Elizabeth Magarian Valoma and Sahag Avedisian, a married couple of Armenian descent, originally opened The Cheese Board in 1967 on Vine Street, in the location that houses Fava <\/a>now. The place was very much a product of its time; in 1971, the couple sold it to their employees, but stayed on, turning it into a collective, where everyone was paid the same amount, and there was no boss or hierarchy; all decisions were made by the employees at regular meetings. The model is still in practice and emulated today.<\/p>\n A chalkboard on the side of the room depicted the Cheese Board\u2019s history. It included pivotal moments such as the introduction of baguettes and pizza, as well as numerous expansions that took over other businesses on the block. Alice Waters, who says The Cheese Board influenced her decision to open Chez Panisse in the North Shattuck area, was also in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Berkeley historian, food scene observer and Hillside Club member L. John Harris<\/a>, who used to be known as \u201cThe Garlic Guy,\u201d convened the event. Harris was the instigator for a garlic festival at Chez Panisse that continues to this day, and published a book about garlic in 1974, when most American households still favored the powdered form of the allium.<\/p>\n Bob Klein, a former television producer, owner of Community Grains, and the former owner with his wife Maggie of the Rockridge restaurant Oliveto<\/a>, set the scene by saying that when he moved to Berkeley from his native Los Angeles (where he went to high school with Harris), \u201cThe world kind of opened for me. As you remember, in the sixties and seventies, it was alive. There was politics. There was civil rights. There was the sexual revolution. There was food.\u201d Klein worked at the Cheese Board in the early days on Saturday mornings, saying, \u201cIt was a wonderful place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Klein\u2019s remarks were followed by a television segment he produced about the Cheese Board in 1977 and then a panel discussion featuring former employees from the early years, some of whom spent nearly their entire careers there.\u00a0<\/p>\n As someone who has been to the Cheese Board and eaten its pizza (which has its own unique style: no tomato sauce, always vegetarian with multiple varieties of cheese, one variety available per night) I knew a bit about the place, but I came away with all kinds of fun anecdotes and facts that I didn\u2019t know. Here\u2019s a baker\u2019s dozen of my favorite things I learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. The founding couple was greatly influenced by what they witnessed while living on a kibbutz in Israel, where they met.<\/a> Valoma spent time there with her first husband, Richard Mitchell, on archaeological digs, and while there, happened to meet Avedisian, a kibbutz volunteer. \u201cA cooperative, collective life where people worked and created and cared together, that idea clearly took root in her because she carried it all the way back to Berkeley and into everything she did, including the Cheese Board,\u201d Valoma\u2019s brother Richard Magarian said.<\/p>\n 2. Peet\u2019s Coffee founder Alfred Peet advised the couple against opening the store. \u201cHe said it will never work, \u2018You don\u2019t know anything about business, you know nothing about cheese,\u2019 which was true,\u201d Harris said, quoting Valoma. When there was a line outside the door and they made $95 in sales on their first day, Peet changed his tune. \u201cYou\u2019ll make it,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n 3. In the early days, Valoma encouraged her friends to bring in their homemade blintzes and pumpkin date-nut bread to sell in the store. \u201cFor years, we made thousands of cream cheese sandwiches on that pumpkin date-nut bread,\u201d Makarian said.<\/p>\n 4. It was a rare occasion that any outside person was called upon to build or fix anything at the Cheese Board Collective. All wooden shelving and tables were built by its employees, who were also knowledgeable about plumbing and electricity. Everyone\u2019s skills were put to use.<\/p>\n 5. Valoma and Avedisian were surrogate parents for many of the employees, most of whom were transplants to Berkeley. Harris said their nurturing spirit also extended to people like free speech leader Mario Savio, who suffered from depression, and would come by seeking Avedisian\u2019s companionship.<\/p>\n 6. Valoma hated publicity and promoting The Cheese Board. She always declined interviews or offers to speak about it, even though many wanted to learn from their example.\u00a0<\/p>\n 7. The Cheese Board was part of a bread revolution taking place in Berkeley at the time. The first bread was a cheese-curry bread, using all the odds and ends of cheese that they couldn\u2019t sell.\u00a0<\/p>\n 8. In the early days, there were a lot of failures in the bread program; its baguette was introduced in 1977, according to a graphic of the Cheese Board\u2019s evolution on the side of the room. \u201cWe all went to the same school of baking,\u201d Laura McNall said. \u201cIt was the trial-and-error school of baking, or the seat-of-your-pants school of baking.\u201d After years of trying, they created a dough that worked and was spun off into focaccia, pizza, and other products. After many years there, she and another employee finally attended some classes at the San Francisco Baking Institute, and \u201cThat\u2019s where we learned the traditional way of making French baguettes, and we saw that it\u2019s nothing like what we do,\u201d said McNall. Bob Waks, also speaking about the early bread days, said that only one out of ten times would the bread turn out impeccable, with \u201cthe crust shattering when you bit into it.\u201d<\/p>\n 9. The Cheese Board spawned other collectives in the area, with some lasting and others not. The Swallow Cafe didn\u2019t last, and Arizmendi, which now has four locations, did. The Cheese Board and Arizmendi continue their cooperative relationship, including sharing resources and advice during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n 10. This one sounds impossible to believe: Cheese Board employees used to work only 25 hours a week, and not only lived on that in Berkeley, but some employees also owned their own homes nearby. Now, they work the standard 40-hour workweek, and most can\u2019t afford Berkeley rents; most employees live much farther away.\u00a0<\/p>\n 11. A fun factoid gleaned from Klein\u2019s film: The store once carried a cheese cured in horse manure. I tried to find out more about it after the event, asking panelist Giorgia Neidorf for her recollections. She instantly recalled \u201cthe stinkiest cheese\u201d called Gamalost.<\/a> According to Norwegian or Viking folklore, it was purportedly cured in manure, but more likely was stored in a barn. Neidorf never tasted it herself, and, in the 15 years she worked there, never sold it to anyone, either. But they did carry it that entire time. \u201cWe wanted to have 200 cheeses and be a complete cheese store,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/large-CheeseBoard_Reunion-16.jpg\")
Cheese Board reunion attendees grab plates of different cheeses served after the screening of the film. Credit: Richard H. Grant for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/large-CheeseBoard_Reunion-5.jpg\")
L. John Harris, an early member of the Cheese Board collective and the reunion\u2019s organizer, speaks to attendees at the Hillside Club in Berkeley. Credit: Richard H. Grant for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/large-CheeseBoard_Reunion-11.jpg\")
(From left) Rick Magarian, Michael McGee, Bob Waks, Giorgia Neidorf, Laura McNall and Steve Sutcher, all Cheese Boarder worker-owners at some point in its history, discuss the culture around working in the collective while at a reunion for the collective on June 10, 2026. Credit: Richard H. Grant for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/large-CheeseBoard_Reunion-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/large-CheeseBoard_Reunion-2.jpg\")
Top: A poster with the timeline of the Cheese Board\u2019s history from its founding up to its 50th anniversary in 2017 was displayed at the reunion. Bottom: As would only be proper at a Cheese Board reunion, pizza with green sauce was served. Credit: Richard H. Grant for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/large-CheeseBoard_Reunion-10.jpg\")
Current \u201cCheese Boarder\u201d Russel Tamura watches a film shown during the reunion about the Cheese Board shortly after it moved to the location on Shattuck Avenue. Credit: Richard H. Grant for East Bay Nosh<\/p>\n