In the past year or so, I’ve become enamored of Manhattan’s Essex Street Market. This Lower East Side haunt pulls together a dozen or so food purveyors under one roof, along with a tailor, a barber (both in some of the smallest spaces I’ve ever seen), and an incense-fumed botanica. In one especially bright spot, there is a pint-sized cheese store called Saxelby Cheesemongers. On most days, Anne Saxelby herself is behind the counter.
Saxelby is devoted to American farmstead cheeses, sourcing from dairies like Jasper Hill Farm, Evans Farmhouse, and Lazy Lady Farm. Anne and her staff are quick to hand out tantalizing slices of earthy goat cheese, tangy blues, and anything else that might catch your eye—like the “Barick Obama.” How did this young dynamo learn so much about cheese, start her own awesome business, and have energy to spare? Anne gives us the scoop—right after winning New York magazine’s “Best Cheese Store” award.
Q: How did you first get seriously interested in cheese as your calling?
A: I got interested in cheese during a trip to Italy during my sophomore year of college. I visited a foodie friend in Florence and she took me to the central market there. It was pretty much all over after that. I ate so many amazing cheeses, sausages, dried fruits, pastas, fruits, and veggies, you name it. So when I came back to New York, I started spooking around Murray’s and other cheese shops, annoying the staff, peppering them with questions, eating more than my weight in samples … you know, educating myself! The more I ate, the more I wanted to know about what made all the types different and what else existed out there.
Q: How did you make the transition into cheesemongering?
A: After I graduated from NYU [with a degree in art], I tried to get an internship at Cato Corner Farm, a small dairy farm in Connecticut. At the time, I was kind of over the art world and wanted a break from the city in general, so it seemed like a good adventure. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they said yes, even though I knew next to nothing about cheese/farming, but they didn’t need me to start until the fall. I decided to get summer jobs at Murray’s and at Chambers Street Wines to do a little wine and cheese summer school. In the end, cheesemongering was more fun than wine-mongering. After I did my stint at Cato, I went back to Murray’s.
Q: How about setting up your business in the Essex Market—were there any special challenges and triumphs there?
A: Many! There were definitely some ridiculous times, but I had good friends to help me suss out all the details behind setting up the shop. My friend Robert is an architect and helped me make all the drawings of the space (it is only 120 square feet, so we had to be creative!). Ronnie on the Bowery became my de facto best friend after helping me build my walk-in cooler, buy my cheese case, and get me a sink that worked in my tiny little shoebox of a store.
Q: Are you still able to get out of town and visit dairies and cheesemakers? Are you still looking for new cheeses to add to your cases?
A: Yes, but not often enough! Right now, I’m able to go on a visit about once every six to eight weeks. It is really what inspires me though, so I am trying to do as much of it as possible. I’m always looking to add new cheeses to my case!
Q: How level is the playing field in cheesemaking and cheesemongering—does anyone take you a bit less seriously because you’re a woman, or is that not an issue?
A: Not an issue. Traditionally, cheesemaking and selling was done by women. On the farm, men would do more physical labor, tilling the fields and whatnot, and the women would be in charge of food prep for the house, including making cheese. At the institution of the Saturday market, women would be the mongers, bringing their wares for sale.
Q: Have there been any special women you’ve been inspired by or looked up to as role models, both in your business life and in your cheese-ophile life?
A: Valerie Montarbon has inspired me a lot. She started Murray’s wholesale department back when Murray’s was still tiny. She is one of those women who can do just about anything. Amy Sisti, who was the manager at Murray’s when I started working there—she had such a great, gentle approach to running a very complicated little shop, and paved the way for lots of learning! Liz MacAlister, owner of Cato Corner Farm, who is tough as nails and extremely dedicated to lots of things I hold dear (good food, community, sustainablity, etc.).
Q: What are some of your favorite all-time cheese-tasting moments? Anything that’s really surprised you or knocked your socks off from the first taste?
A: I love, love, love goat cheeses from the Loire Valley in France … things like Charolais and Chabichou just make my heart flutter. When in France, I found it absolutely amazing to be able to go into the cheese house at night, get some fromage frais (made that same day), put a little honey or confiture on top, and eat up!
Q: What’s your “desert island” cheese? Okay, let’s make it three …
A: Chabichou, Trillium (from Lazy Lady Farm in Vermont), and something nice and rustic—like a well-aged cheddar.
Q: Ending on “cheesiness” of a different sort: what are your favorite cheesy movies?
A: I like the Monty Python cheese sketch, Wallace & Gromit, and Troop Beverly Hills (just plain cheesy).
Saxelby Cheesemongers will celebrate its first anniversary with a garden party in May. See saxelbycheese.com for details—and swing by if you’re in the city!
Photo: Ann Saxelby at the Essex Street Market
