If you want a taste of history, take a bite of the Filomena cheese from Fantello Farmstead Creamery in Enumclaw. The cheese is named after owner Paul Fantello’s grandmother, Filomena, who started the dairy farm back in 1918 and worked on it until she eventually retired at 80 years old. Paul and his wife, Patty, resurrected Filomena’s dairy farm back in 2015, using many of the same farm-to-table methods that his grandmother did back in the day. The Fantello Creamery is truly a family business, with the three employees being Paul, Patty, and their daughter, Angelina. 

The Fantellos make cheese that is truly handmade, every step of the way, from milking the cows into cans and hand dumping the milk into the vats, pail by pail, to aging in on wooden boards to make cheese as pure as possible. They don’t use milk pumps or outsource milk from other farmers to make their cheese. Farmer Paul says that by being involved in every step, they have complete control over the final product. 

All of their cows are registered Jersey cows that are fed with local hay and local grasses, so you can “taste the place.” The Filomena cheese is an alpine-style raw milk cheese that really allows the flavor of the Enumclaw plateau to come through. Patty and Paul tried this style at a restaurant in France on their way to be trained in cheese-making. They instantly fell in love with it and told the farmer who was training them that this was the kind of cheese they wanted to make.  

The Fantellos have used their land for a series of farm animals, like beef cows, pigs, and goats, but Paul says that the transition into the creamery was the most difficult. They spent two years constructing the Creamery, and getting licensed to make and sell cheese, all the while their cows were producing milk that had nowhere to go. Now their creamery has settled into a comfortable routine. Paul focuses on taking care of the cows while Patty focuses on the cheese-making.  

For the past two years, they have been breeding with A2-A2 bulls, which are bulls that only have one type of protein: A2 beta-casein. This type of protein can be easier to digest for people who have issues with milk and cheese, opposed to A1 beta-casein. In about a month, they will find out how many of their milking cows are A2-A2 as well, which means they can start selling fully A2-A2 cheeses.  

To get a taste of this creamy cheese, you can find Fantello Creamery at the West Seattle and Magnolia Farmers Markets, as well as the University District Farmers Market in the fall.