Best of Boston

Formaggio is the cheese shop that puts all others to shame. Whether it’s a rustic sheep’s milk cheese from Vermont or a bleu de Termignon made only by an old woman in France from her herd of nine cows, owner Ihsan Gurdai finds the world’s best and rarest cheeses and brings them home to Boston. Shopping can be a slow process, since the staff spends a lot of time dispensing thinly sliced samples. There’s a method to the madness: A customer who tastes the rich overtones of real Parmigiano-Reggiano from the red cows of Parma will never go back to the powdery stuff in the green can.