Downtown shop mecca for cheese lovers

LEOMINSTER — Creamy Camembert, zesty aged Manchego, and flavorful mature cheddars are just a sampling of the varieties of domestic and imported cheeses that can be found at Fromagerie Madeline, 43 Main St., in downtown Leominster. Ryan and Bonnie Randell opened the shop, whose namesake is their 6-year-old daughter Madeline, on Nov. 28, much to the delight of area cheese lovers. The couple met on Long Island, N.Y., where Ryan hails from, and moved to Leominster in 2012, where Bonnie grew up. “I’ve been a homebrewer for years and so have always been interested in fermentation,” Ryan Randell said. “When we moved to Leominster our plan was to explore opening a craft brewery.”In what can only be called serendipitous, a cheesemaking job came along at Smith’s Country Cheese in Winchendon — which he decided to take. “It felt like a natural fit for my interests, and my wife was immediately supportive,” Ryan Randell said. “Dave Smith, the owner, was instrumental in developing my love for cheesemaking.” After the owner sold Smith’s Country Cheese, Ryan and Bonnie moved around upstate New York so Ryan could get experience making different styles of cheese. While working for Old Chatham Creamery crafting sheep milk cheeses, Ryan Randell had the opportunity to attend the Academie MonS in Saint-Haon-le-Châtel, France, to study affinage, the aging of cheese. He has worked with cheesemakers in the Netherlands making gouda and became a Certified Cheese Professional through the American Cheese Society, which requires an annual administered exam and from which he has won gold medals for his cheeses. “This year, it was very exciting to be able to speak via Zoom with the cheese-mongers and cheesemakers that passed the certification exam this year from my own creamery,” Ryan Randell said.Ryan and Bonnie decided to move back to Leominster in 2018, knowing that this time they wanted to “stay for good,” and began building a plan and looking for a space to open a creamery. “We are so happy to finally be able to put down roots and contribute to the city,” Ryan Randell said. They came across the Main Street space last February and signed a lease. “We didn’t really know what we were getting into with the pandemic, but we used the spring and the summer to build the creamery,” Ryan said. “It has definitely been a challenge to have to re-imagine your business plan as you’re in the process of building, and to not be able to have a large crew of people to help at one time. Construction moved slower than we expected but we believe that we are going to be in this business for a long time, so we tried not to overthink it and just do it right.” It took them nine months to renovate and convert the space, which was a bead store, into a food manufacturing facility and cheese shop. “Our goal has always to been to make award-winning artisan cheese in a small format that supports local dairy farmers and provides our community with high quality cheese,” Ryan Randell said. “We believe that putting your heart and soul into food feeds us all better. My time in France really transformed how I thought about food and the way that people used to visit their local baker and butcher and fromager.” The response since they officially opened three months ago has been overwhelmingly positive. “Everyone from our family and friends, to our neighbors and the community in general, has been wonderful and supportive,” Ryan Randell said. “We weren’t sure what to expect with the pandemic, but the response has surpassed every single one of our expectations. It has been really exciting and energizing to see the passion for cheese that we have here in town. We sold out of cheese every week for the first month that we were open. No matter how much cheese we made and brought in from other creameries, it would just be gone by the middle of the weekend.” On Christmas Eve they opened the shop for limited hours and there was a line of people down the block when they opened the door. “It was humbling, and we are so grateful for the community for coming out to support us,” Ryan Randell said. They are currently producing several cheeses in house including farmers cheese spreads in several flavors – Creamy, Italian Herb, Everything Bagel, Sriracha Hot Pepper, and they are working on a new Wasabi flavor. In addition, they are starting to make and test out some handmade hard cheeses, which take several months to age before they are ready to consume. “We partner with a local New England dairy farmer to deliver the freshest milk to us,” Ryan Randell said. “When they arrive in the morning, the milk is added directly into our cheese vats to be made into cheese that day. The milk is pasteurized and checked for quality. After the pasteurization process, we add a blend of cultures and rennet to the milk and let it set in the vat overnight. The next morning, we come in and ladle the curds into cheesecloth, which hangs overnight to drain the rest of the whey. The next morning, we blend the fresh cheese with salt and spices to create our farmers cheese spreads.” Once their own cheeses are ready, they will join the selection of some of the most award-winning cheeses from around the world that they offer in the shop. “We try to rotate these cheeses weekly to bring a wide variety of cheese for people to try,” Ryan Randell said, adding that one of the great things about cheese is that you can cut a piece to fit anyone’s budget. “We offer a wide price range of cheeses, and we try to cut them mindfully so that people can try a small piece or bring home a large wedge of a cheese they know that they love,” he said. “Due to the pandemic, we can’t offer sampling of the cheeses we bring in, so we’re bringing in only the cheeses that we know are delicious.” In the future they plan offer wine, beer, and spirits and cheese pairing classes to teach the fundamentals of pairing. They also plan to do a small cheesemaking course which will go in depth about milk, cheese and cheesemaking. For now, Ryan and Bonnie are thrilled to be able to offer an assortment of cheeses, crackers, gourmet sodas, and more at their shop, which is gaining notoriety among cheese lovers. According to buzz on social media, British ex-pats in particular are excited to be able to get imported cheese from their homeland locally. “My favorite part of owning my own business is also what I enjoy most about cheesemaking” Ryan Randell said. “The opportunity to make something that makes people happy, and feeds people, while honoring the traditions of centuries of cheesemakers that came before us.” For more information call 978-466-5848, visit fromageriemadeline.com, and follow Fromagerie Madeline on Facebook and Instagram.