He Who Cuts the Cheese

What's that smell? Everyone is looking around with strange expressions on their faces. Are you feeling embarrassed? Blood is rushing to your cheeks, your face is becoming flushed and you are feeling confused. 

Yes…it's the smell of great cheese. Are you an addict? I fully admit that I am. I had a famous doctor tell me that cheese contains an addictive compound in it. I don't care. I am a cheese junkie and I want my fix now! I won't snatch the purse out of a 90 year old's frail hands to get my money for the cheese, although it is expensive. Not yet anyways…

So, if you have managed to eat your way through the cheese selection at Whole Foods, which is quite excellent, then you need to move on to independently owned cheese shops. Where are they you ask? Well, that depends on where you are. Most major cities have at least one great cheese shop. They are usually tucked away in a small closet of a store in the more transitional geographic locations in the city. Look for the new hip area, they will be there.

Cheese is good.

So here are a few to check out. I won't recommend cheeses in this post, that's way too much to encompass here. Look for that in future posts.

The CheeseBoard Collective in Berkeley, CA. This place is truly stunning. The bread as well as the cheese are fantastic.

Andrew's Cheese Shop in Santa Monica, CA. This one is new and carries some hard to find and unique cheeses.

The Cheese Store of SilverLake in the hip and young SilverLake district of Los Angeles.

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hils in Beverly Hills, CA. This is a popular store.

The Cheese Boutique in gourmet San Francisco, CA. They have two locations. 

If "you are what you eat" is really true, then I am a stinky, gooey, cheese head of a human. No wonder I love people that are wine and baguette addicts. Time to go buy some more exotic cheeses.