Formaje is a gem of a cheese shop run by Clara Diez with her husband, Adrián. Diez is your local queso doyenne and liaison between the consumer and best cheesemakers in Europe. There is something for everyone on the table, from the most humble, fresh Queixo do País (a traditional recipe coming from Galicia in the north of Spain that doesn’t cost more than $14 a kilogram) to the $60 per kg Queso de Gamonéu, one of the most unique Spanish cheeses, aged in subterranean caves up in the mountains.

A young husband-and-wife team, both alums of the dean of Madrid’s contemporary cheese shops, Cultivo—represent Spain’s new generation of top cheesemongers. They opened their sleek, minimalist shop in 2020, naming it after the archaic Castilian term for a cheesemaking mold, to celebrate artisan and raw-milk production. Amidst the airy wood shelving, whole wheels of farmhouse and mountain delicacies are on display, such as Mare Nostrum from the Sierra de Sevilla or the Galician Queixo do País.