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Store Fri Mar 14 2008
Farewell Big Cheese
The Cheese Stands Alone is no more. It’s a sad thing to see such a stinky loved-one leave the hood. The web page is just a fond farewell with a promise that they will be looking for another storefront and I hope this is true. The former location was definitely just a block or two out of reach from the bustling Lincoln Square shopping complex, but that was part of the charm. I mean, the cheese stood alone, and the cheese was really great. Really great.
I can’t say that I was a regular, but I did make a few trips in since moving back up north. My co-worker was nuts for this little shop and waxed supreme about her twice weekly visits to the place, so I had to get over there. I found it titillating to walk through the door of this small store front and get absolutely smacked in the face, pummeled about the body by the thick aroma of cheese. Matt was incredibly helpful and obviously passionate about his dairy wares. I don’t know if I was just an open book or if he really was just ridiculously good at reading a person’s cheese-story. The last time I went in this past winter I went home with an incredibly good aged cheddar and that stinky swiss number, Appenzeller. I nestled them into my handbag (which, mind you, was redolent of appenzeller for a week after) and stole away home with some preserves and a bottle of slightly dry Reisling. It was one of those ritualized nights of sheer joy, letting bits of excellent cheese melt on my tongue and washing it back the sweet swish of simplistic decadence. A magical end to a ridiculously stressful day.
It seems a strange trend going on right now. Threats of recession loom daily and yet people are talking about our love of daily decadences like great cheeses and lesser known wines. Organics and artisanal food goods are on the rise. I am a cook, my finances rival that of the most lowly paid public workers but I am of the mind that no matter how broke I have been: I can always afford the little luxury here and there, it’s a necessity. A sliver of dreamy double cream is worth a million dollars in my simple mind. I really hope The Cheese Stands Alone can find new life. It happened for Doug, let’s keep our fingers crossed for Matt and Sarah.
Amy / March 14, 2008 5:29 PM
Mmmmm...I can totally taste their luxurious cheeses. It's so sad they are gone. It was one to my favorite shops too.