Sorry the first post is sort of cheesy!

The question I most often get asked about is gifts. One of the main categories people ask me about is food related gifts. A nice change from the typical cookies, brownies or wine is to do a cheese platter or basket for someone. There are a couple of really great options locally:

1) The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills is fantastic. They have a wide range of amazing cheeses, wines and other items. They can put together great baskets to send. Parking in Beverly Hills can be a pain, but this place is right across from one of the public lots.

2) The Artisan Cheese Gallery is located in Studio City and has a great selection. They also have other items and sandwiches you can order to go or eat there (there are only a couple of tables though). This place is near CBS Radford and not terribly far from Universal (10 min or so), so if you need to get a cool food gift, it's a good place to go.

3) Andrews Cheese Shop is located in Santa Monica and opened this year. I will admit that this is the one location I have not tried, but I have heard good things. To see the review of this place from Daily Candy, click here.

None of these places will be cheap. Good cheese can be a bit pricey, but for the right person it can be truly unique and a nice change of pace.

All of the places above have experts who know a ton about cheese to help you pick out what you want. A few of my favorites are: Manchego, Fontina, St. Agur Blue and Humboldt Fog.

My cousin Leah (the guru of everything food and wine related) said it is also important to get cheeses from a few different animals (goat, sheep, etc.) and with different textures.