In the world of cheesemongering, all true sophisticates and dedicated turophiles (cheese lovers) know the big players: Murray’s and Bedford Cheese in New York City, Peck in Milan, La Fromagerie and Neal’s Yard Dairy in London, Cultivo in Madrid, the Androuet and Dubois shops in Paris. All are famous for good reason: they carry the best from around the world. But the neighborhood cheese shop will always have its charms—and in some cases, be the true engine of progress in the cheese world.
The celebration and enjoyment of fine cheese was not always a global phenomenon: For thousands of years, cheeses made in Europe or the Middle East were strictly sold or consumed at or near their origins. Still now, the best boutique or mom-and-pop stores are truly regionally focused, bringing to market and supporting the work of some of the lesser-known but nonetheless outstanding farmstead producers. They’re the ones powering the modern artisan movement, adhering to focused selections and styles with a local emphasis, and featuring traditional, full-flavored, and grass-fed cheeses, searching out the best of the rest if needed to fill the gaps.
Of these ten European favorites, many owners are also affineurs, meaning they help to ripen and age the cheeses to maturity on site. Talking with the staff and shopping the shelves is an enlightening experience.
Taka & Vermo, Paris
Paris is dotted with many outstanding little cheese shops; every neighborhood has at least one. This is the star of the trendy, diverse 10th arrondissement, founded in 2015 by the married cheesemonger couple, Laure Takahashi and Matthieu Vermorel, and it reflects their imaginative, out-of-the-box approach. One twist is they select artisan cheeses, maturing them in-house and creating exclusive variations by adding their own spices or wild herbs. Examples include Picodon de Chevre, a goat milk cheese from around the Rhône, with wild garlic flowers and Saint-Marcellin, a weepy cow’s milk cheese named after its town, with fir shoots. 61 bis Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris, 01 48 24 89 29
The Courtyard Dairy, Settle, UK
Once you’ve done the obligatory drop-ins at Neal’s Yard or Paxton & Whitfield, it’s time to head north—far north—to Great Britain’s quintessential mom-and-pop shop, with its stacks of aging wheels of farmhouse cheese, hand-lettered signs, and country ambiance. Located about 50 miles north of Manchester in a converted stone barn with views of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, this perennial award-winner founded by Andy and Kathy Swinscoe in 2012 with a focus on real farmhouse British cheese. Andy has Paxton & Whitfield, Bath’s Fine Cheese Company, and Hervé Mons (see below) on his resumé and humble local origins in his heart. Crows Nest Barn, Austwick, Nr. Settle, LA2 8AS, 01729 823 291
Formaje, Madrid
The young husband-and-wife team, Claria Diez (29) and Adrián Pellejo (30), both alums of the dean of Madrid’s contemporary cheese shops, Cultivo, represent the new generation of Spain’s top cheesemongers. They opened their sleek, minimalist shop in 2020, naming it after the archaic Castilian term for a cheesemaking form or mold, to celebrate artisan and raw-milk production. Amidst the airy, natural, and subtly geometric wood shelving and stone counter designs, whole wheels of farmhouse and mountain delicacies are on display, such as Mare Nostrum from the Sierra de Sevilla or the Galician Queixo do País from Palas de Rei, Lugo. Plaza de Chamberí, 9, local 3, 28010 Madrid
Fromagerie Antony, Vieux-Ferrette, France
Inspired by Pierre Androuet himself, Bernard Antony, then a grocer, started his cheese business in the early 1980s. He was joined by his son Jean-Francois, and together they’re now trusted suppliers to a score of Michelin three-star chefs throughout France. Visit their shop, in the southernmost part of Alsace, nestled between the Vosges Mountains and Basel, Switzerland (less than 20 miles to the east), reserve a private tasting amidst their seven aging rooms, and you’ve experienced the best of fine French cheese culture—80 cheeses in nine categories, all the big names and more.
5 rue de la Montagne, 68480 Vieux-Ferrette, France
Fromagerie L’Amuse Ijmuiden, Netherlands
Betty Koster is Holland’s foremost cheese ambassador, a master selector, and oplegger (affineur in Dutch). She and husband Martin founded their business in 1989 with the first shop, featuring a broad selection of around 400 cheeses in a modern industrial setting. This shop is just off the docks in her hometown of Ijmuiden, about 30 miles west of Amsterdam, and the second is in the city itself. Koster’s select exported farmhouse Goudas—L’Amuse, Brabander and Wilde Weide—have taken the American market by storm. Visiting them at their source is a cheese lover’s dream. Dokweg 21 1976 CA IJmuiden, 0255 510106; Amsterdam: Olympiaplein 111 1077, 0206 727670
