By JANET FLETCHER

cheese focus

Surrounded by some of Seattle’s most appealing—and fast-paced—food retailing, this shop at Pike Place Market hand-sells and cuts to order every one of its 250 cheeses for tourists and connoisseurs alike.

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FOOD LOVERS HEAD TO PIKE PLACE MARKET to buy gorgeous produce, famous doughnuts and to watch fishmongers throwing the latest catch through the air. It’s also where they go to find DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine, a 60-year-old retailer. Among its European imports—especially Italian foods—and entire floor of wines, DeLaurenti houses a 300-square-foot cheese counter selling 250 cheeses from all over the world. Here we take a close look at the workings of the cheese case.

Counter Overview
Cheese at DeLaurenti is sold at the deli counter, which also includes cured meats and antipasti and generates about 40 percent of total store revenue. The counter is staffed by ten employees.

About 60 percent of the cheese inventory is European, with the Italian selection particularly strong. “It just started that way with the DeLaurenti family,” says Connie Rizzo, the store’s cheese and deli buyer. “People still come to us for Italian cheese.”

DeLaurenti stocks three versions of Parmigiano-Reggiano (an 18-month-old, a 24-month-old and the vacche rosse, from the milk of a rare breed of cow) as well as 15 to 18 pecorinos, including two brands of Pecorino Romano. “We have enough demand for both of them, and there’s no way I could drop either one,” notes Rizzo.

The Set Up
Cheeses are grouped by type, not by country. Hard cheeses, block cheeses, blues, Cheddars and Goudas all have their own sections on a back wall. The front case holds smaller, softer, more fragile cheeses separated mostly, but not entirely, by milk type. The brie section includes soft-ripened goat cheese like Le Peilloute and the sheep’s milk Brebirousse d’Argental, which has a Brie-like texture. “You want all that soft, creamy stuff together,” Rizzo explains. The proximity makes it easy for staffers to introduce the committed Brie patron to a related selection.

Signage Strategy
“Our signs are very simple,” says Rizzo, “the name of the cheese; price; milk type; if it’s raw or has vegetarian rennet; the country and province; and, if we can figure it out from the label, the maker. And that’s it. We don’t give any description because we want customers to ask us. We want to be able to tell the story.”

Sales Philosophy
Every cheese at DeLaurenti is cut and wrapped to order. “The theory behind that is that we hand sell,” says Rizzo. “It’s a great way to introduce customers to new cheeses. We’re free with samples. And I think they get a better product that way, and more knowledge. You’re educating every person who steps up to the counter.”

Current Challenges
While she is enthusiastic about domestic artisan cheeses, Rizzo is frustrated by her inability to get some into her store at a competitive price. If the producer doesn’t have a distributor, Rizzo must purchase direct and pay for shipping, driving up the cost.

Overall Pricing
“Around Christmas time, you know that if a cheese is good, you can move it out the door even at $45 a pound,” says Rizzo. “But in January, you hope it’s all gone. I’m paying close attention to prices. Can I get the same cheese somewhere else for cheaper? I’m not buying much that’s going to sell for more than $40 a pound.”

Currently the least expensive cheese in her inventory is whole-milk mozzarella at $7.99 a pound. The biggest splurge is Berkswell, an English sheep’s milk cheese, at $45.99 a pound.

“We have a clientele of connoisseurs,” says Rizzo. “They are well-traveled people who know good cheese. But it’s my opinion that they will tune out at $40 a pound.”

What’s Hot Now
“Anything with sheep’s milk,” Rizzo explains, “and I think it’s because the people behind the counter are selling it. The top seller is Gran Cru Pecorino from Academia Barilla. It’s approachable, crowd pleasing and the price is $19.99 a pound. Right in the middle.”

Trendspotting
Spanish cheeses have caught on in the store, says Rizzo, and she has recently introduced some Belgian selections. But the biggest trend is the growth of interest in products from affineurs, those specialists in bringing young cheeses to proper maturity.

Rizzo cites the work of the U.K.’s Neal’s Yard Dairy in introducing customers to the craft of affinage. Her patrons are beginning to recognize names like Hervé Mons and Guffanti—a French affineur and Italian affinatore, respectively—and to understand why their carefully selected and matured cheeses often cost more. Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont is providing a similar service for small cheesemakers on the East Coast, notes Rizzo, so consumer awareness of this practice and of the leading practitioners is sure to grow. |SFM|

Janet Fletcher is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of The Cheese Course.

Photography by Daniel Sheehan