Hello, my friends! Welcome to Portraits Plus, a series borne from a collaboration involving one of my favorite San Francisco cheese shops Cheese Plus, photographer Simon Puschmann, and myself!
Not so long ago, a few lucky Cheese Plus customers got together to create a series of interviews and portraits of people and our favorite cheeses. We had been inspired by Open Face, a prior personal project of Simon’s that featured people and their favorite sandwiches (more on this below).
And up first: Miss Cheesemonger (yep, me! Vero!).
How did you come to believe that purchasing and enjoying quality foods was important to you ?
I have always loved cheese, but really came to appreciate it when I was a student in Aix-en-Provence, France. There, I visited the farmers market almost every day, and even took a Provencal cooking class. However, I truly saw that quality food experiences could be a big part of my daily life when I started working as a cheesemonger. I hadn’t been able to translate that French experience to my west coast American life, but finally saw the way from behind the cheese counter. Actually, I took that cheesemonger job in part because my husband, who is French, had just moved to the US, and I wanted to try and provide him a comparable food experience for his new life in California.
As you can see on this blog, my food quest has since led me much further than what I initially anticipated! I’ve met so many passionate, talented people and animals, visited so many beautiful food destinations, and tasted so many incredible dishes! It’s been a scrumptious and enriching journey.
What draws you to Cheese Plus? What keeps you coming back? What do you love about being a Cheese Plus Customer? What’s the newest product that you’ve tried ?
A part of what I love about Cheese Plus is convenience. I can walk or bus about 20 minutes to Cheese Plus, and know I can order a fresh sandwich there as well as pick up cheeses and other specialty food items for the following weeks. The cheese case is always full and so well kept! Plus, there’s a great mix of favorites and new cheeses to keep me interested. There’s the whole rest of the store to love, though–the meats are fabulous, the wines are interesting, the Italian imports are always delicious. Cheese Plus carries many items we can’t find easily elsewhere.
On top of that, the people at the Plus are so thoughtful! They know their products, and always give great advice. They remember, too, which makes me feel more welcome.
How do you get to Cheese Plus? How does a trip to Cheese Plus fit into your schedule?
Sometimes I go to Cheese Plus because I need cheese for a blog post or special event. Other times, when I plan my regular city hikes, I’ll plan my Cheese Plus stop because it’s on the way to or from other areas that I like to walk around, like Telegraph Hill, Russian Hill, and North Beach.
What cheese in Cheese Plus’s case would you recommend to all your friends?
Just try whatever the cheesemongers recommend! They always know what’s good at the moment. Otherwise, if you can find a 30+month aged Comté, which is quite a rarity, you are in for a treat.
How has Cheese Plus made your life better?
I love knowing that there’s a neighborhood store that has consistently high quality standards. As convenient as the large grocery stores are, I would much prefer supporting an independent shop. Moreover, shopping at Cheese Plus offers so many moments of discovery–owner Ray Bair does an incredible job balancing stocking customer favorites, while also rotating in new and unusual products.
What was it like being photographed by Simon Puschmann?
It was such an honor when Cheese Plus owner Ray Bair asked if I would participate in this project. Before arriving to the shoot, I looked up the Simon’s work, and found a lot of his advertising work, which was just brilliant, as well as his Open Face series, which shared portraits of people and their favorite sandwiches. I was so excited to see what he would create with us Cheese Plus customers. I trusted Simon completely, and knew he envisioned something dynamic, beautiful, and honoring of both the cheeses we chose and ourselves.
From Simon:
Question: How did your Open Face project get you from Germany to San Francisco; and ultimately to make a series of customer portraits and cheese still lifes for Cheese Plus ?
I shared my Open Face series with Kate Chase, who was my agent at the time [and wife of Cheese Plus owner Ray Bair], and we pretty much simultaneously thought, this would be a great way of “advertising” for a real company. With Cheese Plus we had that company right in front of us. Cheese lovers are passionate people. I am a passionate photographer. It was a perfect match.
See more of Simon Puschmann’s phenomenal work.
Check out Cheese Plus and get ready to start drooling.
Lastly, thank you Kate for producing and for bringing us all together.
And stay tuned for more Portraits Plus coming your way! We will be rolling them out over the next couple of months!
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