Best thing to happen to cheese

It was almost ironic. For years, the South End has been Restaurant Central. But amid all this gourmet greatness there was never a fine place to get olive oil, cheese, vinegar, pâté, and wine -- in short, the essential gourmet pantry items. Finally, there was South End Formaggio. The Shawmut Street sister to Cambridge's world-renowned Formaggio Kitchen, this location is owned by Valerie Gurdal, whose husband, Ihsan, is the cheese buyer and owner of the "other" store. Valerie's outfit is smaller, more personalized, and wonderfully user-friendly. It's very South End. Like a well-reduced sauce, it provides all a discerning diner could ask for without taking up much space.

Pressed sandwiches? Check. Buttery olive oils from Provence or peppery ones from Tuscany? Check. Artisan Italian deli meats? Check. Rare sea salt from Guerande, Brittany? Check. An ever-changing wine selection? Okay, we'll stop. The list goes on, but the top item will always be the cheese. There are single-farmhouse chèvres made in the Loire Valley, Spanish classics like mahon, local legends like the Old Chatham sheep's-milk camembert, English faves like Shropshire blue. Each cheese is cared for like a baby. Best of all, the South End Formaggio staff will walk you through the selection, providing tastes along the way. They'll tell you the Berkshire blue is buttery-beautiful and is made in Western Massachusetts from a recipe bought from a cheese maker in Ireland. Or maybe they'll head downstairs, where a just-arrived shipment of tomme de savoie ripened by a man named Denis Provent is waiting to be opened. Whatever you get, you'll leave happy and hungry.

South End Formaggio, 268 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, (617) 350-6996.