Cleveland Cheese Shop Visits! Old Brooklyn Cheese Co. and Marchant Manor
Cleveland, Ohio! The Land! The North Coast! The Rock’n’Roll Capital of the World! My beloved home town! I recently spent some time visiting my family in Cleveland, and naturally I had to scope out some local cheese shops.
First up was Old Brooklyn Cheese Co., the home of award winning mustards and a triple milk gouda that I had been wanting to try. Shortly after walking through the door, I was asked “do you want to try a mustard flight?” and answered with a resounding “YES!“. The resulting mustard tasting journey rocked my tastebuds. I decided that the Bohemian Blend (Cleveland-style mustard with sauerkraut!) was my favorite and took some home in an adorable little ceramic mustard crock with a big cork lid.
The folks behind the counter were super friendly and were eager to sample some of their favorite cheeses from the case. We tried the Teffenhardt Gouda (pasteurized sheep/cow/goat triple milk) that they age in-house as well as the Urban Stead Cheese Gouda (pasteurized cow’s milk) hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio. Both of these goudas were absolute knockouts, delivering the roasty-toasty-butterscotchy vibes emblematic of a good gouda. I took home wedges of both!
Next up, we made our way to Marchant Manor, the brainchild of doctor-turned-cheesemaker Kandice Marchant. Kandice’s story is amazing (read more about her on the Marchant Manor website) and the soft, bloomy rind cheeses she makes are truly works of art. Marchant Manor sources both cow and goat milk from a local Amish dairy and transports the milk to their shop where the cheesemaking magic happens.
There was a private tasting event happening in the shop when we visited (everyone looked so happy and full of cheese!) but that didn’t stop the folks behind the counter from taking the time to give us their cheese spiel. After hearing wonderful explanations of each of Marchant Manor’s cheeses we settled on Beachy Head Goat and Henley. Beachy Head (pasteurized goat’s milk) is a perfect little ash-ripened, Valencay-style pyramid that seriously transported us to France. Henley (pasteurized cow’s milk) is an insane little wrinkly triple cream bomb that we dubbed “funky butter”.
We had ourselves a great little mid-afternoon cheese feast with our four delightful Ohio-made cheeses and a fresh baguette. I can’t wait to try more cheeses from these shops on my next trip back to Cleveland. Well done Old Brooklyn Cheese Co. and Marchant Manor – you made this Ohio-made gal very proud!
Visit these cheese shops:
4464 Broadview Rd, Cleveland, OH 44109
Also at the Van Aken District, 3441 Tuttle Rd Suite 101, Shaker Heights, OH 44122
2211 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
