Fromagination Puts the Story in Wisconsin Cheese

Wisconsin’s cheesemaking tradition dates back 185 years, before it was even a state. At Fromagination, a cut-to-order cheese shop in Madison, Wisconsin, owner Ken Monteleone has made it his mission to share that rich dairy heritage with his customers. After a corporate career as a shoe buyer, Monteleone founded Fromagination in 2007, creating a European-style cheese shop that specializes in Wisconsin cheese, as well as locally-made charcuterie, crackers, and other accompaniments. Fromagination also has an online storefront with nationwide shipping, offers a robust lineup of cheese classes, serves up a tasty lunch menu of sandwiches, and provides catering services and private tastings. Beyondish spoke with Monteleone to explore why storytelling is an important part of the retail experience, as well as learn more about some of the Wisconsin cheesemakers who make Fromagination’s selection so special. (This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

How do you incorporate the producers’ stories into the shopping experience for your customers?

We choose to buy directly from our artisans—cheesemakers and people making crackers, chocolate, and preserves—because we want to forge those relationships and really get to know them. We visit their farms and we meet with them regularly, so that we are the best advocates and storytellers. They also visit our store regularly to do demos. Storytelling is a big part of retail today. With social media and everything, I think people are getting so disconnected and spending so much time on their phones that human interaction is more important than ever.

What’s your top-selling cheese?

One creamery that was very instrumental in helping me bring Fromagination to life was Uplands Cheese, located in Dodgeville in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region. I would drive by every day and envision having a shop like Fromagination. One day I was brave enough to stop by Uplands and meet with Mike Gingrich [the owner at the time]. When we opened our store in 2007, instead of cutting a ribbon we cut a wheel of Uplands Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which is the most awarded cheese in the nation, winning three best-in-shows from the American Cheese Society. It is still our best-selling cheese in the store.

What are some of the Wisconsin cheeses you carry from smaller producers?

Over the past 18 years, cheese in Wisconsin has continued to evolve and flourish. We have fourth-generation cheesemakers and we have people just getting into the craft. One in particular would be Hill Valley Dairy. Ron Henningfeld actually used to work at Uplands as a cheesemaker. He decided to branch out on his own, since he and his family have been dairy farmers for four generations. He has a cheese called Luna that is only sold to a couple of shops in the country. It’s a hybrid between a Gouda and an Alpine-style cheese. We just can’t keep it in stock. It has its own personality and it’s a nice addition to what’s going on in Wisconsin.

Another one would be St. Isidore’s Dairy. Inga Orth is the cheesemaker—it’s a farmstead creamery, and she only has 10 cows. She does all the production, from caring for the land to caring for the cows, to milking and making cheese. It’s a bandaged cloth cheddar made in the English style, and only a handful of shops in the country carry that cheese.

What do you wish that more people knew about Wisconsin cheese?

About the community—it’s a very collaborative community. Our cheesemakers are very humble and they really pay it forward. They travel internationally to meet with cheesemakers all over Europe and they bring ideas back to Wisconsin. So we not only have the tradition, we also have the innovation.

What’s been the most rewarding aspect of owning a cheese shop?

The people. Not only the people that have worked for me over the past 18 years, but also all of the producers and customers that I’ve been able to meet that have enriched my life.