A brand new cheese experience is coming to Livermore this fall. It’s called The Cheese Parlor and it’s opening up at 158 Maple Street later this year.
Cheesemonger Brandon Wood began his long journey to cheese mastery eight years ago when he first became a father. While working at Whole Foods Market, Brandon began to fall in love with cheese and its many complexities. Needing an additional source of income to help his wife pay off her student loans, he decided to pursue cheese as a full time career.
Only two years later, after rigorous training and study, Brandon became a Certified Cheese Professional. He had passed the classes and tests provided by the American Cheese Society and was finally ready to begin his career as a Cheesemonger.
He started small at first, making custom pairing plates for friends and family. Soon he started partnering with other restaurants and wineries to offer classes in cheese education. Now, he’s finally ready to open his first full-time brick-and-mortar store.
Brandon’s chief focus with The Cheese Parlor is keeping everything as local as it can possibly be. Serving between 60-85 different types of cheeses, Brandon intends to ensure that at least half of them are local California cheeses and that at least 80% of them will be domestic. The remaining 20% is reserved for imported staples like Roquefort. Of course he also intends to offer snacks for pairing, like local jams, jellies, and nuts.
In addition to the cheese and snacks, Brandon intends to serve exclusively Livermore Valley wines at The Cheese Parlor. He’ll also offer beer by tap and can, again restricting the selection to local Bay Area breweries.
Thankfully for local turophiles (look it up!) Brandon will continue hosting educational events and tastings at the new store. Brandon was able to confirm with What Now San Francisco that he has already secured the location and is now waiting for the rest of the permits to be confirmed. At the moment, he is tentatively planning to open The Cheese Parlor on November First.
In the meantime, consider sitting in on one of Brandon’s classes to make sure you’re an expert by the time The Cheese Parlor opens.
