Artisan Cheese Gallery - outstanding cheeses in Studio City
Friday, July 13, 2007 16:23
I love cheese. No, wait - I adore cheese. I don’t mean that rubbery, bland molten and stringy stuff you generally find on pizzas, nor that weird orange stuff you find melted inside a quesadilla. Don’t offer me a highly processed slice of square, plastic-wrapped plastic ‘cheese’ unless you want to wear it.
I’m talking about Real Cheese.
Pungent cave-aged Gruyere and the blue-veined Roquefort from France. Dreamy, creamy brie-like cheeses such as Fromage d’Affinois or stinky Reblochon (also from France). Pungent blue cheeses such as Gorgonzola or the semi-hard and flavourful cow’s milk Provolone from Italy. I adore fresh chevre from Redwood Hill Farms, in northern California, or from local cheese maker Laura Cheney. “Blessed are the cheese makers” indeed.
So, you can see I was thrilled when a specialty cheese shop opened in my ‘hood last year, The Artisan Cheese Gallery
Their close proximity, here in Studio City, saves me the pilgrimage to the other notable cheese specialists in town, namely The Cheese Store of Silver Lake and - my absolute favourite - The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.
Owner Melody Dosch is similarly enamoured with cheesy comestibles. She cultivates relationships with (and devotes a large section of her display cases to) the wares of quite a number of artisanal and boutique cheese makers, dealing personally with a dozen or so on an ongoing basis. These include Californian dairies such as Andante Dairy in Tomales Bay, Winchester Cheese Company, Rinconata Dairy, Santa Margharita and Fiscalini Dairy in Modesto; farms such as Donnay Farms, Minnesota and Capriole Farms in Indiana; also Oregon Gourmet in Albany, Bobolink Dairy, New Jersey and Haystack Mountain Dairy, in Longmont, Colorado.
In fact, Melody purchases cheeses from over fifty American artisans and cheese specialists.
I went over to the Artisan Cheese Gallery for a special event recently where Melody had invited Paula Lambert, a cheese maker from Dallas, to do an in-store presentation, provide samples of her most excellent and unusual cheeses and sign her two glossy cookbooks, The Cheese Lovers Guide and Cheese, Glorious Cheese.
Melody carries a number of Paula’s cheeses, including:
Hoja Santa, a goat’s milk cheese wrapped in Hoja Santa leaves; Blanca Bianca, a raw washed rind cow’s milk cheese (she says it’s one of her favorites); Scamorza, a smoked mozzarella made from cow’s milk; a stunningly creamy yet tart Goat’s milk Mozzarella; Queso Oaxaca, a traditional Mexican cow’s milk cheese; Montasio Festivo, a goat’s milk cheese with a unusual and flavourful chipotle chili rind and Caciotta, a plain cow’s milk infused with Mexican mint.
Melody says she first had the pleasure of meeting Paula and tasting her marvellous cheeses at an American Cheese Society conference in Louisville, Kentucky, about three years ago. Says Melody of the stylish southern dame, “She is one of the most elegant women you will ever meet.” She’s right.
A selected range of Paula Lambert’s excellent cheeses, as well as boutique cheese from all over the country, can be found at The Artisan Cheese Gallery
Also available are salads and sandwiches made daily to order (available 11am-4pm), such as Duck Confit paired with fig spread and Le Marechal cheese or AGC Muffaleta (approx $10) or the classic Grilled Cheese sandwich, made with Ballard Family Dairy cheddar on BreadBar pain de mie and with or without organic heirloom tomatoes ($8.25 or $9.25).
12023 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604
Phone: 818-505-0207
Fax: 818-505-0282
Paula Lambert’s cheeses - The Mozzarella Company
By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.
foodette says:
July 13th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Yum! I love cheese, and there would be nothing finer than an opening of a cheese shop here in Brentwood so I could lose the commute as well.
And, there must be something weird in the air today - I posted about cheese, too! How odd.
Anyway, I must make the trek out to Studio City soon so I can see what Goat’s Mozzarella tastes like.
Oh, and I agree with the hatred of fake cheeses.
MaxMillion says:
July 13th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Thanks for your comment. I’ll have to check out your post, too.
Trust me — the goat’s milk mozzarella is quite unusual and well worth the trip.
MaxMillion says:
July 13th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
p.s. but perhaps call them first to ensure they have it in stock…
Steve2 in LA says:
July 14th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Love, love, love the cheese. Love, love, love this place. And they have Tony Packo pickles as well. And it’s in THE VALLEY. Keep this to yourselves, I’m serious.
Jonah says:
July 15th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Sounds like a great place! We love hitting up the Cheese Store of BH, it is so unpretentious in a sometimes pretentious industry and location. Our favorite is to sidle up to the bar, describe what we want in very loose terms, and then go a tasting. We end up leaving with a few different mil cheeses.
I do love goat cheese and I’m curious to taste how it works as a mozzerella, I’m used to mild to no flavor with it.
Another great write for that area!
Karin says:
July 16th, 2007 at 2:32 am
I’m a cheese addict. I can’t eat the low fat stuff. A cheese plate with crackers and fruit is the perfect ending of a dinner, I think.
Drew says:
July 16th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Love this shop. Ever since it opened around here it’s just been fantastic. Sadly, the easiest time for me to go there (Sunday mornings) is also their busiest time what with the Farmer’s Market going on right behind the shop!
The sandwiches are good, but I always feel like they’re just a little over priced.
But man.. just sitting there and sampling cheese is an amazing thing.
naomi says:
July 16th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Okay…normally, I would not participate in shameless self-promotion, but I just thought I would share my cheese-related blog with you:
http://www.cheeseproject.blogspot.com
It has been a little while since I have written, but I will be posting a bit about Cabecou (one of my favorite cheeses at the moment) this week.
And…Artisan Cheese Gallery is great!
Also quite wonderful is the Silverlake Cheese Store…It is a beautiful shop, and owner Chris Pollan is a wealth of information (he worked for quite awhile with the owner of the BH Cheese Shop before branching out on his own.)
naomi says:
July 16th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
sorry guys,
i was typing so quickly, i spelled it wrong:
http://www.thecheeseproject.blogspot.com.
enjoy!
KT says:
July 17th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
I love this place! This is my second home at lunchtime. Pretty much if you go there around mid-afternoon, I will be the girl sitting with my big book gnawing on a sandwich.
The staff there is so nice too … sometimes the service is pretty slow if they have several customers to help, but the one time it was extra slow for me they made it up to me, so that was nice.
The meals may seem pricy but the ingredients are top notch and it is cheaper than at Hugo’s up the street.
I was trying to keep it my secret by not blogging about it! But the more the merrier I suppose. ;)
MaxMillion says:
July 17th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
^ lol — the word is out! Yeah, the service can be *painfully* slow, at times… I have tried to point this out, on occassion…
Drew — I occasionally stop in on a Sunday, too, (when I am doing my weekly Farmers Market run). But that’s *only* to pick up a pre-ordered fresh burrata (simply out of this world — I can’t believe I forgot to mention it in the post…) while flashing a $5 note plus my own plastic container (burrata are very delicate and I prefer to recycle) so that I can get in and out of there asap.
Also, I dunno about anyone else, but I’ve noticed that they recently cleared out the glass cabinets that store many of the cheeses and they now look a lot less cluttered and a bit more organised.
I used to get this wonderful cream cheese/balsamic spread there called ‘cadillac’, made by the grassroots dip co, but - sadly - I think the co went out of business.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. This place is pretty special.
KT — I’ll have to keep an eye out for you, babe!
Drew says:
July 18th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Maxmillion, they have Burratta? How do I get one of these pre-ordered babies and how much do you get for $5?
MaxMillion says:
July 18th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
^ Well, I know the fresh burrata come in on Sats and (I think) also on Thurs. I don’t so much pre-order as call ahead on Sat and ask for one to be put aside on Sundays, as it occasionally happens that they sell out by midday on Sunday.
It’s a small-ish boule of burrata — best I’ve ever had. Not overly salty nor too creamy. Perfect for a caprese salad lunch for two persons.
I’m popping in there tomorrow around lunchtime!
Vanessa says:
July 30th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I am soooo glad someone wrote such a detailed description of this place! I drive past it almost every day and want to go in, but I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it. I am definately going there soon!
edla says:
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Beat place around for gourmet cheese. Forget ralph cheese, forget TJ cheese, forget wholefoods cheese, etc, go to Artisan cheese
This is a close as it gets to buying cheese in Paris, France (where i originally come from). I usually go just after TJ accross the street. the bread (baguette) is also outstanding, and again the second I bite it I instantly feel like in France again. Pain Vin Fromage rien de tel…
elaine says:
September 29th, 2007 at 11:22 am
CHEESE they do have but customer SERVICE they DO NOT HAVE.
Part of being a charming little cheese store is having great old-fashioned quality service. If you don’t the cheese stinks in a BAD way.
MaxMillion says:
September 29th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
^ Why don’t you write them a note commenting that you were disappointed with their level of service and explain why.
What happened?
KT says:
September 30th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I’d be curious to know what happened as well. I have had nothing but good experiences here. The times that the service has been slow, they have always been really nice about it. And Stu and the other guys are like my alternate dads.
It does seem like the owner is pretty into customer service, so I would let them know what happened. I think she would definitely do something to address it.
H. C. says:
September 30th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Oh my god I love this place too — and I heard from the grapevine that on Oct. 6 they’re pairing with Scoops, one of my LA ice cream faves — to do a cheesy ice cream thing. Will definitely be looking into that.