By using his nose, Mark Blunden uncovers a mountain of cheesy treats to whet the appetite

LA FROMAGERIE has come a long way from its beginnings as a small specialist stall at Camden Lock Market with its stock stored and matured in a garden shed.
Highbury Barn’s specialist cheese shop now has two branches and supplies a list of famous-name restaurants, including those owned by Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.
Connoisseurs can enjoy more than 200 varieties of ‘la fromage’ plus specialist bread, wine and chocolates – to name a few of the goodies available in the shop.
Cheese is brought directly from farms and suppliers on the continent, with the hard cheese aged in the shop’s special maturing room.
The rustic charm of La Fromagerie, its maturing room and vast variety make it a unique operation.
The shop even boasts its own ‘affineur’, Eric Demelle, a French expert in everything cheesy.
Eric is in charge of the maturing and distribution, liaising with producers to ensure quality and freshness.
Co-owner Daniel Michelson says: “No one does the sort of things we do, such as maturing our own cheese. That’s where we differ from other cheese shops.”
“Cheeses such as beaufort from the Haute Savoire region of France are matured, before we get it, for about 12 months then we bring it on a bit further.
“A lot of cheese is brought in a backwards state then we provide a certain level of refrigeration and humidity until it is perfect and ready to be eaten.
“Soft cheese has to be looked after in a different way to hard cheeses.” Although the name suggests an exclusively French connection, La Fromagerie sells produce from Britain, Italy, Spain and Ireland.
Mr Michelson adds: “There are two things people go mad for. One is vacherin, a soft gooey cheese from the Alpine area of France.
“There’s also the brie with truffles and mascarpone through the middle, like a sandwich. It’s frighteningly expensive but people don’t worry about that.”
But if £45 a kilo is a little too steep, the delicacy is also offered at £4.50 for 100g.
Mature cheddar cheese is another speciality and beloved by Mr Michelson. He says: “My favourite is the cheddar – it’s lovely and whenever I’m peckish I’ll go for a little bit.”
It’s easy to see why business has come in from restaurants such as Claridge’s and Fifteen and numerous Michelin-starred eateries.
La Fromagerie is also renowned for its selection of goats’ cheese and stocks up to 40 varieties at once.
Festive cheer is running high in the shop too, with a steady stream of customers stocking up on seasonal provisions when I visited.
The shop has adapted to cater for its market with an array of Christmas treats in stock.
Mr Michelson said: “At Christmas we have a whole load of other seasonal food, including wonderful ranges of chocolate from France and Italy. The homemade Christmas puddings are also selling really well. Stilton is also very popular at this time of year.”
Mr Michelson came on board full-time after his wife, Patricia, started La Fromagerie 12 years ago.
He explained: “We started off as a cheese business and nothing else. We used to go skiing a lot and there were some very interesting cheeses so we started bringing it back and selling it to friends.
“Then we converted our garden shed into a cheese maturing room and took a stall at Camden Lock Market.”
After successfully running the Highbury branch of the shop, a few years later Daniel and Patricia opened another in Marylebone. It’s fair to say business is booming for La Fromagerie.
• La Fromagerie is at 30 Highbury Park, N5, 020 7359 7440.