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“Cheese can heal the world in a lot of ways,” she said.

PCS is part of a nationwide surge in LGBTQ-owned cheese businesses using the snack to build community.įor Birnbaum, community might just be the best part of a well-crafted cheese board. Philadelphia Cheese School founder Julia Birnbaum Sanjana Friedman for Billy Pennīut women have always played a crucial role in the history of cheesemaking and mongering, having established some of the Midwest’s first cheese factories. PCS’s mission of adding femininity and accessibility to cheese has become crucial as Birnbaum lists skepticism, sexism, and online criticism as part-and-parcel of her life in cheese: “People mad that I’m a women, mad that I’m openly queer, just mad.” There she learned it was possible to “build a life in cheese,” splitting her time between mongering and marketing at the NYC cheese giant known for its vast selection and grilled cheese sandwiches. “This business is my dream, I’ve dreamed of ever since I got into the cheese business in 2014,” she told Billy Penn in between bites of Manchego.īirnbaum was raised on the Main Line, and became enamored with cheese when she landed a job at Murray’s after college at Sarah Lawrence. Though PCS started as an online passion project during the COVID-19 pandemic, Birnbaum said the school has been a highlight of her almost decade-long career in the cheese industry.

A Saint Agur blue cheese from France, which Birnbaum called a “gateway blue,” best served to people who still recoil at the thought of eating moldy cheese.

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A fresh goat-and-sheep milk blend marinated in olive oil and rosemary from Australia, best for spreading on the nearest available cracker.

A Manchego from Spain, best served at room temperature.

There are also less conventional classes, like “Cheese & Cereal” and “Cheese & Gummies.”īilly Penn’s tutorial took place near a cow-printed vase with three staple cheeses: Offerings run the gamut from “Cheese Basics,” a 90-minute introductory tasting course taught by Birnbaum, to hour-long cocktail and beer pairing classes co-sponsored by mixer juggernaut Fever Tree and East Passyunk’s Cartesian Brewing. in Philadelphia and New York City’s famed Murray Cheese, the school offers an array of classes for everyone from aspiring maîtres de fromage (French for cheese master) to people just trying to figure out what to include on a charcuterie board. Run by cheesemonger Julia Birnbaum, who spent years working at Di Bruno Bros. If you’re seeking a systematic but playful introduction, you can stop by the Philadelphia Cheese School on 9th and Bainbridge streets. But where can you learn what to do with all the fun, fancy fromage? Philadelphia is home to plenty of specialty cheese shops, from tricked out sections and high-end supermarkets to local gourmet grocers to mom-and-pop shops.

Philadelphia foodie tour