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GLOBAL TRADING: CHEESE SHOPS

LA FROMAGERIE LONDON
Just off bustling Marylebone High Street, La Fromagerie (above) makes a bewitching destination for the questing gourmet. Combining cheesemonger, delicatessen and stylish café, it sells some 240 cheeses whose numbers and types vary by season. All are hand-made (most with raw milk) and bought direct from their producers. The Beaufort Chalet d'Alpage is especially good. ~ ADAM BARNES
2-6 Moxon Street, London W1; +44 (0)20 7935 0341

FROMAGERIE VACROUX ET FILS PARIS
One shelf groans under the weight of 25 different goats' cheeses; another tempts with little pots of homemade Fontainebleau. At this family-run shop on a vibrant market street south of Montparnasse--in autumn, the stalls spill on to the pavement--Sylvan (the founders' grandson) will talk you through the shop's speciality, Comte Vieux from Pontarlier. ~ SARAH DALLAS
5 rue Daguerre, 75014 Paris; +33 (0)1 43 22 09 04

SAXELBY CHEESEMONGERS NEW YORK
"Cheese candy" is how Anne Saxelby describes her bestselling item, Ascutney Mountain, a hard cheese made from raw cow's milk. It tastes like a cross between aged Gruyère and aged Gouda, with a texture enlivened by crunchy crystalline bits. Saxelby's Manhattan market stall is a pungent jewelbox stocked with craggy wedges from around 30 farmsteads in America's north-east--but for out-of-towners, she ships nationwide. ~ JESSICA GALLUCCI
Essex Street Market #17, 120 Essex Street, NY 10002; +1 (212) 228 820

CHEESE STORE OF BEVERLY HILLS LOS ANGELES
Nearly 600 varieties of artisanal cheeses shoulder up against gourmet foodstuffs (olive oils, truffles), while customers sidestep wheels of cheese to seek out the expertise of charismatic owner Norbert Wabnig, who happily doles out suggestions for wine and food pairings, as well as plenty of samples. ~ SARA WILSON
419 North Beverly Dr, Los Angeles, CA 9021; +1 (310) 278 2855

LA BAITA DEL FORMAGGIO MILAN
At peak cheese-eating season in winter, more than 300 varieties of formaggio from throughout Italy--and farther afield--can be found at this charming breadbox of a shop near Milan's Parco Solari. Roberto Rusconi is the third generation of the family to operate La Baita--a Milan presence since 1958--and the Risconis' history in the cheese business dates back to 1880. Be sure to try the shop's Lariano Speziato, a delicate, buttery cheese flavoured with herbs. ~ HEATHER O'BRIAN
Via Foppa 5, Milan, Italy 20144; +39 02 48 17 892

(See past Global Trading articles on apothecaries, flea markets, and stationiers)

IMAGE SOURCES: MICHAEL TURKELL, GERARD GRECH, ALAMY, FLPA