Who is Venissimo?
Venissimo Cheese was founded by Gina & Roger Freize in San Diego, California, in 2003. But it almost never opened! The owner of the retail space was not interested in splitting a larger space nor leasing a little wedgie to an unknown business in an unknown industry (who wants to buy just cheese)? After spending months calling & faxing reasons to let Venissimo in, Gina overheard that the owner would be at the site on a certain day. So she snuck in with a cheese plate to let the product & presentation speak for itself. Needless to say, the owner was convinced & agreed to the deal the very next day! Venissimo Mission Hills opened its doors on January 17, 2003. Roughly three years later, Venissimo opened its second location in Del Mar. It's third shop in Belmont Shore just opened in November 2008 & its newest location - complete with an Academy of Cheese (AoC) - just opened in downtown San Diego in September 2009! Where next? Stay tuned...
Venissimo's mission is to do for cheese what Starbucks® did for coffee! "Someday, camembert will be as well-known as cappuccino," says Cheese Wiz Gina. We will do this by sharing the goodness & glory of cheese. Literally - when you visit the shop, you can taste absolutely anything you like. Friendly cheeseheads and descriptive receipts (complete with pronunciations, country of origin, milk type & more) aim to take the intimidation out of artisinal cheese shopping. Take a peek at our debut video on YouTube to get a feel for what we're all about.
Venissimo offers a flexible wholesale program to restaurants, caterers & other gourmet professionals, with no minimums & "cheese 101" training available. In other words, get what you need, when you need it! Please contact any manager at any of our locations to learn more.
When in San Diego, Del Mar or Long Beach, stop by & say hi to everyone:
Take a look at our latest monthly Cheese Chat Newsletter, where we announce new arrivals, list tasting events, share stories & offer excellent food & beverage pairing suggestions. For up-to-the-minute news tweets, follow us on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook. Also check out what some other publications have to say:
We are members of the American Cheese Society & regularly carry cheeses from the following domestic cheesemakers:
