Queijaroa - Cheese Shop

Founded in August 2014, previously in Chiado and, since May 2013, in Príncipe Real, this space surpasses the broad concept of the store. It is, above all, a showcase of cheese resulting from Pedro Cardoso's continuous search for cheeses that are best made, either inside or outside the country.
The quality of the product is a major attribute for Pedro Cardoso, now 55 years old, the face of the Queijaria - Cheese Shop, in Lisbon, where the more than six dozen cheeses include a score from the regions of Denomination of Origin of our country. To get here, the mentor of this project had to change his life. From advertising, an activity he performed frantically, he gave rise to his facet of cheese lover, as he likes to call himself, and the tour to France - among other European countries - in cheese tasting, “I spoke with friends to find out how much they liked cheeses, I stopped advertising” and decided to go back to Portugal, to find the best product made between doors.“ In 2014, we opened [together with his wife, Sandra Antunes] the Queijaria”.
“In the beginning, I went to the cafes to discover some treasures”, reveals Pedro Cardoso. He sought - and continues to do so - until he found producers whose cheeses denote the characteristics he wants to see in the cheese. “The important thing is to get to know the producer and empathize with him”, an achievement that can be both immediate and time-consuming, but “they already know that I want quality cheese”, he reinforces.
As "I didn't want to open a place with only Portuguese cheeses, I went outside to talk to tuners" and, beyond borders, he continues to bring beautiful examples from France, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain, to Queijaria - Cheese Shop. From Portugal, there is Serra da Estrela and Azeitão cheese, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and the only two that he has, but even concerning the first, he confesses: “I don't work only with one producer." The cheeses of Beira Baixa, a region where “there are four PDOs here,” are those that have a greater quantity, in addition to ANEMA or the soft paste goat by Adolfo Henriques, from Maçussa, in the municipality of Azambuja or, also, Terrincho cheese, originating in the region of Trás-os-Montes, among others.
In short, Pedro Cardoso always tries to have the 11 regions of Portugal's Denomination of Origin represented, adding that “between January and July, it’s the ideal time to make quality products”, since milk is also equally better and warns that the inconvenience of buying cheese for more than a week, otherwise it will be moldy later. "The bark molds are cleaned with a damp cloth", he recommends.
The Queijaria - Cheese Shop offer is complemented by a wine cellar, whose wine selection was made by the renowned sommelier Manuel Moreira, jams of fig, pumpkin, apricot, and Algarve orange, as well as honey, to accompany the cheeses.
Once at home, the cheeses must be kept in the refrigerator, more specifically in the box for vegetables, because of the humidity, and be served for tasting between 10º and 14°C.