Cheese is a love language. What says romance more than slicing into a bloomy rind to reveal ultra-creamy Brillat-Savarin, melted raclette oozing over grilled sourdough or gooey goat cheese smeared across a herb-speckled cracker?
Finding the best, most complementary cheeses, meats, crackers, jams and other accoutrements for an artful cheese board is a lot like choosing the perfect date . And the cheesemonger at a cheese shop is your matchmaker.
Bonus: Cheese shops typically have a wine section where you can find a bottle (or two) to pair with your selections.
While neighborhood favorites such as the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills and Silver Lake’s Say Cheese have been around since the 1960s and ’70s, and L.A.’s first vegan cheese store has been open for more than a decade, a slew of carefully curated cheese-centric markets have opened in recent years. Many are helmed by women, honoring a centuries-old history of women cheesemongers and cheese makers.
At Oh La Vache cheese shop on Long Beach’s Retro Row, owners Jessica Sarwine and Erika Ponzo endeavor to make the process of choosing the perfect cheese fun and approachable.
“The preconceived notion of a gourmet food shop is that it’s kind of hoity toity, or we only carry very fancy, expensive things,” Sarwine said. But she and Ponzo take a personal approach, offering cheese tastings, classes and a wide range of prices, with cheese running as low as $15 per pound. The pair are willing to cut just about any size of cheese, from tiny slivers to larger slices. “We want it to be down to earth.”
DTLA Cheese Superette co-owner Lydia Clarke told deputy Food editor Betty Hallock that cheese “feels celebratory.” It might age for 30 months in a subalpine cave or be made from the sought-after milk of Basco-Béarnaise sheep in the Pyrenees mountains — Clarke’s goal is to present the cheeses in a way that pays respect to the hard work of each cheese maker.
If you’re looking to spread some love on Valentine’s Day or any other time of year, these local cheese shops are ready to assist.