Cheese Tastings at Antonelli's in Austin

The Tastings

The Signature Cheese Tasting is the class that made Antonelli's name. A cheese host walks you through the seven styles of cheese across several milk types, and each cheese comes with its own pairing, from chocolate to cured meat, preserves or pickles. The menu changes monthly, and you eat close to half a pound of cheese. Water is provided; you can add a wine flight when booking or buy wine, beer and cider at the event. It is not BYOB, and tables seat at most seven.

Themed tastings rotate through the year: cheese and chocolate, a raclette night, cheese and Halloween candy, Taste of the Holidays and others, mostly $55 to $65, with a caviar and champagne evening at $145. Check the events calendar for dates.

Where

The Cheese Shop is at 4220 Duval Street in Hyde Park, open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm and closed Monday and Tuesday. The cheesemongers serve one group at a time and hand out samples while you wait. Bread is in on Fridays to Sundays. Tastings happen at the South Lamar Tasting Room, 1100 South Lamar Boulevard, Suite 1130, and at Antonelli's Cheese House, 500 Park Boulevard in Hyde Park, both by reservation only. All locations close on Easter Sunday, July 4, Thanksgiving and the day after, 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January.

Texas Cheese

The shop is one of the easiest places to taste Texas cheese, including Pure Luck goat cheese from Dripping Springs, CKC Farms, River Whey, Eagle Mountain Farmhouse, Veldhuizen, Lira Rossa and the Mozzarella Company. In November, the Austin Mac and Cheese Festival takes place just west of the city.