our story - from the chariot to the chapel

The concept of Maker & Monger was born one night in March 2015 at the Builder’s Arm Hotel on Gertrude St, Collingwood.

Owner Anthony Femia, had recently finished up as Operations Manager of Spring St Grocer (where he designed and help build Australia’s first underground cheese cellar) and was ready to embark on his Churchill Fellowship to study affinage (the process of aging cheese) and the microbiology of cheese. That evening he envisioned an all encompassing cheese shop that embraced both the cheesemaker and cheesemonger, and provided an incredible sensory education to each and every guest, alongside delicious food.

We began in September 2015 at Prahran Market in Melbourne as a humble antique French food cart offering only two things - Swiss Raclette over kipflers and our now-famous All American Grilled Cheese Toasted Sandwich. The first four years of our journey saw us steadily grow our humble little offering to featuring a considered cheese selection of the best farmhouse and artisan cheeses available to Australia both locally and abroad.

In June 2019, we realised a long held vision to open an all encompassing cheese shop dubbed “The Chapel of Cheese”. Our new shop features a purpose built maturation room, a 7-metre long climate controlled cheese counter and a kitchen offering - not only of our world famous toasties, but a selection of seasonal cheese dishes utilising the quality produce surrounding us at Prahran Market.

Anthony undertakes regular “wandering cheesemonger” trips overseas to select delicious cheeses exclusive to our shop at Prahran Market. In March 2018, he was chosen as the first Australian cheesemonger to visit Marcel Petite in the Jura mountains of France, to select our very own flavour profile of Comté. This prestigious opportunity has only ever been reserved for the best cheesemongers of France, the UK and USA. In July 2019, Anthony returned to handpick our second flavour profile, with Maker and Monger allocated 48 wheels for the following 12 months.

Since we opened, Maker and Monger has been featured regularly in major publications both online and in print for our toasties and cheese offering and recognised as one of the best cheese shops in Australia. Anthony is recognised both locally and abroad as Australia’s leading cheesemonger.