Location:
215 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237
A Cheese Shop Grows in Brooklyn
Aaron Foster knows about cheese. He has been in the cheese business for 20 years and has worked everywhere from the former Artisanal Cheese Center in Hell’s Kitchen’s to New York City’s well-regarded Murray’s Cheese. He also spent time at a butcher shop in Brooklyn and behind the cheese counter at Whole Foods, where he got his start while in college. He also studied at the slow Food University in Pollenzo, Italy. Today, he is the owner of Foster Sundry, a local cheese shop in Brooklyn.
Foster opened the shop in late 2015 with the intention of becoming a neighborhood institution for “good, tasty stuff” for all people to enjoy. “I wanted a place where you could come and get things to cook for dinner or just get things to eat for dinner,” says Foster. “And a place where you can be educated and not experience any pretentious or condescending service. We always focused heavily on creating an environment that was like warm and welcoming and educational.”
Today, Foster Sundry has become that neighborhood institution it was intended to be with delicious products and solid service that keeps people coming back. “We have great regulars and really value the customer.”
The Store
The store is light and airy with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the charming Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn and mirrors its diverse and inclusive vibe. The vast cheese counter holds over 100 different cheeses from around the world which are cut to order. There is also a glass meat case, refrigerated shelves that stocked with fresh produce, and shelves of grocery items that include local produce, canned goods, pastas, spices, and snacks. The store offers whole animal butchery and focuses on local producers and makers.
Top-Selling Cheeses
Serra da Estrela photo courtesy of Foster Sundry
Serra da Estrela
This sheep’s milk cheese comes from Serra da Estrela, which is known as the highest mountain range in Portugal. It has structure but is still soft with a flavor that is “tart and lactic but not overly oily in a way that some of the harder sheep’s milk cheeses can be,” says Foster. “It is a beautiful little, gooey dough of perfection.” Read more about this thistle rennet cheese.
Wabash Cannonball photo courtesy Foster Sundry
This goat’s milk cheese with a ball-like shape is made at the Capriole Creamery in Indiana and is “just lovely,” says Foster. It’s a young cheese that is aged for only 10 days with a soft texture and a wrinkly exterior that has a rind dusted in ash.
Furmai de Suna photo courtesy Foster Sundry
Furmai de Suna
This raw cow’s milk cheese is from Lombardy, Italy. It is a semi-firm cheese that has a “lovely color that you often see and in Brown Swiss cow’s milk,” says Foster. The taste is nutty with a mix of “walnut skin, overripe peaches, and sometimes pineapple.”
Also Look For
A food counter offers a menu of breakfast burritos and biscuit sandwiches, soups, salads, a graib bowl, and a wide range of sandwiches made to order, paired with drink offerings of coffee, beer and wine, and cocktails. It offers indoor and outdoor seating.