Meet the First American Ever Named the World’s Best Che…

When the winners of the 2025 Mondial du Fromage — the so-called “Cheese Olympics” — were announced in Tours, France, history was made. Emilia D’Albero of Formatica Brooklyn-based company that specializes in cheese tools and paper, took first place, becoming the first American ever to earn the title of world’s best cheesemonger. Courtney Johnson, owner of Seattle’s Street Cheese, placed third. France’s Matthieu Thuillier landed in second.

For D’Albero, the honor was both surreal and hard-won. “It never seemed accessible to me until the day I walked into the exposition center,” she says. “I spent 10 months preparing, but not because I wanted to win — I just didn’t want to embarrass myself. I wanted to represent our industry and our country as best I could.”

Falling into cheese

Like many in the industry, D’Albero didn’t set out to be a cheesemonger. As a kid, her favorite snack was Jarlsberg. While studying Italian in college, she became fascinated by the culture and history behind food. After graduating, she joined Eataly in New York, where she worked in events and education, sitting in on hundreds of culinary classes.

“The ones I loved most were always the cheese tastings,” D’Albero recalls. “I wanted to learn how to do a craft. By far, it was cheese. So I left the corporate office and got a job behind the Eataly cheese counter.” That counter was one of the largest in the New York area — hundreds of cheeses, a baptism by fire. “I started from scratch. I tasted constantly, took notes, read books, watched YouTube videos. I just tried to learn as much as I possibly could, as quickly as I could.”

The encyclopedia in a cheesemonger’s brain

Being a cheesemonger means building a mental library of thousands of cheeses — their flavors, textures, seasons, and stories. “The first time I tried Taleggio, I hated it. But then I made myself taste it again and again, with every batch, and I started craving it,” D’Albero says. She still keeps notebooks of tasting notes.

That knowledge is critical to guiding customers. But too much enthusiasm can backfire. “There’s this hump you have to get over,” she says. “At first, you want to info-dump everything you’ve learned. But most customers don’t want a lecture. They want to know what it tastes like. Meeting them where they’re at is the biggest lesson. At the end of the day, you’re trying to get cheese in the basket.”

Performance, sales, and storytelling

D’Albero sees cheesemongering as part performance art. “I have this theory that a lot of cheesemongers come from a theater background. There’s definitely a performance element — you have to connect with people, make them excited, build trust. Some customers appreciate your passion. Others just want a piece of cheese cut quickly. You learn to read the room.”

Salesmanship is more than persuasion; it’s also generosity. “I never want to be the smartest person in the room. I love surrounding myself with people who can challenge me, who can teach me something. And when you achieve those things, don’t pull the ladder up behind you — help the people coming up behind you.”

The physical reality: heavy wheels, sharp wires, endless cleaning

For all the romance, much of cheesemongering is grueling physical work. “Definitely more manual labor than I expected,” D’Albero says. At Eataly, displays of Piave wheels were stacked 14 high. “I had to stand on a ladder to be above the cheese.” Proper knife and wire techniques prevent injury, but mistakes mean sore backs, rotator cuff pain, or worse. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”

Then there’s the cleaning. “Every time I hired a new monger, I’d tell them: 50 percent of this job is cleaning,” reflects D’Albero. Keeping the counter clean, organized, and mouth-watering is the main task.

Competing on the world stage

D’Albero’s competitive streak drew her into cheesemonger competitions, starting with the Cheesemonger Invitational in 2018. “I walked in and immediately thought, Oh my God, these are my people. They love cheese; they’re a little weird. I’d never felt more accepted.”

By 2021, she placed second, and this year, after months of training alongside her partner (also a cheesemonger), she shocked even herself by taking gold at Mondial. “Mind-blowing, surreal,” she says. “I didn’t think I’d make the podium. When they said my name, I was shell-shocked.”

For her, the win is about more than personal glory. “Cheesemongers deserve to be in the spotlight. We deserve to be recognized for the work we do every day. If I have to be the person to go out and say, ‘Pay your cheesemongers more, be nice to your cheesemongers,’ I’m happy to do that. Putting cheese first is what matters.”