New England's Best: Best Cheese Shop

From cheddar to gouda, Swiss to blue, it ain't easy being cheesy. But where do you go when you want to pay "homage to the Frommage?" You voted, we counted then hit the road to sample "New England's Best Cheese Shop".

Anyway you slice it, our third-place winner, Formmagio, with locations in Boston and Cambridge, has something for everyone with over 300 cheeses to choose from.

Robert Augilera, Formmagio Kitchen
"Everyone loves to come in here and try something new."

Here, cheesemongers have been serving up imported and domestic delights for a quarter of a century. Their secret to success? Never leaving "holes" in customer service.

Robert Augilera, Formmagio Kitchen
"There's always someone, who's afraid and doesn't know what to do, and when you guide them you end up showing them it's not that difficult."

Formmagio takes care to store their cheeses in a proper fashion. The owner built one of the country's first cheese caves.

Robert Augilera, Formmagio Kitchen
"It keeps the cheeses at their proper temperature and their proper humidity."

You can smile and say cheese at our second-place winner, The Village Cheese in Foxboro. It opened in 2002, after its owners said goodbye to corporate America to pursue their passion.

Keith Noftle, Village Cheese Shoppe
"We don't have any employees besides ourselves so no matter when anyone comes in, they're always dealing with one of the owners."

If you look "sharp", you'll find 65 different cheeses from more than 15 countries.

Keith Noftle, Village Cheese Shoppe
"It's a little more expensive than you get in the supermarket, but it's worth it. It's better."

And the service here is guaranteed to never make you "blue".

Keith Noftle, Village Cheese Shoppe
"We're not cheese snobs. We're a different kind of shop."

The cheese stands alone at our first-place winner, Farmstead in Providence, Rhode Island, a shop that prides itself on its high standards.

Matthew Jennings, Farmstead
"We can provide them with better and different cheeses than they can get anywhere else."

Farmstead specializes in "cutting edge" small batch cheeses, many from local New England cheese makers.

Matthew Jennings, Farmstead
"A lot of stuff from Vermont, NH, Maine."

Each day each cheese is carefully unwrapped and put out on display, making a visit to the shop a sensory experience.

Matthew Jennings, Farmstead
"You can see it, touch it, feel it, smell it."

So next time you've got a hanker for a hunk of cheese, be sure to check out New England's Best... Three shops where the cream rises to the top.