Whenever a cheese lover visits Philadephia for the first time, I tell them to visit the studio of food artist Mike Geno. Since 2011, he’s painted hundreds of cheese portraits. You can read my profile about Mike Geno on CheeseProfessor.com this month, which highlights his current project. It’s called The United State of Cheese. For the last five years or so, Mike has set out to paint a different cheese from each state. He only needs two more cheeses!
If you’re curious to learn more about artisan cheeses around the U.S., check out his cheese map.
A little background: Mike and I met at a food blogger party in Philadelphia a decade ago when I had just started writing Madame Fromage. At the time, Mike was painting meat. (Yes, you should check out his bacon pastels.) Soon after, he contacted me about wanting to learn more about cheese. You know I can’t resist an invitation to teach someone about my passion. I happened to have an illegal cheese in my fridge — a beautiful leaf-wrapped cheese that had been recalled — so I invited Mike to my house and handed him half a wheel of Renata. It was a famous artisan cheese from Sally Jackson in Washington, named after one cow. And it was never made again.
Mike’s portrait of Renata sealed our friendship. We are now cheese chums for life. Check out Mike’s story and website, and if you come to Philadelphia, please let us know. We are always keen to meet other dairy devotees. And yes, he sells prints and accepts commissions!
