{"id":30437,"date":"2017-05-04T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T16:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=30437"},"modified":"2021-08-24T16:47:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T20:47:24","slug":"shop-talk-cheese-boutique-toronto-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/shop-talk-cheese-boutique-toronto-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Shop Talk: Cheese Boutique in Toronto, Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt’s my lifelong goal to do nothing but wave the flag of good cheese,\u201d says Afrim Pristine. His passion for fromage is founded in his family history\u2014after emigrating from Albania, Afrim\u2019s father, Fatos, and his grandparents made a living selling artisan cheeses in a small Toronto shop that later became the Cheese Boutique<\/a>. When the store first opened in 1970, Fatos would drive five hours to Montreal to buy imported cheeses. Over time he grew the operation, gained hands-on knowledge, and began attracting regular customers.<\/p>\n

Fatos is now retired, and Afrim\u2014along with his brother, Agim, and sister-in-law, Sophia\u2014continue the family business. The Cheese Boutique, today more than 10 times its original size, provides knowledgeable service and a cheese counter featuring wedges from over 500 different makers. The shop also boasts three cheese caves, one of which is open for tours, and a cheese lab where Afrim can be found soaking Beemster in root beer, infusing blue wheels with rum, and coating curds in chocolate. \u201cWe aren\u2019t arrogant about cheese,\u201d says Afrim. \u201cWe are lovers of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

culture:<\/strong> What sparked your passion for cheese?
\nAfrim Pristine:<\/strong> It really gave me everything. My mother says that instead of a pacifier, they would put a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano<\/a> in my mouth, and I would just gnaw on that. I was kind of destined to do this.<\/p>\n

culture:<\/strong> What\u2019s your favorite cheesy dish?
\nAP:<\/strong> That\u2019s kind of like asking someone with 15 kids, who\u2019s your favorite?<\/em> I have 500 kids, if you consider all my cheeses kids. I think that potatoes and cheese is such a no-brainer, something like potatoes aligot.<\/p>\n

culture:<\/strong> Do you have a favorite wedge or wheel?
\nAP:<\/strong> I think the most important cheese in the world is Parmigiano Reggiano. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s the best, but I think it\u2019s the most important. It\u2019s an awesome cheese.<\/p>\n

culture: <\/strong>What are some odd pairings you\u2019ve tried?
\nAP:<\/strong> I love maple<\/a>. I mean, I\u2019m Canadian, right? Maple and blue cheese are amazing together, like amazing<\/em> amazing. Just a little drizzle of maple syrup on a bold, salty blue is so good.<\/p>\n

culture:<\/strong> Can cheese bring people together?
\nAP:<\/strong> Some of the most important decisions in history were made around a big table with wine and cheese. I think cheese is an incredibly social thing. Fondue is huge for us, and that is as social as it gets. Cheese is a comfortable food that I think all people enjoy. It\u2019s easy to eat. It\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

Cheese Boutique<\/strong><\/a>
\n45 Ripley Ave.
\nToronto, Canada
\n416.762.6292<\/a><\/p>\n

Mon.\u2013Fri. 9 a.m.\u20137 p.m.
\nSat.\u2013Sun. 8 a.m.\u20136 p.m.<\/p>\n

Feature Photo Credit: Ivan Otis<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a family affair spanning three generations at this Toronto cheese shop<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":30440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2595],"tags":[15277,15280,15278,2702,930,15276,1296,13128,15279,998,15281,2840,670,977,12735],"coauthors":[968],"class_list":["post-30437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shop-talk","tag-afrim-pristine","tag-agim-pristine","tag-albanian","tag-artisan","tag-blue-cheese","tag-cheese-boutique","tag-cheesemakers","tag-cheesemongers","tag-fatos-pristine","tag-fondue","tag-local","tag-maple-syrup","tag-parmigiano-reggiano","tag-shop-talk","tag-toronto"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShop Talk: Cheese Boutique in Toronto, Canada - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/shop-talk-cheese-boutique-toronto-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shop Talk: Cheese Boutique in Toronto, Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It's a family affair spanning three generations at this Toronto cheese shop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/shop-talk-cheese-boutique-toronto-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-04T16:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-24T20:47:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cheeseboutique_feature-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel E. 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