Cheese Storytellers

Fromagination showcases Wisconsin’s rich history of cheese.

Fromagination, a go-to cheese shop in Madison, WI, for 18 years, is the creation of owner Ken Monteleone, who is passionate about highlighting Wisconsin’s rich cheese­making heritage and its emerging artisan food scene.

“A visit to Fromagination should do more than just satisfy your palate,” he says. “It should also foster an appreciation for healthy, flavorful Midwestern foods and the talented people behind them.”

Growing up in Colorado, Monteleone’s family owned a specialty food business, and he has fond memories of working with local farmers and seeing how food items could unite a community.

In the early ’90s, Monteleone moved to Madison to take on the corporate world and fell in love with the city. He worked as a shoe buyer and traveled the world, with no thoughts of ever opening his own business.

“Eventually, I decided I had enough of the corporate world, and I wanted to stay in Madison and become part of the food scene,” says Monteleone. “I thought a cut-to-order European-style shop was needed.”

Raised in an Italian family, his fondest memory was celebrating the holidays with an 80-pound Parmigiano Reggiano, and throughout the season, the family would give that to friends and family who would visit in December.

“Cheese was always something that was shared,” says Monteleone. “But having lived in Madison for 15 years before I opened Fromagination, I got to know a lot of the producers from the Dane County Farmers’ Market, which is located right outside our doorstep.”

He was also familiar with the state’s rich history of cheesemaking that goes back 125 years, but at the time his shop opened in 2007, no shop focused on telling the stories of the artisans.

“One dream I had always had was opening a store that celebrated the producer and become an advocate for telling those stories,” says Monteleone. “We like to say that every cheese tells a story, so we like to dive in and really showcase them.”

AN EVOLVING BUSINESS

Even though Monteleone had a well-thought-out business idea, getting his shop off the ground was not easy. He had to go to numerous banks before he found one that believed in the concept.

“The only reason he [the lender] believed in it was because he had a family in the dairy business, so I finally was able to get a small business loan,” he says. “Two years into it, we were struggling, even though we were getting a lot of national press. We were even featured in the New York Times shortly after opening, but it was tough.”

“We may be a very small retailer, but when you have this community, you can make a lot of noise when you all partner together. It’s the people who really make this worthwhile.”
— Ken Monteleone

One of his moments occurred in 2009 when Monteleone got a call from Tony Hook, who is known for making cheddar in Wisconsin, who told him he was introducing a 15-year-old cheddar and offered him the chance to be one of the first stores to carry it.

“I was a little hesitant because we had never had a cheese that retailed for over $30 a pound, and when he told me the price, I knew I would have to retail for over $80 a pound, so I asked for 10 pounds,” he says. “This was back in 2009, and I had 40 messages from people who had read about the cheddar or heard about it in a podcast that Tony did on All Things Considered.”

Monteleone called Hook and told him that he had already sold four times as much as he had contracted for, and the cheesemaker was more than happy to help him out with more.

“The orders poured in throughout the country, and that helped us get through the holiday season,” he says.

NOTABLE PRODUCTS

When Fromagination first opened, Monteleone had planned to open with a small assortment of European cheeses, and the shipment got delayed, which he calls “a blessing in disguise.”

“We ended up focusing on Wisconsin cheeses that first month,” he says. “It was not initially planned. That helped set the stage for what we were all about and brought what was going on in our own backyard to the grand stage with our opening.”

At the time, Wisconsin was going through what Monteleone characterized as a “cheese renaissance,” with a lot of new cheesemakers entering the arena.

“Some of them were fourth-generation cheesemakers whose families had closed the businesses, and they were resurrecting those,” says Monteleone. “So, we started about the same time these artisans were entering the scene.”

Over the years, as these cheesemakers have grown, Fromagination has developed strong relationships, and it’s helped the shop expand.

“We work with producers who have a story to tell,” says Monteleone. “We want to represent Wisconsin first. Today, over 80% of our assortment is Wisconsin-made.”

Although the shop primarily features Wisconsin products, Fromagination frequently offers guests the opportunity to sample cheeses from renowned producers in regions, like Vermont, Minnesota, California, Italy, France, England and the Netherlands.

A cheese worthy of space at Fromagination is one with an interesting story.

“We like to get to know the producer, and it’s very important that we buy directly from them,” says Monteleone. “Even though it would be easier to buy from a distributor, we would prefer to pay a little more so we can call the producer, visit their farm and really know what’s being delivered to our store. Those relationships are very important to us so we can tell the story authentically.”

For example, Fromagination works with Ron Henningfeld of Hill Valley Dairy, and one of its most popular cheeses is Luna, a cave-aged, natural rind alpine/gouda hybrid with a nutty and tangy flavor, slight crunch and earthiness from the rind.

“There are only a handful of shops that carry his selection of artisan cheeses,” says Monteleone. “The flavor intensity of Luna really has a unique character to it, and it’s become a staple in our shop.”

A TOP TEAM

The business has gone through a lot of changes in 18 years — it’s survived the pandemic, stayed strong amongst a lot of protests (the store sits right on Capitol Square) and an ever-changing environment in the retail world. Monteleone credits his team with helping get through it all.

“Our team focuses on service and hospitality,” he says. “Our big point of differentiation is becoming storytellers and really getting to know what people like.”

The store offers samples of most of its product, and at any given time, has 80-100 cheeses available, complemented by other local products that pair with cheese.

“Our team is really outgoing and hospitality-driven and takes pleasure in creating a fun environment that showcases the artisan,” says Monteleone. “We can’t compete on price, so we compete on the experience and the taste.”