I was welcomed to town via texts and Facebook messages by Elizabeth Nerud, fellow ACS CCP and cheese geek. Sadly, we just missed each other as she was off chasing Hook's 20 year cheddar across the border in her native Wisconsin. However, Liz recommended I go to the St. Paul Cheese Shop and, of course, her own Lund's and Byerly's counter, and both were lovely.
The unassuming St. Paul Cheese Shop is in a small strip mall with a coffee shop and a few other stores on Grand Avenue. I can't remember if the quaint cheese shop had a bell that rang when you walked through the door, but I felt like there should be one...
My favorite local cheese I found was from up and coming Redhead Creamery. I fell in love with their "Lucky Linda" cave aged cheddar.
"There are three types of people in Minnesota, you've got cheese curd people. You've got aged cheddar people. And you've got brie people. So those are the three cheeses we make." -Lucas Sjostrom, Redhead Creamery
It was great to visit Liz's counter, which was immaculate. Not only was there row upon row of cheese, but it was all meticulously placed, the quality superb, and the signs were so straight they looked like soldiers. I was waited on by, Natasha, the "queen of mozzarella," as Liz has nicknamed her. She does, as you may have guessed, hand-stretch fresh mozzarella for the store.