Cheese in the 'burbs

Read the "Cheese Stands Alone" post.

Us suburbanites really hate dealing with all that traffic to get stuff like this. Sigh...

What are other suburbanites favorite cheese places?

I'll list where I buy mine:

The Wine Cellar, Palatine, NW Hwy just east of Hicks Rd.
Not a big selection at all. Do NOT come here for some weird specific cheese you've been seeking. DO come here for what you maybe didn't even know you wanted, or that it existed. They'll let you try any of the open cheese, there's just a few that are all wrapped up so you're kind of stuck. But of those I tried, they were excellent.

I'm hooked on Carr Valley Benedictine. What is it? Well, nothing I've been getting anything like before. It's a blend of cow's and goat's milk, aged in olive oil. Not soft, not really firm either. Wonderful, pure heaven. Well, that's one really different one.

They have wine too, of course. Nice selection. Great for customers, the distributors aren't as crazy about Larry, the proprietor. Tastings every other Saturday (next is Dec 3rd)

Sam's Wine and Spirits - Downers Grove, Butterfield Rd just E of 355, next to Home Depot.
Big selection, a lot of very nice stuff. They also let you try except for the few all wrapped up things. Used to be my favorite, still well liked. Nice other food/gourmet stuff too. Adore the castelvetrano olives....

Binny's (locations with cheese, for me, Glen Ellyn)
The Glen Ellyn location has a very friendly server. They definitely have some nice stuff. Maybe not always top notch - I definitely think The Wine Cellar is carrying a better Goat Gouda. But more selection than The Wine Cellar, almost as much as Sam's (and Trader Joe's next door has those Hawaiin Lavosh Crackers!)

Geez, if I didn't drink wine, would I be eating good cheese? Judging from what I found in my parent's fridge today, no...

But I'm sure I'm missing purely cheese places.

I sure hope people who don't drink aren't missing out on all the good cheese.

Nancy

I go to Cab's Wine Store in the strip mall at Gartner and Washington. It has a nice selection, and some lovely olives as well as great wine.

The strip is actually quite a food destination -- Trader Joe's, Casey's Grocery (great butcher, good deli, interesting frozen food section, nice chicken salad), a Great Harvest for very soft bread, Cab's, and a fishmonger. Plus Walker's Charhouse and La Piazza, 2 pretty good restaurants.

Mmmmmm.....cheese....

I haven't really gotten cheese in the suburbs, though recently Hammond posted on some available at the Marion St. Cheese Market in Oak Park and soon as I finish the goodies currently in my fridge I'll try and make my way there.

I haven't tried the Carr Valley Benedictine, but I really really like their Cave-aged Cardona. A whole range of Carr Valley cheeses is available at Sendik's in Brookfield, WI, a must stop for me when I make it towards Milwaukee. I should add that the Carr Valley cave aged Cheddar that I bought sometime in Summer was awful. A terrible bitterness permeated the whole wedge (not just near/from the rind) and I had to pitch it. I'm glad to know that the Carr Valley cheeses are available closer. The last time I was at Pastoral, they said they carry three of their cheeses but didn't have any right then.

A friend who lives in the suburbs recently told me Trader Joes had some special cheeses in- he mentioned an aged gorgonzola (isn't that a protected name?) and some other. He these were made by 'award winning cheesemakers in WI' for TJ. I have no idea how aged and/or good these are.

Dessert Gourmet, Glenview
Nice selection of artisanal domestic cheese and imported cheeses.

Costco
Nothing too rarified, but good prices on big blocks of decent cheddar and the like. I'm fond of Kerrygold Dubliner Irish Cheese, and they usually have that in 2-pound bricks. Also whole bries, both imported and domestic.

Woodman's Food Market
2100 Randall Road, Carpentersville, 847/426-6758
7145 120th Ave., Kenosha, WI, 262/857-3801
Again, nothing too exotic or artisanal, but a huge selection of cheeses, especially from Wisconsin.

Giles Schnierle's Great American Cheese Selection, (773) 779-5055
During the summer, you can pick up cheeses from Giles at the Evanston Farmers Market. The Web site lists the retailers he wholesales to. Periodically, he also has warehouse sales on the far South Side, convenient to the southern 'burbs; you can call to find out when the next one will be. He's also working on online sales, maybe this winter.

I also pick up ethnic cheeses at various ethnic stores and multi-ethnic groceries. Lots of places in the 'burbs to get feta, Mexican cheeses, Italian cheeses, etc.

This is a ton of hooey:

Mr. Giles Schnierle's website wrote:Giles' knowledge and experienced palette [sic] allowed him to recognize unique and outstanding cheeses, developing the largest and most successful artisan cheese collections in the nation

bold and italics mine

This man has a knack for hyperbole. If you believe what is on the website, he practically INVENTED American artisan cheese, and is the current Johnny Appleseed, spreading the gospel one market at a time.

If you believe that, I have some real estate in Florida you might be interested in.

Queijo wrote:This is a ton of hooey:

Mr. Giles Schnierle's website wrote:Giles' knowledge and experienced palette [sic] allowed him to recognize unique and outstanding cheeses, developing the largest and most successful artisan cheese collections in the nation

bold and italics mine

This man has a knack for hyperbole. If you believe what is on the website, he practically INVENTED American artisan cheese, and is the current Johnny Appleseed, spreading the gospel one market at a time.

If you believe that, I have some real estate in Florida you might be interested in.

While I don't disagree with that, I saw him again at the farmers' market last Saturday, and you have to admit, he sells some damn fine cheese (he introduced me toColoRouge).

...and some pretty awful cheese too. Ever notice he doesn't put price tags on the cheese, or have a legal scale? Or did that change recently?

My advice to folks wanting to buy artisan cheese for the first time from him.

Be very careful. I've seen some real chaff he's tries to sell as 'perfect' or ripe -- stuff that would make the cheesemaker scream. When he can't move something to a restaurant he sells it at the farmer's market (which makes sense, right?) but some of the products are just way past their prime.

Caveat Emptor.

Whenever I've purchased from him, most of what he's had has been pre-wrapped and priced. The stuff he cut wasn't priced, b ut he'll readily tell you the price per pound. And I don't know what constiutes a "legal" scale, but the weights he's quoted seem to correlate pretty well with my home - almost definitely non-legal - scales.

And, the ColoRouge I mentioned, which I've purchased several times from him, was on one occasion about a week past its "best by" date for ripe cheese. It was runny, creamy, and I wish I had some right now.

The stuff he cut wasn't priced, but he'll readily tell you the price per pound.

What, is he NOT going to tell you if you ask? Of course he will. When you go up to pay.

As I've said -- Caveat Emptor. Of course not all cheeses are going to be nasty, but I've seen some horror movie-worthy specimens. I'm not questioning your experience, just letting you know mine - repeated, over a few years. I'd like to think I know what I'm looking for with cheese, given that it was my profession for the better part of the last decade.

"Legal" scales are actually just that - inspected by the state. Not sure what the laws in Illinois are, but in some states where I worked retail, when we priced by the pound using a scale, an inspector had to check it for accuracy before we could use it ourselves. In three years of going to the Evanston Farmer's market, I never once saw scales used for items that he or his assistants were cutting to order. But if things changed in the last year, glad to hear. That doesn't change anything for me, however. I will never give him a cent of my money.

I have had good luck with the cheeses from Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Whole Foods countermen seem to know a fair amount about the cheeses they sell. My TJ had a cheese tasting yesterday and had a darn fine gorgonzola that I wish I checked the name of. We have a Fresh Market that opened here in the Geneva Commons but I have not been impressed with their cheese selection.

Not terrible places for cheese, but I think Sam's Wine and Binny's has them quite beat for quality products.

I really feel sorry for the people I see buying "special" cheese at Trader Joes in Glen Ellyn when I know SO much better cheese is at Binny's.

And then I go to The Wine Cellar in Palatine and their goat gouda is better than Binny's. Their stuff is WAY beyong the quality of Trader Joes and a step up from Whole Foods in general.

I like Trader Joes, just not for cheese.

Nancy

Queijo wrote:Ever notice he doesn't put price tags on the cheese, or have a legal scale?

Neither do many other vendors at a farmers' market. One often has to ask the price of produce; hardly any use scales. I operate by eyeballing the amount of something I'm given and seeing whether I believe that volume of fruit or mushrooms or rutabagas or cheese or whatever is worth what I'm asked to pay for it.

Like nr706, however, I've mainly bought cheese from Schnierle that was already wrapped and priced. It's all been terrific, too.

As far as ripeness, well, one man's fromage délicieux is another's stinky cheese. That's largely a matter of individual taste.

In my experience, Schnierle is very good about talking to customers about their likes and dislikes and offering samples. He's also amazingly knowledgeable about cheese and a wealth of information.

Queijo wrote:If you believe what is on the website, he practically INVENTED American artisan cheese, and is the current Johnny Appleseed, spreading the gospel one market at a time.

Actually, I do believe the latter to be true, at least in Chicago. He seems to be everywhere, tirelessly telling people about cheese, organizing cheese events, selling cheese, etc.

I note that The Cheese Stands Alone, lauded here, buys cheese from Schnierle.

And the Chicago Tribune also thought Schnierle was making a difference when they gave him last year's Good Eating Award:

Chicago Tribune, Good Eating Section
Wednesday, November 10, 2004 wrote:Each year, Good Eating honors those people in the food and beverage industries who are making a difference in Chicago through their commitment, quality, passion and vision. These experts have enhanced the food scene in Chicago with their many accomplishments....

Giles Schnierle

Owner, Great American Cheese Collection

A cheery and loquacious advocate for American artisan cheesemakers, Schnierle of the Great American Cheese Collection brings small-scale production cheese to restaurants, retail outlets and farmers markets throughout Chicago....

He represents 68 cheesemakers as distributor, broker, agent, representative and marketing firm. Schnierle's business acumen and compassionate concern give smaller cheesemakers the ability to concentrate on what they do best....

Schnierle's firm is one of the largest sources of artisanal cheeses in this country. He sells more than 325 kinds of cheese made in 25 states....

LAZ wrote:As far as ripeness, well, one man's fromage délicieux is another's stinky cheese. That's largely a matter of individual taste.

You would, of course, be absolutely wrong about that, LAZ. Instead of arguing with you about Giles and the veracity of his claims, which, offline I would be more than happy to do, I will argue that bad cheese is bad cheese. And until you have worked in a warehouse or cave full of it, ammoniated and inedible, you probably wouldn't get it.

the esteemed French Affineur Pierre Androuet wrote: How can you tell if you are dealing with a good cheesemonger? A Good cheesemonger is one who has a good reputation. Not not put your trust in titles alone. In our profession the title of maitre fromager is not always justified, unfortunately. Do you believe that a member of a wine tasting society is necessarily a connoisseur? If all the master cheesemongers were really master cheesemongers, if they all had cellars for aging, if all the products that they sold were irreproachable...then the title would make some sense...Take your cheeses as you find them. What is good one day may be past its prime the next....

Androuet, one of the most influential cheesemongers in the world, had a lot to say about spoiled cheese, none of it good. In the oft quoted Complete Encyclopedia of French Cheese, he offers:

Androuet wrote: Never buy cheeses with a hard or semi-hard rind that shows signs of swelling or bulging. This is an indication of secondary fermentation that will make the cheese unpleasant, bitter, and even inedible.

Yes, cheese can go bad. Cheese can go very bad.

On page 73 of Max McCalman's highly regarded The Cheese Plate, he writes about cheesemongers and expectations. He quotes Androuet as well. Here's what he has to say about the mishandling of cheese:

Max McCalman, of Artisanal and Picholine wrote:Likewise, I hate to see fine cheeses mishandled, ignored, suffocated {by being pre-wrapped in plastic wrap}, clumsily merchandised, poorly cut, haphazardly served, or badly stored to the point where they misrepresent themselves to the public.

On page 80 he writes about overripeness of cheese:

Max McCalman, Maitre Fromager, a man in the know wrote: Overripe cheeses become sharp, rancid, ammoniacal, or "saponified" (soapy-textured rind and -flavored). Rancidity comes largely from the oxygenation of fats...{washed rind cheeses should have their rinds} intact and the cheese shouldn't be bulging, collapsing, or immutably melded to their wrappers or conatiners...if they arrive misshapen or excessively runny, then they are overripe. Their smell should be pronounced, pungent, and immediately noticeable but not rotten, putrid, or persistently ammoniacal...A definite barnyardy odor is acceptable; the smell of deathly decay is not.

On page 81 he lists 19 points where a cheese could be bad - broken up into Physical Defects, Aroma, and Flavor.

When you handle something every day, you understand what it should and shouldn't be like. Bread bakers understand this, people who work close to the source of their food understand this. I'm not talking about the goudas or 900 year old cheddars here (although Androuet makes a case against those as well). I'm talking delicate cheeses - white fleurie rind cheeses, washed rind, etc.

I am not talking "Stinky" cheese here, what I am talking about is cheese that is browned, bitter, and a huge embarrassment to the cheesemaker if she/he knew it were being sold. If a consumer eats a piece of cheese, and it is their only experience with it, and it is bad, it reflects badly on the cheese. Isn't it the job of the cheesemonger to make sure they are selling perfect cheese every time? They are the cheesemaker's ambassador, and the cheesemaker is counting on them to represent them fairly every time. This goes for everyone - from the guy with the booth at the farmer's market to a chain like Whole Foods.

Nancy S wrote:I'll list where I buy mine:

The Wine Cellar, Palatine, NW Hwy just east of Hicks Rd.
Not a big selection at all.

I seem to be getting up in this area of Palatine a bit recently so was interested to try The Wine Cellar. Sadly they no longer sell cheese, quote was that when Mariano's opened up, their cheese sales dived so they stopped carrying.