many products sell out almost as fast as they are prepared.
One thing I couldn’t help but notice is how much energy Strecker seemed to have. A one-person R&D department, she seems to possess an endless capacity for innovation. Take one of her most recent products called “Butter Snob” ($12). This small, oval container is designed to go with you to your favorite restaurant– just in case they don’t measure up in the cream department. Simply twist the bottom and out pops her premium butter–genius!
While dining in is no longer an option, you can take advantage of her grab-and-go sandwiches ($12-$16), ice cream ($7), house-made pickles ($8), and tins of artisanal butters. She even has some lovely, cultured buttermilk baths for marinating meat. I have since found myself cooking almost everything using her spreadables for things like slow-cooker chicken, pie crusts, beef or just straight on warm bread.
Of course, that’s not all. A full line of curated products adorns one wall, and many were causing my mouth to water. Like what? Glad you asked. First, there were the Makabi and Sons shortbread rose and pistachio butter cookies. Then I tried some small-batch, grape and cardamon craft soda which was an unexpected flavor surprise! Others included Potters Table Seeded Flatbreads and Ranger Dark Chocolate Bing Cherries from Hood River, Oregon. Like me, you may be hard-pressed to leave without taking home some of these delectables.
I confess to being among the millions of foodies who love cooking with quality ingredients. “Making Butter Beautiful Again,” is more than a motto at Bella La Crema, it is a mission statement. Come taste the difference for yourself and discover a whole new world of culinary possibilities.
Bella La Crema is located at 931 Main Street in Longmont. Learn more on the website, here.
-Story and photos by Ron Stern
Please note: As is common practice in our industry, Ron was hosted for his visit but this does not, in any way, affect our opinions or our goal to bring our readers information they can use.
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