Savoring cheese along with a loaf of crusty bread and a bottle of wine has long been a favorite way to spend lunch, an afternoon or an evening for the French.

Don't look now, but that habit has been catching on stateside in the last decade or so.

Americans like the combination, they enjoy the conviviality that goes along with it and they are learning more and more about the cheeses that come from remote areas of France. The more they taste and learn, the more they experiment and enjoy.

It was through this interest by more Americans in cheeses of France (call them boutique cheeses, if you like) that prompted Tim Gambrel to take on a second career as a purveyor of cheeses from France, as well as Italy, Spain and England. French cheeses, however, have been his main focus due to the popularity with consumers.

Actually, Gambrel, who is a city planner, had worked in several restaurants in the area and saw the need for a more efficient way to get imported cheeses from small farms and small companies that produce cheese with the same care as a farmer does. [...]