Fromage Fine Foods & Coffee — Local services in Old Saybrook

Would be 5 stars BUT: In fairness I will start by saying that My wife and I visit this establishment (somewhat) infrequently over the past several years, but always enjoy the absolutely amazing variety of cheeses and always drop $$$ when we do. It's a "treat" for us. It's a quaint little shop, the staff is always friendly, willing to let you sample the cheeses and always have little tidbits of information to share which can aid you in your selection(s). Absolutely no complaints there.

That being said: We recently visited while coming back from shopping in the area. As always there were cheeses wrapped up on display where you can pick them up to check them out. Some are more fragrant than others and I happened to pick one up I was interested in. Like most normal human beings I lifted it to my nose (about 3-6 inches away) to determine what it smelled like. In fact it smelled very nice and I was about to ask for a taste when the owner(?) said " you probably can't smell it let me unwrap it and give you a taste". Having already smelled the aroma I smiled and said "sure you can smell it" and put it up to my nose again to confirm. I then handed it back gesturing for her to smell it through the plastic. Well, she certainly didn't like that and made it known. She (politely) took the cheese, crossed to the other side of the counter and said "It's food, you don't put it up to your nose!" in a subtle yet very unexpected, snobby and rude manner. I admit I was taken aback, a bit embarrassed but after a few seconds of reflection I confirmed that mere act of smelling something did didn't warrant that type of reaction. Ultimately I had to exit the store leaving my wife alone to finish tasting.

The reason I left is because I knew I would say something which might embarrass (just as much as she embarrassed me) the owner in front of other customers (which there was no need for). Yes thank you, I know it's food, I've actually eaten food for 5+ decades and just like with certain types of food, it's a natural reaction smell something to see if: A) It's fresh B) It's something you might want to taste. I just raised it about 3-6 inches away to check it out. And what was the harm in that??? It's not like I touched it with or stuck it up my nose.

Yes I understand everyone has bad days so maybe it was one for her. However while she wasn't aggressively rude she certainly was subtly yet unmistakably obnoxious and snobby. She could have just taken it, given me a taste and be done with it. But she didn't. If you're reading this just a tip: You may have a wonderful selection of cheeses but don't ever treat a consistent patron like you did me just because he/she want's to smell something he/she will be eating. That leaves long lasting, bad taste in...

Extremeley clutered. I heard this was a good place to go to purchase cheeses, turns out the cheeses are just a small section of this unorganized shop. Random items are piled on top of each other, tables are covered with items that don't seem to have much in common, and $300 pieces are on the floor. The food and goods aren't even seperated all that much as there was a fridge and another food shelf towards the front of the store that should have been organized with the rest of the food items. They need to curate a smaller amount of goods, there is zero negative space in the entire store. I seriously cannot emphasize enough how clutered and unorganized this shop is. The staff is very friendly and knowledgable about their cheese selection. A good store just in need of some...

Not a coffee shop, but more like a upscale jam, cheese, kitchen-stuff shop. Crowded, everything piled up, a bit chaos, like a flea market or farmers market. Stuff everywhere. A lot of the items you can get at big grocers, but most are so obscure, unlikely. Located in a drab strip mall (with a neat antique shop 3 doors down), sad parking lot, on busy street. The ladies who work there are super friendly and helpful (coffee, warm, stale, is available, if desperate, 1.69$); you'll need them to find a specific item you're dying to get.

Prices are astronomical, to be expected. If you want to save $ on jam or cheese, this is not your place. If you want some strange, awesome cheese or oddball jam, and your wallet is...