Cheese Shops We Love: Fromagination

LOCATION

12 South Carroll St.

Madison, WI 53703

"fromagination" by afagen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Committed to highlighting Wisconsin’s crème de la crème

Ken Monteleone is in a great spot to sell cheese. Not only is Fromagination’s perch on the Capitol Square–where the country’s largest farmer’s market (Dane County Farmers’ Market) pops up each Saturday—he’s within an hour’s drive of some of the world’s most renowned cheesemakers. Visitors want, and expect, to buy local cheese and they want to be wowed.

As a result, the cheese cases in this darling shop are well stocked with Wisconsin selections, examples of fourth- and fifth-generation cheesemakers who may be in the Dairy State now but can trace their roots back to cheesemakers in Switzerland and Italy.

It was after moving to Madison from Dallas in 1993, as a senior buyer for Famous Footwear, that Monteleone pondered a very serious question: “Why isn’t there a nice cheese shop?” The question pulled at him for years until, still not seeing a decent cheesemonger, and sampling cheese on shoe-buying trips to Europe, he opened his own shop in 2007. His family’s experiences in the artisan-food business came in handy.

“I grew up in an Italian family [in Colorado],” he says. “My father and his brother had their own specialty-food store that specialized in produce from Colorado. For Christmas we would buy an 80-pound wheel [of cheese] and when people would come to our house we would cut off a chunk for them.”

While Wisconsin cheeses are a hallmark, “our portfolio has been more balanced than in years past,” says Monteleone, whose number-one goal is to be different from other local grocers in terms of the cheeses he carries. One avenue he’s pursuing is supporting more Wisconsin sheep’s-milk cheeses, as this sector is growing in the Dairy State. And to make things easier for customers, three different “cheeseboard kits”—Gala, Soirée and Mélange a Trois—contain all the fixings.

THE SHOP

Because stay-at-home orders early in the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged people to tinker with cheese boards, Fromagination began offering curbside pick-up and online ordering so they could stay open. COVID-19 safety protocols once they did reopen “gave us an opportunity to refresh the store in how things are laid out,” says Monteleone. A communal table in the back of the shop is now two tasting tables. A patio overlooking Capitol Square seats about a dozen guests at six tables. Fromagination also beefed up its online-ordering capabilities, which was good timing once The Today Show featured Fromagination’s gift basket as part of its “Thanks for Giving” segment last December. Each purchase included a $10 donation to Second Harvest Foodbank “As soon as that aired our Internet orders went crazy,” says Monteleone, spiking from 40 to 500 orders per day and allowing them to write a $25,000 check to Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. “People wanted to gift [for the holidays] and also do something to give back to their community,” he says.

TOP-SELLING CHEESES
- Chèvre from Blakesville Creamery, Port Washington, WI

“One of their cheesemakers used to work at Fromagination and then at Uplands Cheese,” says Monteleone. “They’re making an amazing soft-ripened goat cheese.”

-Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, WI

“It’s still our top-selling cheese and has been since the day we opened the store,” says Monteleone.

-Bandaged Cheddar from Bleu Mont Dairy, Blue Mounds, WI

Cheesemaker Willi Lehner is known for being a micro producer of his cave-aged cheese, which is why “we’ve been very lucky that he continues to supply us with cheese,” says Monteleone.

-Eight Year Sharp Cheddar from Hook’s Cheese Company, Mineral Point, WI

“Some people don’t want the strength of a 15-year cheddar,” says Monteleone, “and people still associate Wisconsin with the orange cheddar.” This non-dyed white cheddar is a huge hit.

-Sweet Annie and Rebel Meil from Landmark Creamery, Paoli, WI

Named for founders Anna Landmark and Anna Thomas-Bates, Sweet Annie’s a sheep Gouda that they’ve been aging and it’s very good,” says Monteleone. Another creamery favorite is Rebel Meil, a semi-soft beer-washed cheese produced in collaboration with Giant Jones Brewery in Madison. “People love collaboration and they give us something to talk about,” says Monteleone.

ALSO LOOK FOR

“During the pandemic, people were making way more cheese boards,” says Monteleone, “and now they’re looking to add more to their cheese boards so we’ve expanded our assortment of charcuterie.” Wisconsin’s own Driftless Provisions, Red Table Meat and Underground Meats are all represented at Fromagination. Mustards, crackers (Madison’s Potter’s Crackers are quite popular), pickled items (including from Forward Provisions), nuts, fruit preserves, honey and maple syrup, too. Quince & Apple is a local producer of fruit preserves just introduced to Fromagination’s shelves. “We’re finding more and more products that are artisan-based and in the Old World style,” say Monteleone.