Remembering Anne Saxelby: An Icon of the Artisanal American Cheese Movement

Cheesemonger, cheese store owner, and cheese educator Anne Saxelby passed away peacefully in her sleep last weekend due to an enlarged heart. While her death is a shock to the cheese community in New York and beyond, that she had a larger than normal heart isn’t a surprise.

“Anne was a visionary and inspirational leader within the cheese industry,” says Elizabeth Chubbuck, Chief Strategy Officer of Murray’s Cheese. “Her dedication to American artisan cheeses, and the people who make them, helped shape the landscape of our industry. Her work touched the lives of so many—from mongers to makers, chefs to customers—and the industry will not be the same without her warm, generous, pioneering spirit.”

“She was a trailblazer, trendsetter, and taste maker,” says Adam Moskowitz, founder of The Cheesemonger Invitational and CEO of Larkin Cold Storage “Few people I know worked as hard, knew more, and maintained as much humility as Anne.”

The category of American artisanal cheese only has so many champions and icons in its relatively young life, and Anne Saxelby was decidedly one of them. In a 2012 story about her in Edible Manhattan, author Brian Halweil also noted that, “Indeed Saxelby has helped redefine what the words American cheese even mean.”

As news of her death spread on Monday, tributes began appearing in all corners of the internet. Cheese professional and writer Christine Clark of Your Cheese Friend and Cheese Professor contributor wrote, “Anne Saxelby was the best of the cheese industry. Smart, kind, passionate, down-to-earth. Anne was the f*cking coolest.”

“My heart is heavy after hearing about the passing of Anne Saxelby,” reported Marissa Mullen of That Cheese Plate “She was the most down-to-earth, genuine person and her passion for cheese was a beautiful art to witness.”

My own interaction with Saxelby was limited to a single phone conversation we had for a piece I would write on cheese buying tips, with her input based on her book. Still, it was enough to feel the emotional jerk regarding the news that she had passed away. As the co-owner of Saxelby Cheesemongers , and the soon-to-be-published-author of The New Rules of Cheese it was impossible for me not to understand that this woman’s time was limited, and valuable. (Let her book’s subtitle also speak for her as a person: “A Freewheelin’ & Informative Guide.”) That she freely gave her time and expertise to a burgeoning cheese writer for a then-brand-new site was already a profound act of generosity. That she was also warm, unhurried, unpretentious, and funny made it a true gift.

She started Saxelby Cheesemongers—one of the first cheese shops devoted entirely to American cheeses—at the age of 25. In a recent message to Clark, Saxelby shared, “I was a baby and had no idea what I was doing. I felt like I was having a garage sale!” She was a rare food enthusiast who knew from an early age that she wanted to work the retail angle, completing the virtuous cycle of American artisan cheese: from the farmers who make it, to the retailers who are passionate about telling the stories behind the cheeses, to the consumers who taste something revelatory for the first time and come back for more.

Prior to opening Saxelby’s, Anne Saxelby talked her way into a cheesemonger job at Murray’s Cheese, and then talked her way into a cheesemaking internship at Cato Corner Farm in Colchester, CT, where she learned firsthand some of the stories behind American artisan cheese. (Even the short amount of time I spent interacting with her makes these events entirely believable.) As she was a passionate advocate for the stories of the farms and farmers who make cheese, it seems fitting to finish with a reflection on Anne’s story from Mark Gillman and Elizabeth MacAlister from Cato Corner Farm:

When Anne arrived fresh out of college to make cheese with us, we recognized right away that she possessed tremendous kindness and warmth, and she lived her life with an infectious joy. Anne brought a passion for cheese, a curious mind, and boundless energy—she dove right in to learn as much as she could about small-scale farming and cheese making. How did she know at such a young age that this was what she wanted to do? In a few short years, Anne grew into a leading advocate for American farmstead and artisanal cheeses, introducing them to leading chefs and discerning customers. Her personal strengths carried her through a remarkable and far-too-short career that touched and inspired so many of us who knew her. There’s a hole in the world today.

Please consider giving to: the Slow Food Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund:

The fund will provide training opportunities to financially distressed teenagers and young adults—allowing them to apprentice in sustainable systems and agriculture, domestically and abroad, the way Anne did. These opportunities can enable youth participants to return home and have the same impact on their communities that Anne had in hers.

Condolences can be found and left online at: Anne Therese Saxelby obituary