Troy and Melissa Boyce's passion is literally a cheesy one. Founders of The Cheese Bar, a gourmet fromagerie and charcuterie shop and restaurant, the Boyces first crossed paths at a bar. It was not Troy’s choice of drink, but rather the fact he had a book in tow (Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code) that initially struck Melissa: “I thought, ‘Wow, that’s cool. This guy is confident enough to be here by himself and read. That’s impressive.” Through conversing the two soon learned they both shared a background in the food and restaurant industry, and more specifically, a zealous drive for promoting and supporting local products.

With locations in Katy as well as the Boardwalk at Towne Lake, The Cheese Bar is the Boyce’s successful attempt at filling a lacuna with regards to making high-end, locally sourced dairy and protein comestibles easily available to Houston outside the Loop. “Many of our customers may have felt they had to give up accessibility to more niche, specialized cheeses and meats when they moved outside the Loop,” Troy explains. “We hope The Cheese Bar means they don’t have to compromise.”

Those looking to sample the wide assortment of hard and soft, stinky and subtle wares at The Cheese Bar will find a menu of carefully chosen constructed selections, such as the cheese and meat boards complemented with an assortment of crackers, cornichons, capers, roasted vegetables and seasonal fruit. Recent dips in temperature also render The Cheese Bar’s already appealing array of inflected mac 'n' cheeses (try the one with jalapeno, bacon and chives) the perfect comfort food.

My obsession with everything between sliced bread led me to try my new favorite grilled cheese in town: Alfred the Third’s Triple Cheese Sandwich, a heady layering of punchy Havarti, sharp aged Vermont white cheddar and decadent Butterkäse. The inclusion of a cheese with the word “butter” in its name should clue you into the level of luscious richness of this dish. To cut the savoriness, I advise your dip sandwich triangle early and often in the side of stone fruit jam.

Melissa and Troy have a great thing going, but future plans bode for even more success. On January 20 of this year, they launched their first Wine & Cheese Pairing Class; the next in the series (focused on cheese, dessert, and wine) is scheduled for February 20 and interested parties should reserve a space as soon as possible. A Cheese of the Month Club (with two tiers of pricing) is also in the works as well as expanded catering options, including signature cheese creations for weddings.