Company type | Private |
---|---|
Founder | Norbert Wabnig |
Headquarters | Beverly Hills, California , |
Products | Gourmet foods, most notably cheese |
Owner | Norbert Wabnig |
Website | www.cheesestorebh.com |
The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills is a gourmet foods store in Beverly Hills, California, known for its selection of 500-600 cheeses.[1] It also has wines and other delicacies, including the rarest of all caviars, Golden Imperial Osetra,[1] and as such is often quoted by high-end publications, such as Bon Appétit[2] and Entrepreneur magazine,[3] as a notable epicurean source. According to its website, the store carries “the largest assortment of goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses found anywhere.”[4] The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills’s owner, Norbert Wabnig, has become a noted Los Angeles personality.
The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, which is housed in a refurbished 1920s brick building, has been the purveyor for many of the city’s high-end restaurants, past and present, including Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, Valentino’s, Patina, Mélisse, Michael’s, and Bar Marmont, as well as Las Vegas’ Bellagio hotel.[5]
History
The Beverly Hills location of Cheese Shop International, an East Coast-based franchise,[6] was founded in 1967 by Colonel Sigmund Roth.[5] After a few years of the colonel’s declining health, in 1978, Norbert Wabnig, who had worked at the store by day while pursuing his music career at night, purchased the business and changed the name to The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. He transformed the store’s feel from one of an upscale chain store to the more European style that it retains today.[7] Wabnig has often stated that he likes the community aspect of the store, which often hosts wine tastings.
As a way of honoring producers of handmade specialty foods from which he finds his products, in 2004, Wabnig founded the American Artisanal Treasure Awards. Awards are presented for Best Cheese, Best Olive Oil, and Best Condiment.[8]
In 2005, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills introduced its house wine, Scoundrel, a cabernet bottled by Sylvester Vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Wabnig’s daughter, Talia, designed the label.[7]
Products
Because of its epicurean nature, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills has been known to carry hard-to-find and high-end ingredients, which over the years have included Austrian pumpkin seed oil, fresh truffles (in season), varieties of French butter, various kinds of Russian caviar (Golden Imperial Osetra and Sevruga), foie gras, French and Spanish hams, Italian prosciutto, and 25 varieties of extra virgin olive oil.[5] As part of The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills’s environmental beliefs, customers are encouraged to bring their own bottles, which are then filled with olive oil.[9]
Owner
Born in Vienna, Austria, on August 11, 1948, Norbert Wabnig and his family moved to New Orleans in 1955, but returned during summers to Vienna, where he apprenticed in the kitchen of his uncle Franz Blauensteiner’s restaurant, Gausthaus au Stadt Paris, a popular spot for celebrities such as Oskar Werner and Klaus Maria Brandauer.[5] After graduating from the University of New Orleans, Wabnig moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music with his band Wendell Nightfall Troupe. To support himself, Wabnig took a job at The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, which he later bought in 1978.[7]
Wabnig travels the world in search of cheeses for the store.[10] He is a member of the American Cheese Society and often assists top culinary schools – including The Cordon Bleu Program at the California School of Culinary Arts, The New School of Cooking, and others – with cheese courses.[10]
With Ruthie Grahm, Norbert Wabnig composed the theme song for the Los Angeles chapter of Meals on Wheels.[11]
In popular culture
Eat, Drink or Die. Wabnig hosted a Cheese of the Day video series for the popular epicurean website.[12]
In 2007, Wabnig appeared on the History (formerly, The History Channel) series Modern Marvels, as a cheese expert.
Notable customers
- Maud Adams
- Jessica Alba
- Paul Anka
- Alec Baldwin
- Ellen Barkin
- Justine Bateman
- Brian Benben
- Richard Benjamin
- Corbin Bernsen
- Jessica Biel
- Jacqueline Bisset
- Dirk Blocker
- Betsy Bloomingdale
- Mel Brooks
- Sandra Bullock
- Brooke Burke
- James Burrows
- Nicolas Cage
- Dean Cain
- Michael Caine
- Jackie Chan
- David Charvet
- Sonny Chiba
- John Cleese
- Bobby Colomby
- Jimmy Connors
- Ray Cooper
- Robert Culp
- Timothy Dalton
- Freddy & Candy DeMann
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Catherine Deneuve
- Zooey Deschanel
- Danny DeVito
- Susan Dey
- Angie Dickinson
- Shannen Doherty
- Marlo Thomas Donahue
- Kirk Douglas
- Faye Dunaway
- Jose Eber
- Emilio Estevez
- Linda Evans
- Peter Falk
- Farrah Fawcett
- Fergie
- Calista Flockhart
- George Folsey, Jr.
- Bridget Fonda
- Jane Fonda
- Peter Fonda
- Harrison Ford
- George Foreman
- Jodie Foster
- Jonathan Frakes
- Dennis Franz
- Ina Garten
- Ellen Geer
- Willow Geer
- David Geffen
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Kelsey Grammar
- Dave Grohl
- Evan Handler
- Selma Hayek
- Ann Heche
- Dustin Hoffman
- Peter Horton
- Ron Howard
- Pell James
- Quincy Jones
- Louis Jourdan
- Michael Keaton
- Nastassia Kinski
- Keira Knightly
- John Larroquette
- Avril Lavigne
- Kelly Le Brock
- Jay Leno
- Peggy Lipton
- Alison Lohman
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Barbara Luna
- John Malkovich
- Ray Manzarek
- Rachel McAdams
- Ed McMahon
- Bette Midler
- Alfred Molina
- Sharon & Ozzy Osborne
- Michael Ovitz
- Luciana Paluzzi
- Alan Parsons
- Amy Pascal
- John Pasquin
- Amanda Peet
- Rhea Perlman
- David Hyde Pierce
- Sidney Poitier
- Paula Prentiss
- Priscilla Presley
- Kelly Preston
- Jason Priestley
- Nancy Reagan
- Rob Reiner
- Ivan Reitman
- Lionel Richie
- Gavin Rossdale
- Tom Scott
- Ryan Seacrest
- George Segal
- William Shatner
- Cybil Shepherd
- Gene Simmons
- Nancy Sinatra
- Suzanne Somers
- James Spader
- Aaron Spelling
- Sylvester Stallone
- Ray Stark
- Ringo Starr
- Connie Stevens
- Martha Stewart
- Patrick Stewart
- Sharon Stone
- Madeleine Stowe
- Barbra Streisand
- Cheryl Tiegs
- Joe Torre
- Sam Trammell
- Tracey Ullman
- Andy Vajna
- Robert Wagner
- Deryck Whibley
- Douglas Wick
- Gene Wilder
- JoBeth Williams
- Irwin & Margo Winkler
- Mare Winningham
- Alfre Woodard
- Kristi Yamaguchi
- Yanni
- Daphne Zuniga
Awards
- Received 2-Leaf ranking[13] from Greenopia Los Angeles as a Distinguished Business for 2008–2009.
- Voted Best Cheese Shop in Los Angeles in 2007 and 2008 by MyFoxLA.[14]
- Awarded the “Best Gourmet Food Store” by editors and readers for Los Angeles’ edition of the Best of Citysearch website poll in 2006 and 2007.[15]
- The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills was rated #1 Overall, #1 for Cheese, and #1 for Beverly Hills by Zagat every year from 1997–2001. In Zagat’s 1999/2000 Survey, it was one of only two food sources to receive a score of 29 points.[16]
- Los Angeles Magazine listed the store in its "Best of LA 1996."[16]
References
- ^ a b "Munchies fit for a king". Los Angeles Times. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "Great Grating Cheeses". Bon Appétit. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "20 Palate-Pleasing Holiday Wines". Entrepreneur. 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "About Us". The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ a b c d Christy, George (October 2008). "George Christy Visits Norbert Wabnig, The Big Cheese". Beverly Hills Design & Lifestyle. pp. 24–28.
{{cite news}}
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requires|url=
(help) - ^ Greenhouse, Steven (1998-01-01). "French and Swiss Fight About Tainted Cheese". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ a b c "Norbert Wabnig - the Austrian cheese guru of Los Angeles". Austrian Consulate General. January/February 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Announces Recipients of Third Annual American Artisanal Treasure Awards" (Press release). PRWeb. 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ Simmons, Steve. "Courier Business Profile: The Cheese Store". The Beverly Hills Courier. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ a b "The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Presents Norbert Wabnig's Cheese Course 101". Odeo. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ Devore, Kim (2008-11-26). "Malibu Seen". The Malibu Times. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "Norbert Wabnig Cheese Expert". Eat Drink or Die. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "(business listing)". Greenopia. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "CityVoter Hot List". MyFoxLA.com. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "Best of Citysearch". Citysearch. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ a b "(business listing)". TheLEK.com. Retrieved 2009-05-26.