Les fromages de Gambetta — Specialty Store in Père Lachaise, Paris

Les fromages de Gambetta is an independent cheese shop on Rue des Pyrénées, in the Père Lachaise neighbourhood, and the first thing you meet inside is the counter itself: a spread of cheeses wide enough that you can point at something you have never heard of and still leave with a good bag.

The reason to come is the fondue, prepared to order rather than sold cold off a shelf. Order it and you get a pot made for you, the kind of thing that turns a cheese run into dinner. Beyond that, the cheeses themselves are the draw, and the advice behind the counter is what makes the selection usable: ask what you are looking at and you get a straight answer, in French or in English.

It is a small shop, so you shop it the way you shop a counter rather than an aisle: point, ask, take a piece. Nothing about the place is built for browsing at length, and that is fine, because the staff will steer you faster than a label would.

Prices stay in reach. A few items come to somewhere between €5 and €20, which is what makes this a place to buy cheese for a picnic or a weeknight rather than a special-occasion splurge, and the fondue is the one thing worth building a meal around.

Call ahead if you are crossing town for the fondue. Otherwise, this suits anyone staying near Gambetta who wants cheese chosen with help rather than alone.