Cheese Store & Bistro Nearly Ready to Melt Hearts, & Mouths, in Little Italy

Cheese devotees will be pleased to know that The Cheese Store on San Diego is on track to open their first storefront by the end of the month.

The cheese purveyors, who run a stand at the Little Italy Mercato and Hillcrest farmer's markets, are currently renovating a 1,000-square-foot space on 1980 Kettner Boulevard in Broadstone Little Italy, where their eventual neighbor will be Cafe Gratitude.

Co-owner Marci Flores told Eater that they've hired chef Audrey Ednalino to run the shop's kitchen, which will serve up a menu of soups, quiche, tarts and cheese-inspired desserts and pastries, plus daily sandwich specials that include a foccacia topped with Tallegio cheese, roasted garlic, mushrooms and thyme aioli and a grilled mortadella panini with Swiss cheese; The Cheese Store is also in the final stages of approval to offer beer and wine.

Ednalino, who has represented The Cheese Store at farmer's markets, spent time in well-respected kitchens of San Francisco, where she was a salumi artisan at Chris Cosentino's Boccalone and stagiaire at Namu/Namu Gaji and Frances, and has worked locally with The Lion's Share, Underbelly North Park and MIHO Gastrotruck.