The third Tuesday of every month, those who are cheese-curious meet at San Diego’s @alesmithbrewing, where the room hums with chatter and there’s a toasty scent of malt in the air. @quesodiego, San Diego’s only social cheese club, has convened for 16 years as a funky community, making cheese culture accessible to anyone who’s curious.
The club’s roots began with the late Horace Bixby, who brought a handful of adventurous homebrewers together to explore a new way to cultivate community. “Makers like to make and fermenters love to ferment,” says founding member Larry Stein. “It was natural for so many of us to be interested.”
Cheesemaking was new territory for these brewers, and resources were scarce. So founder Chris Banker created an online group to exchange tips and recipes. Within days, more than 40 people had joined. The digital buzz soon turned into real-world connection. Banker organized the first meeting, filling tables with homemade fresh cheeses, aged wheels, and everything in between. Once someone suggested the name Queso Diego, the club was born.
Tap the link in bio for our full story. ☝️
✍️ Lisa Gonzalez (@rubymemphis)
Convert a blue cheese hater into a blue cheese lover today. 💙 Link in bio for our favorite gateway blues + pairing suggestions.
✍️ @josiekrogh
One cheese, five ways: Provolone edition. 🤤
Make a new recipe every day this week using lush, buttery, and effortlessly meltable mild provolone—from pizza to pasta to plum hand pies.
Ready to get cooking? Tap our link in bio. 🍳
🧀 @belgioiosocheese
📸 @paul.s.bartholomew
✍️ & 🍽 @andreajbartholomew
Rhubarb + cheese inspo 🩷 🧀
1. Rhubarb, burrata, & pink peppercorn oil 🔁 @ottolenghi
2. Rhubarb & @celebrity_goat crostini 🔁 @taylorgolub
3. Rhubarb cheesecake 🔁 @theitsybitsykitchen
4. Chèvre & honey tart with pistachio crust & rhubarb compote 📸, ✍️, + 🍽️ @itsjennybravo (#linkinbio for recipe)
For American Cheese Month, we asked cheese pros from coast to coast to share what they love most about the domestic cheese scene. Here`s what they had to say. 👆️
Link in bio for the full interviews, along with their recipes for success and insights into championing cheese education. 🧀
✍️ @alana_ped
comment 🧀 and we`ll dm you a link fr 👌
We love you, Detroit!!! At our latest Counter Culture in Michigan, we:
🧡 Ate 36 varieties of cheese, butter, & two ages of Prosciutto di Parma!
🧡 Feasted on a massive grazing table!
🧡 Laughed, smiled, and felt the infectious joy of coming together over cheese!!!
We can`t wait for Counter Culture Boston & Portland this fall—watch this space for ticket announcements & more. 🧀
@marinfrenchcheese`s Golden Gate is ready for its close-up. ✨️
#Linkinbio to learn how the triple cream cover star of our "Made in America" issue gets its stunning color & #delicious flavor.
📹️🔁 @marinfrenchcheese
our weekend plans > your weekend plans 🔥
Credit: @gabeonearth
🧀 Livradois Raclette
📍 Uinta National Forest, Utah
If you`re craving cheese *and* butter, why not have both? 🧀 🧈
Cue @murrayscheese cave aged Burrino Pepato, made with scamorza cheese from @maplebrookfarm that`s filled with cultured @ploughgate butter. 🤤
Want some ASAP? Order through our link in bio.
"Growing up near the Amish and Mennonite communities in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I could find a variety of fresh goods at markets every Monday through Saturday: pastries, cheeses, and jams. It wasn’t until graduate school that I learned about the arduous Mennonite migration to Mexico," says culture contributor gabriellebakes.
Queso Menonita—a mild, semi-firm cow’s milk cheese from northern Mexico—was a tool of sustainability and survival for Mennonite colonies. "My fascination with this story came full circle when I met my partner, whose family is from Durango, which is the home of Quesería Holanda, one of the most famous queso Menonita factories," Lenart adds.
In this exploration of queso Menonita`s origins, travel the road to Durango and learn about one of Mexico`s most popular cheeses. Link in bio. 🧀 🇲🇽
"In Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, cheese is not just a product—it is a presence," says culture contributor @lesliedamasomusic. "Living here urges a person to stand still and observe with all senses: to listen, accept what is, and be one with its slow pace."
During the last Ice Age, glaciers missed this rough, oval-shaped part of the upper Midwest that spans Southwest Wisconsin. It’s the only unglaciated spot in the world, completely surrounded by flat land bulldozed by ice.
This also happens to make the Driftless an excellent place to craft flavorful cheese. Tap the link in bio to learn more. 🧀
Happy #thedevilwearsprada 2 day! We hope you eat at least $8 of @jarlsberg_. 🧀
Happy American Cheese Month! 🇺🇸 🧀
This May, we`re shining a spotlight on domestic cheeses, cheesemakers, and more in all their glory. Swipe for a few American beauties we`ve photographed over the years. 🧡
1. @jasperhillfarm Whitney 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @kendraelizabethstylist
2. @distefanocheese Smoked Scamorza 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @madstrap
3. @sequatcheese Shakerag Blue 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @madstrap
4. @nicasiovalleycheese Formagella 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @madstrap
5. @blakesvillecreamery St. Germain 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @kendraelizabethstylist
6. @marinfrenchcheese Golden Gate 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @madstrap
7. @belgioiosocheese Crescenza-Stracchino 📸 & 🍽️ @dbfoodphoto
8. @deercreekcheese The Rattlesnake 📸 @ninagallant_ 🍽️ @elle_simone_scott
9. @calkinscreamery Vampire Slayer 📸 & 🍽️ @shilpaiyereats
10. @capriolegoatcheese Sofia 📸 @adamdetour 🍽️ @catrinekelty
Are you a butter lover? Then @littlecloudrestaurant is a must-visit dining destination.
At this Wisconsin spot, @landmarkcreamery butter is churned on the premises and used in a variety of dishes, ranging from a tiered tasting tray to a locally sourced steak topped with a hefty pat of Café de Paris compound butter.
“What we’re going for … is a unique flavor profile that stands out and highlights the butter," says Anna Landmark, founder of the award-winning creamery.
Link in bio for the full read. 🧈
📸 @aspoonfulphotography
✍️ @alana_ped
Counter Culture D.C. had great energy! ✨️ 🧀
There are only a few tickets left for our next Counter Culture event in Detroit on May 5. Link in bio to buy. 🎟
Drink your cheese? Yes, please. 🧀🍸 In Culture’s latest Drinks with Cheese column, cheese shows up in every form—infused, emulsified, fat-washed, and as garnish—bringing body, texture, and funk to the glass.
Think parm-infused mezcal, blue cheese cocktails, and this cheesecake cocktail from @the_pattersonhouse made with mascarpone.
Read more at the link in bio.
✍️ Cathryn Haight
Wild garlic + cheese goals 🧄 🧀 💚
1. @laffinage.co.uk Locally foraged wild garlic with decadent triple cream cheese
2. @boroughchef Grilled leeks, peas, wild garlic, tenderstem, lemon, buffalo mozzarella, sea salt, & EVOO
3. @fionasfunkyfood Wild garlic, Gruyere, & pickled onion doughnuts
4. @whatkerry_does Wild garlic risotto
5. @juliusroberts Wild garlic flatbreads with buffalo mozzarella, wild garlic shoots, & garlic butter
6. @the_cornish_chef Wild Garlic Yarg gnocchi
7. @cornish.yarg Wild Garlic Yarg
We`ll miss you, Nancy`s Camembert. 💔
ICYMI, @old.chatham.creamery is ending its run of Nancy`s Camembert, a luscious triple cream cheese.
“Ultimately, despite its apparent commercial success, this is yet another reminder of how difficult it is for a cheesemaker to keep an operation financially sustainable,” says @saxelbycheese`s Benoit Breal. “I still hope Nancy’s Camembert will return. That a talented cheesemaker will take on the challenge and find a way to bring back Nancy’s or create a unique cheese in the same style.”
Want to buy Nancy`s Camembert before it`s gone forever? Tap our link in bio for more info.
📸 @chasingcheeseeee
We are deeply saddened to share that Rick Lafranchi of @nicasiovalleycheese has passed away.
“A true pillar of our community, he was deeply involved in the dairy and cheese industry and made a lasting impact on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. His kindness, generosity, and genuine spirit touched countless lives,” says Nicasio Valley Cheese in an Instagram post. “His legacy will live on in all that we do.”
"Rick served on the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (@malt_ag) board for many years and was a thoughtful, vocal spokesperson for the agricultural community, always trying to help our struggling dairy community," say Vivien and Michael Straus of @thecheesetrail in a recent newsletter. "Though he worked his tail off for his own cheese company, he was always in service to the dairy and cheese community. Kind, soft-spoken, passionate—everyone loved him."
“To say he was one of the best humans I’ve ever met is an understatement,” Tamara Hicks of @tomalesfarmsteadcreamery in Tomales, California, says in an Instagram tribute.
Prior to his career in cheese, Rick coached high school baseball at his alma mater, Archie Williams High School—then Sir Francis Drake High School—in San Anselmo, California. He also owned a Silver Screen Videos franchise store in the area.
When Silver Screen Videos closed in 2019, Rick said that his favorite movie was It’s a Wonderful Life. “Like Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey, he had a profound and positive impact on the people and community around him,” says Derek Wilson, the sports writer for the @marin_ij.
Our thoughts are with Rick`s family as they navigate their loss.
Photos are from the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Nicasio Valley Cheese, and Cheese Trail.
