Welcome to Cut the Fromage, where our passion for artisanal cheese transforms into an experience that delights the senses and brings people together. Since our founding in 2015, we’ve dedicated ourselves to sourcing, aging, and sharing the world’s finest cheeses with enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Our journey from a small cheese cart at the local farmers’ market to becoming a beloved artisanal cheese destination has been filled with discovery, learning, and a deepening appreciation for the ancient craft of cheesemaking.
Our Story: From Market Stall to Cheese Haven
Cut the Fromage began as a dream shared between two friends, Emma Blackwell and Marco Rossi, who met while studying culinary arts in Vermont. Their weekend trips to local creameries sparked a mutual obsession with artisanal cheese that eventually led them to abandon their restaurant careers and dive headfirst into the world of cheese.
What started as a humble cheese cart at the Portland Farmers Market quickly gained a following. Customers were drawn not just to our carefully curated selection, but to Emma and Marco’s infectious enthusiasm and willingness to share the stories behind each cheese. Within eighteen months, we had saved enough to open our first brick-and-mortar shop in a converted Victorian home in Portland’s historic district.
The Early Days: Challenges and Triumphs
Those first years weren’t without challenges. Sourcing rare cheeses from small producers required building relationships from scratch. We traveled extensively, visiting creameries across North America and Europe, often communicating through translators to connect with multi-generational cheesemakers who had never exported their products before.
Our breakthrough came when we discovered a small goat cheese producer in the Pyrenees mountains whose traditional methods had remained unchanged for centuries. Their ash-ripened chèvre became our signature offering and put Cut the Fromage on the map among serious cheese enthusiasts. The New York Times food section featured us in their “Hidden Gems” column, and suddenly our little shop was attracting visitors from across the country.
The shop quickly became more than just a retail space—it transformed into a sanctuary for cheese lovers. We installed a temperature-controlled aging room with glass walls so customers could witness the careful maturation process. Each wheel and wedge had a handwritten card detailing its origin, the animals whose milk created it, and the particular techniques that gave it character. Emma developed a knack for pairing unexpected accompaniments with our cheeses, introducing customers to rare honeys, house-made preserves, and small-batch crackers that complemented the complex flavors of our collection.
Perhaps our proudest achievement during those formative years was establishing our apprenticeship program. We partnered with local culinary schools to offer immersive experiences for students passionate about artisanal foods. Several of our apprentices have gone on to work with renowned cheesemakers in Vermont, Wisconsin, and California, while three have even started their own creameries. Creating this pipeline of knowledge and passion has been immensely rewarding, allowing traditional techniques to be preserved and evolve through new generations of cheese artisans.
Growing Our Community
As word spread, we expanded beyond retail. Our cheese appreciation classes began as informal gatherings around our tasting table but evolved into structured events that regularly sold out weeks in advance. We launched our cheese club subscription service in 2018, allowing us to share our discoveries with members nationwide while providing steady support to our artisanal producers.
Our Philosophy: Respecting Tradition, Embracing Innovation
At Cut the Fromage, we believe that great cheese is a living connection to cultural heritage and agricultural traditions. Each wheel tells a story of place, climate, animals, and the skilled hands that crafted it. We honor these traditions while also celebrating innovative cheesemakers who are pushing boundaries and creating new classics.
Our approach balances reverence for time-tested methods with curiosity about emerging techniques. You’ll find centuries-old Alpine styles sharing space with experimental washed-rinds from urban creameries. What unites our selection is quality, authenticity, and the distinctive character that only comes from small-batch production.
Sustainability Commitment
Environmental responsibility is central to our mission. We prioritize cheeses from producers who practice sustainable farming, humane animal husbandry, and responsible land stewardship. Many of our partner creameries are certified organic or biodynamic, while others follow traditional practices that inherently protect local ecosystems.
We’ve also implemented eco-friendly practices throughout our operations. Our packaging is biodegradable or reusable, we compost all organic waste, and our delivery vehicles run on biodiesel. These choices reflect our belief that enjoying exceptional cheese shouldn’t come at the expense of the planet.
Supporting Small Producers
The artisanal cheese world faces increasing pressure from industrialization and consolidation. We’re committed to supporting small, independent producers by providing them with fair prices and a reliable market for their products. Through direct relationships, we eliminate middlemen and ensure that more value returns to the people actually making the cheese.
Our producer spotlight program highlights a different cheesemaker each month through tastings, videos, and blog features. This not only educates our customers but helps build name recognition for small producers who lack marketing resources. Several of our featured cheesemakers have told us that this exposure was pivotal in helping their businesses survive challenging times.
Our Selection Process: The Art of Curation
People often ask how we choose which cheeses to carry. The answer involves a combination of expertise, relationships, and endless tasting. Our team travels to cheese competitions, farms, and food shows throughout the year, constantly seeking new treasures to bring home to our customers.
Each potential addition to our collection undergoes rigorous evaluation. We assess technical quality—texture, aroma, flavor complexity, finish—but also consider the cheese’s story, the producer’s practices, and whether it offers something unique to our selection. We’re particularly drawn to cheeses that express a clear sense of terroir—that ineffable quality that connects a food to its place of origin.
Aging and Affinage
Many cheeses arrive at our facility young and undergo further aging in our temperature and humidity-controlled caves. This practice of affinage allows us to offer cheeses at their peak of perfection rather than according to commercial timelines. Our head affineur, Sophia Chen, trained in France and brings traditional techniques to this crucial final stage of cheese development.
Our aging program has become so successful that several American cheesemakers now create special batches exclusively for our affinage. These collaborative cheeses represent some of our most exciting offerings, combining the producer’s craftsmanship with our aging expertise to create something truly special.
Seasonal Specialties
Cheese, like wine, reflects seasonal variations. Spring milk yields delicate, floral cheeses, while autumn brings richer, more complex flavors. We embrace these natural cycles by featuring seasonal specialties throughout the year. Our summer mountain cheeses, made from the milk of cows grazing on Alpine wildflowers, sell out within days of arrival. In winter, we showcase rich, aged cheeses perfect for holiday celebrations and cozy gatherings.
Education and Experience: Sharing Our Passion
We believe that understanding enhances enjoyment. That’s why education has always been central to our mission. Whether you’re a complete novice or a seasoned aficionado, we offer experiences designed to deepen your appreciation of artisanal cheese.
Our shop staff undergoes extensive training, including producer visits and regular tastings, ensuring they can guide customers through informed selections. We encourage questions and conversation, creating an approachable atmosphere where cheese curiosity is always welcomed.
Classes and Workshops
Our educational calendar features weekly classes ranging from “Cheese 101” fundamentals to specialized deep dives into regional styles or pairing principles. Guest instructors include cheesemakers, affineurs, and food historians who bring diverse perspectives to our learning community. Hands-on workshops offer participants the chance to try their hand at making fresh cheeses or building the perfect cheese board.
The pandemic prompted us to develop online offerings, including virtual tastings with cheese kits shipped nationwide. These digital experiences have allowed us to connect with cheese lovers far beyond our local community and will remain part of our educational approach even as in-person events return.
Cheese Tourism
For those seeking deeper immersion, we organize cheese-focused travel experiences to major producing regions. Our annual trips to Vermont, Northern California, and the European cheese capitals provide behind-the-scenes access to creameries rarely open to the public. Participants return with expanded palates and a profound appreciation for the cultural contexts that shape different cheese traditions.
Resources and Publications
Our quarterly journal, “Culture & Curds,” features articles on cheese history, producer profiles, and seasonal recipes. Our comprehensive cheese library is open to the public, offering books, periodicals, and research materials for casual browsing or serious study. The Cut the Fromage Companion, our guidebook to artisanal cheese appreciation, is now in its second edition and has become a trusted reference for home enthusiasts.
Looking Forward: The Future of Cut the Fromage
As we continue to grow, our fundamental values remain unchanged. We’re committed to quality without compromise, to supporting the artisanal cheese ecosystem, and to creating experiences that bring joy and connection through food.
Recent developments include our expanded online presence, allowing us to ship carefully packaged selections nationwide, and our new cheese aging facility that has doubled our affinage capacity. We’re particularly excited about our mentorship program for emerging American cheesemakers, which provides technical guidance and business support to the next generation of artisans.
Join Our Cheese Community
Whether you visit our shop, attend a class, subscribe to our cheese club, or simply follow our cheese adventures online, we invite you to become part of the Cut the Fromage community. Great cheese has a remarkable ability to create connections—between people, places, and traditions. We’re honored to facilitate these connections and to share our ongoing journey of discovery.
Thank you for your interest in Cut the Fromage. We look forward to sharing our passion for exceptional cheese with you, one carefully crafted bite at a time.
