The New York Times-20080127-With Cheese You Get Crackers- -Review-

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With Cheese You Get Crackers; [Review]

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Say Cheese! is not a camera shop, but its display of 80 wedges, rounds and blocks of cheeses, in gleaming glass cases behind the counter, is picture perfect.

What first catches the eye after you walk down the steps and enter this brightly lighted store in the Simsburytown Shops mall are several chrome racks of snacks, salsas, chocolates and cookies, prominently positioned to the left of the service counter. There are also 20 varieties of bean coffee ($9.99 to $17.98 a pound) and a number of Harney & Sons teas. Then there are crackers -- many, many boxes of them, including 10 types of Nicole's Divine Crackers ; half a dozen varieties from the Fine Cheese Company in England; American Vintage Wine Biscuits; Elsa's Story Crisp Baked Crackers and others with more familiar names ($3.98 to $6.98).

You have to have crackers and biscuits that won't compete with the flavor and texture of cheese, said Jeannie Boehner, the cheese buyer for the store. Ms. Boehner and her associates are not only helpful in suggesting complementary combinations, they back up their advice with plenty of samples. Not sure whether you'd prefer a German Montagnola blue ($16.98 a pound) to a French Saint Agur ($21.98)? Interested in how a cave-aged Comte ($19.98) compares to an aged Gruyere ($15.98)? Curious how half a dozen differently aged Cheddars from around the world stack up? Ask for a taste.

After closing last August, Say Cheese! reopened in November under new ownership. Rich Wagner, the owner, plans to expand by March into the adjacent October Farms, uniting a great cheese selection with a wide range of locally made gelati and farm-fresh ice cream. All things to do with milk, he said.

Say Cheese! L.L.C., 928 Hopmeadow Street (Route 10), Simsburytown Shops, Simsbury; (860) 651-9000/3723;www.saycheeseofsimsbury.com. Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.