Any good cheesemongers in Chicago?

Looking for great places to buy cheese in the Chicago area, prefferably el accessable... any tips?

Note: Please do not provide me any grocery stores including whole foods. I'm attempting to not shop at any grocery stores or as few as humanly possible. I'm looking for cheese shops or shops with a strong cheese focus whose buyers and sellers do so out of a strong dedication to their product.

The Cheese Stands Alone (Closed)
4547 N. Western Ave (Lincoln Square)
Chicago
773-293-3870
(Brown line Western stop)

This shop meets all your criteria.

aschie30 wrote:The Cheese Stands Alone (Closed)
4547 N. Western Ave (Lincoln Square)
Chicago
773-293-3870
(Brown line Western stop)

This shop meets all your criteria.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar, thanks!

Also,

Pastoral
2945 N. Broadway
773-472-4781

about 4 blocks from the Wellington brown/purple line stop.

Cheese Stands Alone is the best, IMO, but while you're in that neighborhood, there's also Bouffe (discussed in this thread. Cheese isn't the sole focus, but they've got a nice selection.

Bouffe
2312 W Leland Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 784-2314

Not sure about el accessibility, but Pastoral, discussed here can't be too far from a line.

Pastoral
2945 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 472-4781

Fox and Obel might not fit your terms b/c it's a grocery store, but their cheese department is nice, too. In fact, I wouldn't be so quick to write off Whole Foods, either, because I do think their buyers/sellers have "a strong dedication to their product." But I get wanting to support smaller, locally-owned stores, too...

Last night, I had an opportunity to speak with Jeff Roberts (Atlas of American Artisan Cheese), and he was quite surprised by the lack of quality cheese stores in Chicago (he mentioned Pastoral, Cheese Stands Alone, Fox & Obel and Marion Street Cheese Market as the stand-outs). When you think about it (and compare Chi to, say NYC), this seems an area that is poised for growth in the next few years. Artisan cheese operations are opening up all over, and the demand is out there -- we just need (and probably could support) about twice as many places as we currently have.

Marion St. Cheese Market address is:
101 N Marion St.
Oak Park, IL
www.marionstreetcheesemarket.com
Steps from the Harlem green line stop.
I love this place. They let you taste just about anything before you buy.

Pastoral is also opening a shop in the loop (Lake St. just east of Wabash) in the coming weeks/months. Definitely el accessible and a great addition for those of us who work thereabouts.

lulutattoo wrote:Marion St. Cheese Market address is:
101 N Marion St.
Oak Park, IL
www.marionstreetcheesemarket.com
Steps from the Harlem green line stop.
I love this place. They let you taste just about anything before you buy.

Marion St. Cheese Market is increasing space 7X this fall. Artisanal cheese is happening.

Hello all.

I've been having great difficulty finding a decent cheesemonger in Chicago since I moved here a few years ago. The best place that I've found is probably Pastoral, but they have a limited selection and are very pricey. After that, it's Whole Foods ( which is still relatively pricey, and they don't cut their cheese to order - well, only if you ask nicely and the person behind the counter actually provides service to the customer ). I'd like to know if there is a place that specializes in a wide variety of cheeses from all over the world, and is reasonably priced.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jan

I have to second the recommendation for Marion St. Cheesemarket in Oak Park.

But your question just reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1JWzyvv8A

"Venezuelan beaver cheese?"

aschie30 wrote:The Cheese Stands Alone (Closed)
4547 N. Western Ave (Lincoln Square)
Chicago
773-293-3870
(Brown line Western stop)

This shop meets all your criteria.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely check it out this week. As I live in the neighborhood, I don't know how I could have missed this place. I guess I forget that Western has stores on it too. I really need to get out in my neighborhood more...

Edit: Now I know why I've never seen this place ( CLOSED ). I'll do a more thorough check next time.

Other options are Schaefer's and Binny's (some locations). Both are wine stores that have "gourmet" shops inside of them. I doubt they have much that Whole Foods doesn't have (esp the Peterson WF), but they are worth checking out if you are in the area and/or are looking for something specific.

Also, the Green City Market has a number of regional cheese makers that are very good. See http://www.greencitymarket.org/farmers/ ... asp?type=2

Schaeffer's
9965 Gross Point Road
Skokie, IL 60043
(847) 677-9463

Binny's (Lincoln Park)
1720 N. Marcey St.
Chicago, IL 60614
312-664-4394
For other locations see http://www.binnys.com/locations

jpa wrote:

aschie30 wrote:The Cheese Stands Alone (Closed)
4547 N. Western Ave (Lincoln Square)
Chicago
773-293-3870
(Brown line Western stop)

This shop meets all your criteria.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely check it out this week. As I live in the neighborhood, I don't know how I could have missed this place. I guess I forget that Western has stores on it too. I really need to get out in my neighborhood more...

Edit: Now I know why I've never seen this place ( CLOSED ). I'll do a more thorough check next time.

The Cheese Stands Alone wasn't any less pricey than Whole Foods or Pastoral. The specialty shops seek out artisanal domestic and higher-quality imports - none of which lend themselves to low pricing. Whole Foods has "sale" pricing on cheeses on a rotating basis so if your goal is to try a broader range of cheeses you can stick to the "sale" cheeses. And from my experience at Whole Foods on Peterson (where, coincidentally the cheesemonger from Cheese Stands Alone went after the shop closed), they will accommodate requests and are generally very helpful.

I'm trying to do no/low-dairy these days, so I haven't been a regular cheese purchaser for a while. But I've always been impressed with the cheese counter at Binny's just south of the Clark & Halsted intersection. Very knowledgeable staff who are full of recommendations, all cheese cut to order and generous with their samples. If you don't know what you're looking for, I'd suggest going at non-peak hours since, in my experience, they'll happily spend 10-15 minutes talking to you. (Often there's only 1 or 2 people behind the counter, so chatting is tougher when there's a rush.)

Yes, I realize that WF has a pretty decent cheese selection, especially the Peterson/Cicero store ( which I go to ). However, I find it unfathomable that a city the size and diversity of Chicago doesn't have a real, authentic cheesemonger. One that has a wide variety of cheeses available at decent prices. Coming from Pittsburgh, I had a great selection of cheeses available to me at what are relatively low prices, usually half of what WF here charges. It's a total bummer ( to use dated '80's terminology ) that there's really nothing in Chicago to match it. We have great wine shops and you can even get good fish here ( all relatively inexpensive ) but you can't get a great selection of reasonably-priced cheese.

OK, rant over. I will check out Marion Street market, and keep my fingers crossed.

I agree that it is very surprising that a city like Chicago where you can find a very good selection of fine wines from all over the world is so poor in great cheese shops.
Pastoral has probably the best selection of American cheeses, and Binny's and Whole foods have a few interesting European specialties.
But for me who is always looking for interesting French cheese such as Cantal, Saint- Marcellin, Coulommiers, Reblochon, Saint Nectaire, Banon, Maroilles, Sainte Maure, or the Alsatian Munster, (among many others) my constant search for good local sources is a permanent journey in frustration. Some years back Leonard Solomon on Lasalle Street had one of the best selections in the Midwest.
There are several reasons for that state of things: Cheese mongers do not like to keep in stock cheeses that are too unknown and do not sell fast. So many European cheese are traditionally made from unpasteurized milk and not aged long enough to pass the strict FDA or other legal hurdles. Many French cheeses are fragile and become rapidly inedible if they are not handled and stored properly. Too many of them spend too much time in some cold storage of a distant importer or wholesaler warehouse, and when they reach their final retail destination they are already way past their prime. Most people do not care however. Trader Joe's has sometimes interesting cheeses from France, like recently le Petit Crème, an hexagonal shaped cheese that reminds me of a cross between a Saint Marcellin and a Saint Félicien, but you have to be very careful about the dates of "best before..." before buying them.
The best Camembert in Chicago is the Hervé Mons, that was developed by this well-known ''affineur'' in cooperation with good cheese makers of Normandy exclusively for Whole Foods. But once again you have to watch the dates and remove the top of the box to smell it before buying. It can become very runny and over-ripe easily and develop a faint ammonia smell when too old.
Let's hope that the example of several local chefs who offer good selections of cheese in their restaurants will motivate the creation of new specialized real cheese mongers in Chicago.

I think there are many great European cheeses, and I think the quality of routine commercial Euro cheeses, the gouda's and gruyeres available at Costco is surprisingly high. Still, I barely ever get such cheeses*. Simply, when in Rome, one eats Roman cheese, right? We are so blessed with oustanding cheesemakers within a couple hundred miles of Chicago, who could ever get tired from these choices.

Both Marian Street Cheese and Pastoral offer excellent selections of local cheeses, although I think MSC leans a bit more obscure. Look especially for the following cheesemakers: BleuMont Dairy, Hidden Springs, Holland Family Farms, Capri, and Saxony.

Then, as mentioned, there's the farmer's markets. Brunkow has a large presence at the markets, and they make several outstanding varieties. Then, we are blessed with two outstanding goat cheese makers: Capriole (at Green City on Saturday) and Prairie Fruit Farms (Oak Park and other markets).

Thing is, our local cheesemakers excel in so many different styles. There's the farmhouse/bandaged cheddars, none better than BleuMont's; the more typical American style (non-wrapped) cheddars, including the ultra aged Hooks and the one from Wisconsin standard bearer, Carr Valley. Alpine style cheese are especially well made in Wisconsin, including Pleasant Ridge Reserve and Roth Kase's Private Reserve. Then again, that gouda from Holland may be the best of them all. And it's hardly cow's milk, the goat cheese ones already mentioned and the sheep's milk cheese from Hidden Springs. Man, there's more than enough!

*I love feta, and the supply of good quality local feta is very limited. Capri sells some good stuff at the Madison farmer's market, but that's about it. I do end up purchasing a fair amount of non-local feta.

Vital Information wrote:*I love feta, and the supply of good quality local feta is very limited. Capri sells some good stuff at the Madison farmer's market, but that's about it. I do end up purchasing a fair amount of non-local feta.

This year, Prairie Fruits Farm debuted a terrific sheeps milk feta that they sell at the Green City Market, among other places I'm sure.

Kennyz wrote:

Vital Information wrote:*I love feta, and the supply of good quality local feta is very limited. Capri sells some good stuff at the Madison farmer's market, but that's about it. I do end up purchasing a fair amount of non-local feta.

This year, Prairie Fruits Farm debuted a terrific sheeps milk feta that they sell at the Green City Market, among other places I'm sure.

Thanks. I'll have to look for that. Last week, I picked up their excellent sheep's milk ricotta.

I will admit that with feta, I'm a bit of a quantity over quality kinda guy. For instance, there was a feta from Hidden Springs, but at $20/lb I just could not stomach it.

Vital Information wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

Vital Information wrote:*I love feta, and the supply of good quality local feta is very limited. Capri sells some good stuff at the Madison farmer's market, but that's about it. I do end up purchasing a fair amount of non-local feta.

This year, Prairie Fruits Farm debuted a terrific sheeps milk feta that they sell at the Green City Market, among other places I'm sure.

Thanks. I'll have to look for that. Last week, I picked up their excellent sheep's milk ricotta.

I will admit that with feta, I'm a bit of a quantity over quality kinda guy. For instance, there was a feta from Hidden Springs, but at $20/lb I just could not stomach it.

Yeah, to be honest I called it terrific because of the terrific free sample I tasted. I can't remember how much the stuff cost, but it was an order of magnitude more than the very good Bulgarian feta I buy in the neighborhood. The PFF ricotta though - I splurge on that more frequently. With a scant drizzle of honey, it is a treat I anticipate and savor with great pleasure at least a few times per summer.

And speaking of Bulgarian feta, cheesemongers, etc., the selection of feta's and related cheese at the Produce World about across from Bab al Salam on Cumberland is really good. I'm especially partial to the one not labeled feta but rather, "Bulgarian white cheese."

Good selection of barrel pickles here too.

Great American Cheese Collection is a fantastic source of domestic artisan cheeses that supplies to restaurants and shops--except on Saturday, when their warehouse is open to the public from 10am to 1pm: http://www.greatamericancheese.com/ Their selection is incredible, and it's available for wholesale price!

Also, shameless self-promotion: They'll have a table at the inaugural Dose Market (http://dosemarket.com) on Sunday, June 5, too.

heatherTT wrote:Great American Cheese Collection is a fantastic source of domestic artisan cheeses that supplies to restaurants and shops--except on Saturday, when their warehouse is open to the public from 10am to 1pm: http://www.greatamericancheese.com/ Their selection is incredible, and it's available for wholesale price!

Also, shameless self-promotion: They'll have a table at the inaugural Dose Market (http://dosemarket.com) on Sunday, June 5, too.

I was here once and had a really enjoyable experience. Don't expect luxury or anything -- basically just a long table of cheese in the garage of a warehouse. They will happily let you taste dozens and dozens of different cheeses. The prices are reasonable and they seemed to under-weigh or round down most of the orders.