Bloom Cheese Collective- Ali Kay Hammer-Cameron

In this week’s edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas podcast, we’re at the Bloom Cheese Collective in Fayetteville talking with the supremely energetic co-owner Ali Kay Hammer Cameron, but first!!! FOOD NEWS!! Handshake opens at the Fayetteville Public Library. We’ll tell you what to expect! Firecat Coffee opens in South Fayetteville. Cronut Donuts are opening their 3rd spot in south Fayetteville The 12th Annual Nog-Off was a supreme success at Maxine’s Taproom. Crisp & Green is opening in Fayetteville- we’ll tell you when. Potbelly’s Sandwiches is opening in Springdale in spitting distance from Crisp & Green (if you’re good at that sort of thing). Monte Ne Inn is close to the off-season. Go get your family-style chicken, pronto! The Honeycomb Kitchen Shop added the Honeycomb Wine Shop. Tonight is Occupy Odd Soul night in downtown Springdale. Come donate a pizza with me! Ria Pizza is coming to DTR! Happy Anniversary to Vetro 1925 and Envision Nutrition- y’all are getting old! This week’s Flavors Flashback takes us to the River Grille where we hear about bootlegging in the early days (true-ish story). Ali Kay Hammer Cameron entered the cheese world initially due to locational happenstance.  She lived near a cheese shop in Dallas that she fell in love with and eventually worked there. She’ll tell us about her budding love affair with cheese, and how she became a certified cheese professional... After some time in North Carolina, she and her husband Brooks moved to Fayetteville to be closer to family, and build a family of their own... What made her want to start a cheese shop here? She tells the story about what it was that made her decide to do it. Also, when putting together a cheese shop, what’s the most important part of it? And what cheeses do you start with? Finally, they have some big plans for 2026, and she lets us in on a fun one... that’s next here on the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas!