Meet Leah McFadden, ACS CCP, who is a Specialty Team Leader at the Blossom Hills Whole Foods in San Jose, California.
Updated 3/23/2013: Leah has been chosen as one of the Official Cheesemongers at the 30th ACS Conference this August in Madison, Wisconsin. Congrats Leah, on this honor!!! See you in Madison!!!
Leah is one of the 121 Cheese Professionals certified this past summer by the American Cheese Society. Congratulations!!
Leah started working at Whole Foods Market in 2008. As a Demo Specialist, the “Cheese Bug” bit her while sampling French cheeses to her customer… isn’t that how it always starts… we taste all these wonderful cheeses and never look back… Once she took a bite of Boucherondin, she was hooked. Very shortly after that Leah became the cheese buyer in the Specialty Department where she learned as much as she could about cheese and how to take care of it. Now she is running her own Specialty Team at the Whole Foods Market in San Jose, CA.
Last year Leah was part of the first class of Certified Cheese Professionals and after being certified, she has been doing everything she can to further her career in cheese.
She currently writes a cheese blog called Shootin’ the Bries and is helping spread the word about artisan cheese.
We asked Leah to answer our questions and here’s what she had to say:
1. Your perfect/favorite pairing.
I love the Harbison from Jasper Hill with the Jimtown Fig and Olive spread. I know that it is not the typical cheese and beverage pairing, but I’ve honestly never had a better pairing to date.
2. Build us your dream cheese plate.
Coupole from Vermont Butter and Creamery, Harbison from Jasper Hill, Petit Agour (the raw milk version) and Rogue River Blue.
3. What’s your favorite grilled cheese?
I’m a sucker for grilled cheese made with Comte and caramelized onions… To die for!
4. Tell us one non-cheese fact about yourself.
I’m very athletic. I play volleyball, practice yoga and love to run!
5. If you could have dinner with any famous person, alive or historic, who would it be and why?
I would love to have dinner with Mateo and Andy Kehler. They make amazing cheese and I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them yet!
You can follow Leah on twitter at @cuteypie2213.
We thank Leah for taking the time to participate in our 2013: The Year of The Cheesemonger Project.
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