Courtney C Johnson PhD, ACS CCP, CCSE

Ahhhh! Party in your mouth 🎉! Cheese taste test with world champion cheesemongers Emilia D’albero and Courtney Johnson via @kellyclarksonshow

Party in your mouth! Cheese taste test with world champion cheesemongers Emilia D'albero and Courtney Johnson

When Emilia and I hit the podium at Mondial this year, I don't think either of us "talk to Kelly Clarkson on her show" on our post-competition bingo card. Turns out Kelly enjoys delicious cheese 😉, SO we will be part of the @kellyclarksonshow tomorrow! Find out when/where to watch in your area here: /wheretowatch

Did you know Emilia D’Albero won the gold medal at the Mondial du Fromage? The opportunity to compete at Mondial is granted to the top 2 scoring mongers at the Cheesemonger Invitational: Masters competition, where previous Cheesemonger Invitational champions compete for the chance to earn a spot on Team USA. Emilia D’Albero of Philadelphia recently made history, becoming the first American ever to be crowned Best Cheesemonger in the World at the Mondial du Fromage in Tours, France. Emilia was also a part of the first all-female Team USA alongside Seattle's Courtney Johnson, who took 3rd place, making them the first Team USA to both be on the podium! Emilia and Courtney's win is a milestone that celebrates skill, creativity, and passion for the craft of cheesemaking and storytelling. What an incredible moment for the cheese world! In one of the most memorable moments of the competition, Emilia chose a mountain Parmigiano Reggiano as the centerpiece of her oral presentation. She spoke about how this iconic Italian cheese was the one that first made her realize how an ingredient could become an experience. For her, a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano represents dedication, tradition, and the beauty of Italian craftsmanship. During another challenge, she showcased the cheese’s versatility with a stunning creation: a black-pepper frico cup filled with cheese soufflé, fennel pollen, and strawberry balsamic jelly, topped with shards of Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh fennel fronds and a locally sourced dried fennel flower. The judges were moved not only by her technical mastery but by the emotion and storytelling behind every detail. Emilia’s win is also a celebration of raw-milk traditions and the people who keep them alive. She describes cheesemongers as storytellers—bridging the gap between the maker and the consumer—and her work honors those connections beautifully. Her passion, knowledge, and respect for tradition align perfectly with the mission of Parmigiano Reggiano and the Oldways Cheese Coalition: to preserve heritage, celebrate craftsmanship, and inspire the next generation of cheese lovers around the world.

Fromage et ses Amis in Le Mans, France: my favorite cheese shop in the world. Coming back a second time confirmed it, from the first visit for a blind tasting before Mondial in 2023 to this visit for a guided tasting in September of this year. Fabien does amazing things in his shop, a true inspiration for cheesemongering at its finest. Not only does he sell a tight selection of cheeses from his jewel-box of a store, but he selects and ages cheeses to his very specific ideals. He has a suite of aging coolers in the basement where he shepherds young cheeses to the profiles of his choosing. My favorite cheese that he puts his touch to is a chèvre with a line of wasabi through the middle. 🤤 The store is highly curated down to the experience. He offers three pairing accompaniments for every cheese that he sells, and the compressors for all of his cases are in another room so all that you hear is the sound of rock music being played and the soft voices of cheesemongers helping customers with their shopping. On this visit, we tasted a flight of cheeses including some Loire Valley Chèvres, a Camembert stuffed with pepper, the wasabi Chèvre, Maroilles, Comté, Fourme d'Ambert, and Boulette d'Avesnes. Fabien and his team also prepared some bites for us: Sainte-Maure with smoked trout, a pâté made from Sainte-Maure, a baked St. Felicien and a baked Manigodine, Rillettes, pâté de campagne and some pâtés en croûte, and some locally crafted pastries. Such treats! While I know that crafting something similar to what Fabien has created is a long way off for us in expensive Seattle, I am definitely inspired to it in our shop. In the meantime, I look forward to the next time I get to go back for a visit.

On the latest Cutting the Curd, Joe and Cara got on the line with Emilia D’Albero (@emdalbero ), newly crowned World Champion Cheesemonger, and Courtney Johnson (@thephcheese ) who took home the bronze at the Mondial du Fromage (@mondialfromagetours ) in France. For the first time ever, two Americans — and two women — stood on the podium at this global stage. We talked about their journey from @thecheesemongerinvitational Cheesemonger Invitational Masters, the highs and lows of competing in France, and what this moment means for the U.S. cheese community. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts — this one’s not to be missed!

Two American cheesemongers just made history at France’s Le Mondial du Fromage, also known as the Olympics of Cheese 🧀🥇🇺🇸

A little tour of Rodolphe Le Meunier's aging caves earlier in September. How could you not appreciate the many shapes of French cheeses, especially the countless iterations of geo- and ash-ripened goat cheeses? 😍

Today is Street Cheese's Grand Opening Celebration. It's also the 5th anniversary of our business legally starting. Who knew that when I rage-started a business on my break at work 5 years ago, that the result would take us here, from mobile cheese shop to brick-and-mortar store, learning so much, making constant mistakes, and doing a bunch of cool shit along the way. We searched for over 2 years for a location to open our store, because we believed deeply in creating a home for and around cheese in Seattle. It hasn't been an easy ride by any means, and there were many times when we both felt despair. Things are not all unicorns and rainbows yet, but it's amazing to think that we made our own business and we get to do what we love every day. There's nobody I would rather have been on this journey with than @tailor_raeofsunshine : the laughter, the tears, the girl dinners, the business meetings, the back pain, the joys and stresses of girl-bossing are all so much better with you as my business partner, teammate and coach. Thanks for putting up with my anxiety and imposter syndrome and seemingly endless cheesemonger competitions. 😆 The Mortadella in the first pic is our sign for "we made it," because we finally get to have a slicer big enough to slice a big Mortadella. No more cutting them in quarters so they fit on baby slice at the commissary kitchen! 💅 👸🏼👸🏼 Here's to formally being open for business, and to 5 more years. 🥂🧀

Thanks so much to New Day NW for having Courtney on today to talk about cheese 🧀 and her 3rd place 🥉 showing at the Concours Mondial du Meilleur Fromager. You can watch the full segment online (link in our bio). 🥳🥳Tomorrow is our grand opening, so we hope you'll also come in to taste the cheeses with us in person! Also, we are rolling out new (simpler) hours this week: Tuesday through Friday 12-7p, Saturday 11a-6p. 👌

It’s been a whirlwind, y’all. September has been bonkers and I still don’t know how to feel. My second run at the Concours Mondial du Meilleur Fromager is done. I am so incredibly proud to have stood with Emilia, one of my best friends, on the podium in Tours. We are both people who don’t like to talk about ourselves, so it’s been strange to draw so much attention to ourselves—and now to be able to say with confidence that we are the first to have done something really big. I guess we have to say it out loud: Emilia is the first American to ever win best cheesemonger in the world! I am the first American woman selected to stand on the podium at the Concours—and the first woman to compete twice for Team USA. Together we made it the first time two women from the same country have stood on the podium together. It’s absolutely crazy, you guys. We’ve been so moved by the outpouring of support we’ve received this year. From people sending us cheese and product to practice with, to folks coming to our practice events and critiquing our work, to those who donated to our crowdfunding campaign to help us fully prepare. There are so many folks who played a role in both of our success. I have to give a special shout to some folks who really ran the distance with me: Norbert and Matze for an exceptional wheel of Shadow Blossom; Rosie for the blind tastings; Janee’ for the pics, tastings and honesty; Tailor for feedback, emotional support and letting me leave for two weeks right after we opened our shop; my parents for helping out in lots of ways; and Joe for keeping me fed & alive until I left for Europe. Great big thanks to Mel, Mark, Alex & Anne for rounding out the Team USA entourage in France and helping us get across the finish line. Extra special thanks to Alex and Tommy for constant encouragement and feedback. And of course none of us would be anywhere in this without Adam and his dedication to that thing we all work for—cheese. This effort really took a village, and I am forever in debt to you all. It's been clear to us both how much this means for the industry in the US, and that makes us all the more grateful. Thank you all for everything. We did it!

It's been almost a week now, and we are still over the moon at Team USA's success at the 2025 Concours Mondial du Meilleur Fromager (the competition for the best cheesemonger in the world). Courtney traveled to Tours, France, for a trailblazing competition. Courtney Johnson and Emilia d'Albero of Formaticum (the supplier we buy our cheese paper from!) were the two competitors selected to represent Team USA. They competed as individuals against 16 other competitors from across the world. When they were selected for Team USA during the Cheesemonger Invitational Competition in March, they were already making history: Courtney and Emilia became the first-ever all-female Team USA to compete in Mondial, and Courtney was the second person ever to represent Team USA twice and the first woman to represent Team USA twice. Courtney and Emilia worked tirelessly over the past months to prepare for the competition, often bouncing ideas off of each other, getting together to rehearse, and studying together. At the competition, they went through an 8-hour gauntlet that tested their skills as master cheesemongers: a multiple-choice test, a blind taste test, a perfect cutting test, an oral presentation, and five food-service tests. The food-service tests include a plate featuring five cheeses unveiled at the start of the test, a perfect pairing of Parmigiano Reggiano 24-month, a cold dish featuring Stilton, a 100 centimeter-squared display following the theme "Shades of Color," and a cheese sculpture. Courtney earned the bronze medal 🥉 at the competition, making her the first American woman to ever be on the podium at Mondial. And Emilia took the gold 🥇, making her the first American to win the title of Best of Cheesemonger in the World. (In 2023, Sam Rollins of Cowbell Fine Cheese was the first American to place at the competition, taking home the silver medal 🥈.) This was a huge accomplishment for American cheesemongers and cheese lovers. Congratulations Emilia, and congratulations Courtney! You did it! 🏆