About US

welcome to fromagination!


We opened Fromagination in September 2007. Our vision was to create a place to share our natural passion for artisanal cheeses and their perfect companions. In this short time we’ve received a lot of press both locally and nationally, and for this we’re exceptionally grateful. We think it’s natural for folks to get excited once they get a taste of what we’re all about.

 

natural passion:


a genuine regard for cheese
At Fromagination, our passion for spectacular specialty, artisan and organic cheese, fine complements, and beautiful, practical accoutrements is pervasive and contagious. You can feel it as soon as you step through our door.
Everyone-from the owner to the staff to the guest is downright evangelical about cheese and everything that goes with it. We love the way it looks, the way it tastes, the way it smells, the way it feels on the tongue. We love savoring old favorites and discovering new ones. We love learning about the artisan behind a particular hunk of beautiful aged, and about the farmstead whose milk goes into the crafting of the artisan’s masterpiece. We love the classic combinations of cheeses with fine wines and charcuterie. We love experimenting with imaginative pairings of cheeses with artisan breads and wines. With all this passion, there was naturally nothing for us to do but open an amazing cheese shop and invite Madison inside to share the wonder and discover with us.


natural display:


the way cheese is meant to be sold
Cheese is alive. No living thing can thrive in plastic wrap. At Fromagination, cheese lives the way it was intended to by its maker: on the block or wheel. When it’s ready to be sampled, we respectfully let it rest for a while first at room temperature to allow its aroma and taste to fully awaken. And when it’s ready to be sold, we hand-cut a piece from a block that has been permitted to breathe, but not to dry out. At Fromagination, you don’t need to guess what’s behind the plastic. You can see it. You can smell it. You can taste it. You can learn its story. At Fromagination, we can sell fine cheese the way it is meant to be sold, naturally, because that’s all we do.

natural habitat:


accoutrements that feel right in a cheese shop
Look at all this cool stuff. We sell it here, the cheese and everything that goes with it. The artisan and farmstead cheeses. The handcrafted olivewood boards. The raclettes and the fondue pots. The knives and the graters. The wine and the fruit. The waxed paper and the ceramic-serving dome. Everything that heightens the presentation, fragrance, taste, and enjoyment of a fine selection of cheese. Everything we could think of to make you glad you stopped in. Everything that belongs with the cheese experience. It’s only natural.


natural selection:


staff that belongs here
We believe that it’s only natural that the people who work at Fromagination be experts in cheese and its complements. Each staff member was chosen for his/her enthusiasm for food and given extensive, ongoing training in its selection, history, handling, cutting, and tasting. They can guide you to varieties you might not have tried before. They can answer your questions. The people who work at Fromagination are here because they love cheese-and everything that goes with it-as much as you do.


natural pairing:

Madison and Fromagination were meant for each other.
We at Fromagination think Madison is amazing. We love its openness, its diversity, its authenticity, its hunger for learning, and its enthusiasm for a mix of experiences. We love the pride it takes in its cosmopolitan quirkiness, its midwestern lack of pretension, and its respect for the environment. We get why people who move here don’t want to ever leave. There’s no place like it. Madison: the capital of Wisconsin, the dairy state, whose master cheese makers clean up at national and international cheese competitions every year. Cheese is a natural part of the living landscape of Wisconsin, from the farmers who have been working the land for generations to the cheese makers who brought their family’s craft with them to the heartland. We think Madison is too smart, too creative, and too original to be without a shop like

Fromagination is a specialty cheese shop celebrating Wisconsin artisanal cheesemakers and highlighting fine cheeses from around the United States and world. In addition to our selection of cheeses and perfect companions, we offer catering, lunches, gift baskets, classes on cheeses, and a unique venue for private events. We promise to taunt your taste buds whether you’re an experienced foodie or making your first foray into artisanal cheeses.

 We believe that it’s only natural that the people who work at Fromagination be experts in cheese and its complements. Each staff member is chosen for their enthusiasm for food and given extensive, ongoing training in its selection, history, handling, cutting and tasting. The people who work at Fromagination are here because they love cheese - and everything that goes with it - as much as you do.

 Our staff also takes service to a new level. That’s why we were awarded Madison Magazine’s Best Specialty Food Store, and why The Isthmus named us as Madison’s Favorite Specialty Food Source. We’ve also been written up in The New York Times, Midwest Living, and in numerous publications around the country.