CHEESE FOCUS
Helen Howarth, founder
The Last Frontier of Specialty Cheese
Despite the challenges of isolation and creeping competition, Fromagio's Artisan
Cheese—a first for Alaska—has uncovered a lively community of cheese lovers in
Anchorage, thanks to the food-loving, business-savvy woman behind the operation.
BY JANET FLETCHER
T
hey say you can identify pioneers by the arrows in their backs, but Helen Howarth has escaped the ambush. A
trained classical cellist with a longtime interest in food, Howarth opened Alaska's first specialty cheese store in
2010. "The cheese community is amazingly generous," notes Howarth, a novice retailer who consulted several
cheese-world authorities before opening. "It's important to have access to experts, but I'm in Alaska and there are no
experts, myself included." Even so, more than two years into her enterprise, she's still here.
PHOTOS: WILL DAVIS
20 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com