East Sacramento’s food scene continues to expand as it welcomes the artisanal cheese shop, The Cultured and the Cured, offering unique cheeses, cured meats and a small but alluring menu.

Located on 3644 J St., The Cultured and the Cured focuses on delivering the best cheeses from farms all over the West Coast.

 Andrew Hillman, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and former chef under Bobby Flay, opened what was then the only dedicated cheese shop in Sacramento in November 2013.

“My wife Kelly and I have always talked about opening up a cheese shop,” Hillman said. “I already had contacts with artisans from the culinary world and after learning a bit more about cheese in a course, everything just fell into place.”

The Cultured and The Cured stocks a large selection of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk cheese handcrafted by cheesemakers in California, Oregon, Washington and the East Coast. It also carries artisan charcuterie, jams, pickles and bread made by local businesses.

The cheese, with types ranging from a hard authentic Parmesan imported in 80-pound wheels, to the individually made soft “Dolce Ricotta Limone,”  is hand cut to order and turned hourly to maintain the flavor.

With a majority of cheese coming from the West Coast, the shop also works with cheesemakers who have family in Spain and Portugal that bring the country’s inspiration to their local farms.

“We work and communicate closely with our vendors,” employee Robin Luke said. “At last count, we are working with 25 to 30 independent cheesemakers domestically, and five big distributors for our few imported cheeses.”

In addition to the cheese and charcuterie, The Cultured and The Cured offers a small bistro menu of fresh sandwiches and salads, home-style macaroni and cheese and daily made soup.

“A lot of it I make up as I go along,” Andrew Hillman said. “Today I improvised a pasilla pepper and guajillo chile soup, no recipe at all.”

Its seasonal soup for the spring is “South Western Bisque,” with ingredients such as tomatillos, a variety of chiles, roasted garlic and cream.

Kelly Hillman said with customers who come to the shop during lunch time, the grilled cheeses are a hit.

“We make a few sandwiches that showcase our cheeses,” Kelly Hillman said.

She said the shop focuses heavily on making cheese and meat sandwiches while avoiding vegetables.

“I’ve come here for their sandwiches and sample platter to taste a little bit of everything,” said customer Chris Mundhemk. ”Their grilled cheeses are out of this world.”

Mundhemk said he visits the shop up to three times a month for lunch and a supply of cheese.

“The fun thing about this shop is that the workers get really excited when talking about their cheeses,” Mundhemk said. “I usually shopping at Nugget, but this shop blows it out.”

This summer, The Cultured and the Cured will be working to help host the American Cheese Society’s 2014 Sacramento conference in June, while making additions to the patio and implementing a wine and beer menu.

Andrew Hillman said he is hoping his small, elegant corner cheese and charcuterie shop will not be the last in the recent trend of small artisanal markets.

“A long time ago neighborhoods had vibrant little shop communities, butchers, bakers, greengrocers and cheesemakers, all really focused on the customer,” he said. “It’s nice to see that movement is coming back.”