Boris Zharkov Photography
The San Francisco Ferry Building’s Grand Hall was a turophile’s (cheese lover’s) dream on September 13, 2025, as cheesemakers and cheese eaters alike gathered for the 10th Annual SF Cheese Fest. Hosted by the California Artisan Cheese Guild, this year’s event boasted the following:
Over 400 attended who came from 9 states and 4 countries. Most came from throughout California, primarily San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area—including members of the San Francisco Bay Times team.
The sold-out VIP Early Entry experience featured a raclette grazing table, curated bites, samples of limited-edition cheeses, and a cheese knowledge scavenger hunt. It was an opportunity to chat with the cheesemakers, renowned cheesemongers, experts, and other turophiles an hour before doors opened for general admission. (Thanks to Juliana Uruburu of Market Hall Foods for helping out with that scavenger hunt, which was challenging!)
15 artisan cheesemakers presented over 75 varieties of cheese!
16 vendors served specialty food and beverages to pair with the cheese, including charcuterie, chocolates, honey, preserves, oils, vinegars, and snacks. Some of the best honey our Bay Times attending team members ever tasted was offered by Moon Shine Trading Co. (https://zspecialtyfood.com/) at this event. The bags of heirloom apples from Gold Ridge Organic Farms (https://www.goldridgeorganicfarms.com/) were also incredible and a reminder of California’s high-quality produce at this early harvest time of year.
New for 2025 was the SF Cheese Fest Pop-up Shop and Raffle. Our team members did not win anything in the raffle, but they purchased some of the aforementioned honey and apples—ahead of Rosh Hashanah!—and, of course, some of that delicious cheese.
New cheeses that made their debut this year included:
Petite Breakfast Chive, Petite Breakfast Everything, and 8 oz Big Breakfast by Marin French Cheese Co. (Petaluma), which is the oldest continuously-run cheese company in America! https://marinfrenchcheese.com/
Princess Pride (cream cheese style), Rocky (Esrom semi-soft style), Heritage (Gouda style) and Heiress (hoop style) by Rocky Oaks Goat Creamery (Clovis), which is the first farmstead artesian goat creamery in the Central Valley. https://www.rockyoaksgoatcreamery.com/
Triple Cream Brie by Cowgirl Creamery (Petaluma), which was founded by a lesbian couple and carries on their vision of making “cheese with heart.”
https://cowgirlcreamery.com/
Fresh sheep cheese, farmer cheese, Portuguese Topo cheese, and goat cheese by JUSTCreamery (Saratoga). We love the big cow at their website next to these words: “I graze freely so you can eat dairy products purely.”
https://justcreamery.com/
Special thanks to Deborah Kwan of DKPR, Inc., for her help at the festival and with this coverage. The next cheese event will be the 20th Annual California Artisan Cheese Festival from March 20–22, 2026, in Sonoma County. https://cacheeseguild.org/
Published on September 25, 2025
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