Just another bargain at Caputo's Cheese

Anyone who has ever ventured to the Caputo's that is the Caputo's in Melrose Park, a/k/a Caputo's Cheese a/k/a Wiscon Corp a/k/a the other Caputo's, knows it houses amazing bargains in cheese. For instance, yesterday, I picked up some imported pec. romano for $3.99/lb. The extra aged Wisconsin provolone, cut from a torpedo is also a great bargain at $5.99/lb. The dried pastas are so cheap, you think they are paying you to take them off their hands.

But what about the wines? I spotted one yesterday for $2.50. I'm not a two buck Chuck kinda drinker, surely not a ultra-reverse snobbist that delights in cheap wines, but I am cheap. And it was a D.O.C wine, how bad could it be? What did I have to lose besides $2.50. A few weeks ago I was throwing that amount away on "free" drinks in Vegas

And as it turns out, this wine, Salice Salentino from Torrevento is hardly half-bad at all. The opposite fer sure. A very nice summer wine. In fact, a bit of googling, and I found someone who exactly agrees with me--the Caputo's stock is also the 2001. I think there is enough for all of us if you shop soon.

Vital Information wrote:For instance, yesterday, I picked up some imported pec. romano for $3.99/lb.

Hey, I misspoke. The pec romano is $3.49/lb

Hi,

There is a Caputo Cheese Shop in Lake Forest, which will be three months old next week. It is located near Harris Bank, located north of downtown on Western Avenue:

Caputo Cheese Market
777 N Bank Ln
Lake Forest, IL 60045
(847) 604-8440

They have a cafe featuring sandwiches and Italian pastries.

Regards,

Makes sense as Wiscon cheese is hq'd in Lake Forest now.

Based on recent visits (to the Melrose Park location), I can still vouch for the amazing deals on wines, although the standard price now seems to be $3.99 instead of $2.50.

Hi,

I did not see any wine at the Lake Forest location.

There were rumors a Caputo's would open in the Highwood. The potential Highwood location, where Hoagie Hut was once located, is available. I guess the idea was abandoned when they settled on the Lake Forest location.

Regards,

The Caputo Cheese Market in Lake Forest is the sister to the Melrose Park Location, but is not a part of the larger Caputo's Market chain. I am not sure which was the one supposedly going into Highwood. I think that the Wiscon headquarters is still in Melrose Park. The Lake Forest store does have a limited selection of wine from Terlato, but none of the bargain basement stuff that the other store apparently has. The cheese selection is huge, with very reasonable prices. the high end stuff like truffle tremor is about $5/lb less than whole foods. They have a decent stilton for under $10/lb. Lots of inexpensive italian cheeses. They sell homemade italian sausage in the deli section, as well as other things like lasagna and arancini. the sandwiches are good, and very reasonably priced. Although they are not made to order, they seem to be made fresh daily. Caputo is a great addition to the area, and once the Fresh Market opens, Lake Forest may finally become a decent food shopping destination.

-Will

Hi,

I asked last night if they made sandwiches made to order. I thought they said they would. I will take the Will Special sandwich recipe over there sometime to check.

I saw lots of small chunks of cheese priced under $5, which is great for sampling. Clearly I missed the wine, probably dazzled by the cheese.

Regards,

We went to the Caputo's Cheese shop in Lake Forest today, after numerous visits to their store in Melrose Park over the past few years. While the two stores are similar, the one in MP is absolutely huge, and the one in LF is just tiny in comparison. There's a lot greater selection in MP than in LF, not just of wines and baked goods and meats, but the cheeses as well. OTOH I'm pretty sure the prices are identical - which is the really good news, because they're lower than elsewhere. (For example, Maytag bleu is $12.49/lb, vs $16-18 at Whole Foods, Foodstuffs, Schaefer's, etc). As noted above, it's a welcome addition. I'm sure they will do well!

FWIW, the address on their website is different from the one posted above, probably because they have entrances on both sides of the store, which is on the southeast corner of Bank Lane and Wisconsin Ave. They show it as:

Caputo Cheese Market – Lake Forest
231 E. Wisconsin Ave.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
847-482-0100
http://www.wisconcorp.com/caputocheese.html

What's funny is that this was formerly the location of Moncafe. The Moncafe name is still on several of the windows, and one of the employees was wearing a Moncafe t-shirt!

Hi,

A friend gave a party for her office last week. One of the dishes was grilled Italian sausage in her homemade red pepper sauce. When I inquired about which Italian sausage, she answered somewhat vaguely, "Some special Italian sausage they sell at Caputo's in Lake Forest."

Wondering what she could be referring to, I stopped into Caputo's for lunch today. Afterwards, I went over to buy some Italian sausage. The sign offered three fresh Italian sausages: sweet, spicy and Barese style, which was roughly a dollar more than the other two. I asked what was the difference: it was a beef and pork sausage with (parmesan) cheese. I noticed it had a smaller diameter casing, they affirmed my guess it was a lamb casing.

I bought 1.5 pounds I later seared, baked with wine and finished with sweet peppers. These lamb casing sausages had a snap with every bite. The texture was firmer and more compact than I normally experience with regular Italian sausage. I have an impression the lamb casing may have contracted while cooking just enough to impact the texture. These Barese sausage were well worth the extra charge.

I'm glad there is leftovers available for lunch tomorrow!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

A friend gave a party for her office last week. One of the dishes was grilled Italian sausage in her homemade red pepper sauce. When I inquired about which Italian sausage, she answered somewhat vaguely, "Some special Italian sausage they sell at Caputo's in Lake Forest."

Wondering what she could be referring to, I stopped into Caputo's for lunch today. Afterwards, I went over to buy some Italian sausage. The sign offered three fresh Italian sausages: sweet, spicy and Barese style, which was roughly a dollar more than the other two. I asked what was the difference: it was a beef and pork sausage with (parmesan) cheese. I noticed it had a smaller diameter casing, they affirmed my guess it was a lamb casing.

I bought 1.5 pounds I later seared, baked with wine and finished with sweet peppers. These lamb casing sausages had a snap with every bite. The texture was firmer and more compact than I normally experience with regular Italian sausage. I have an impression the lamb casing may have contracted while cooking just enough to impact the texture. These Barese sausage were well worth the extra charge.

I'm glad there is leftovers available for lunch tomorrow!

Regards,

Great report on the Barese, and a reminder of how much I enjoyed the phrase "dazzled by the cheese" last year. Cheese bedazzlement is real, and frankly seems requisite for true LTHers.

There is a Caputo Cheese Market in Melrose Park.. just north of North Avenue on 15th Street. It is mind boggling now many different cheeses they have. They also have a café to get a sandwich and a section for other Italian foods. Their sandwiches are great... They say they have over 1000 kinds of cheeses.. not sure if that is true.

They have great mozzarella...fresh.

1931 N. 15th Avenue
Melrose Park, IL

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id ... &ref=br_tf

http://www.caputocheesemarket.com/

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

There is a Caputo Cheese Shop in Lake Forest, which will be three months old next week. It is located near Harris Bank, located north of downtown on Western Avenue:

Caputo Cheese Market
777 N Bank Ln
Lake Forest, IL 60045
(847) 604-8440

They have a cafe featuring sandwiches and Italian pastries.

Regards,

Visconti Cheese Market & Deli takes over for Caputo in Lake Forest.
231 E. Wisconsin Ave.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
847-482-0100

Dave148 wrote:Visconti Cheese Market & Deli takes over for Caputo in Lake Forest.
231 E. Wisconsin Ave.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
847-482-0100

My cookbook club is at the Lake Forest Library. A few months ago, those in the know advised Caputo's wanted to close this location. My friends meet at Caputo's for coffee regularly and were already canvassing where to move their group to. I am sure they are thrilled to continue on at this location.

Regards,
Cathy2

I am pretty sure that this is the same guy who had R & V market so that is promising. It doesnt sound like much will change.

-Will

The Caputo's Cheese Market in Melrose Park is a mere shadow of it's former self. The retail store is about 1/4 of the original square ft. No more Cafe, no more canned, Glass Jar, or dry goods no Deli and about half the cheese they used to have. I believe they did have a small freezer case and a small fresh sausage area. In the last deli area there was a conveyor rack where it appeared they were packaging up fresh sausage. The store was empty and when I asked why the parking lot was full, I was told that they rented it out to the building next door.