Fantello Farmstead Creamery is a small, family-run farm with a long history of dairy farming that goes back to the early 1900s. Although the family once raised meat cattle, today they have a small herd of Jersey cows and a passion for sustainable dairy farming.

The Fantellos use a style of pasturing for their land called silvopasture. On a silvopasture, grass and trees share space–meaning that the trees are not cut down to make room for the cows to graze. The area around Fantello Farmstead is home to conservation areas, and Patti and Paul work with the conservators to ensure their farm isn’t harming the natural habitat.

Photo by Fantello Farmstead Creamery.

Fantello Farmstead Creamery makes a select few cheeses in small batches. What they make, they make exceedingly well. Take Filomena for example. This raw, Jersey cow milk raclette-style cheese is profoundly complex and ooh-la-laly toothsome. It can melt with the best of ’em, but it is also an organoleptic powerhouse on its own. It has the typical raclette funky undertones, thanks to its brine baths, but it also displays savory nuances like roast beef, cooked cabbage, scrambled eggs, and loaded baked potato generously dolloped with sour cream. Oh, and that texture! Filomena has an agreeable chew and a coating creaminess that lingers in the very best way. Overall, it gets a cheesemonger A+.

Photo from Courtney Johnson. 

Fantello Farmstead Creamery is a farmstead operation in Enumclaw, Washington. A dairy is “farmstead” when everything–from birthing baby ruminants and milking to making and aging the cheese–occurs on the farm premises. This makes a vested involvement in all facets of the farming and cheesemaking process a necessity. As such, Fantello has a close relationship with their animals and their cheese, which translates into the finished product. The result? Their cheese tastes like love.

Photo from Fantello Farmstead Creamery. 

Photo from Fantello Farmstead Creamery. 

Photo from Fantello Farmstead Creamery. 

Fantello Farmstead Creamery produces a few standard cheeses in relatively limited amounts. Occasionally they also make total rarities like the Ricotta Salata pictured here, or an elusive camembert that droves of turophiles in the Seattle locale have been dying to try. Your best bet at finding both Fantello’s classics and their teaser cheeses is to get to the Magnolia or the West Seattle Farmer’s Market ASAP!

Photo from Fantello Farmstead Creamery. 

Fantello Farmstead Creamery hand-tears their cheese curd. Note the larger sized curds. When they knit together, they will do so more loosely than say a milled curd cheese (think cheddar), which results in greater moisture retention.

Photo from Fantello Farmstead Creamery. 

The state of Washington covets some of the very best artisan butter producers in our country, and Fantello Farmstead Creamery is one such producer. Trust that there is nothing like small-batch Jersey butter.

If you are in western Washington, put Fantello’s slick, salty, scrumptious stuff on your list of delectables to try. The FOMO just isn’t worth it!

Photo from Fantello Farmstead Creamery.