“Blessed are the Cheesemakers”

I'd never heard of Anne Saxelby before this article about her early death at only 40, but I wish I had:

Saxelby Cheese was not only New York’s first shop that sold cheese exclusively from the United States, it was focused, even more specifically, on cheese from the Northeast. And Saxelby celebrated cheeses that were often made on the same farms from which the dairy came. She managed to break down stigma around small-batch cheese, taking it out of the luxury space and making it easier to appreciate the work that went into making it.

At the stall, Saxelby was a consistently warm presence. Her genial and welcoming attitude made the confusing and vast world of cheese approachable for someone like me, who didn’t know my Roquefort from my robiola.

Anyone who cares about good food, and the people who make it, benefited from Saxelby’s work.

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