TEMECULA - Jeff and Shawna Smoot are determined to become the Inland Empire's premier "artisan" cheese shop with some serious dairy products.

The Smoots opened the Temecula Valley Cheese Company, on Old Town Front Street, in mid-September to a warm reception of hungry customers seeking gourmet cheeses, meats and breads.

"We sell about 500 pounds of cheese per week," said Jeff Smoot, before adding the cheeky quip: "I cut more cheese than anyone else in town."

The Smoots both worked in real estate before changing gears roughly two years ago when Shawna Smoot began working at a winery. The vineyard exposure began an interest in cheeses and other foods that paired well with wine. The couple's connection to cheese was fostered by Jeff Smoot's prior culinary work in San Francisco.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and it came to me: We're going to open a cheese shop," Shawna Smoot said. "I told him the next morning that this is what we have to do. For him to say 'OK' and start doing this was amazing."

The Smoots aren't selling Velveeta. They have sought to sell hand-crafted, artisan cheeses produced for quality, not quantity. For some people cheese is a food; for the Smoots and their customers cheese is an art and is as complex as its fermented friend, wine.

Before jumping feet first into their new endeavor, the Smoots began to study the complexity of cheeses through research and sought advice from the American Cheese Society.

"There is currently a revival of small dairies as people are stepping away from big industrial dairies and rediscovering artisan cheeses," Shawna Smoot said. "With our European cheeses we must use a distributor. But with domestic cheeses, as often as we can, we go straight to the dairies and buy directly from them."

The 1,000-square-foot shop located in the southwest corner of Penfold Plaza is refined and elegant just like the gourmet cheeses and meats that it serves. What it lacks in flash, the store makes up with its rich, black walnut shelves highlighted by the sun flooding into the shop through the patio doors.

Outside on the patio, a group of five women enjoyed a break from their Saturday afternoon shopping excursion as they snacked on gouda and brie.

"They are generous with their samples and the shop is very quaint," said Barbara Shostak of Huntington Beach before her friend, Meena Ahluwalia of Irvine, added: "I have never seen a cheese monger before."

In addition to the outright sale of cheeses, the Smoots offer picnic basket rentals for those heading to the Wine County or for any type of outing who wish to have a selection of cheese, breads and spreads.

The Temecula Valley Cheese Company also offers specialty platters as well as professional cheese services for weddings, parties and special events. Those who wish to learn more about the art of cheese can take part in educational classes at the shop and learn how to pair cheese with wine and beer.

The shop is open each day. Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

For information on the Temecula Valley Cheese Company, at 42072 Fifth St. in the Penfold Plaza, call (951) 693-9500.

- Contact staff writer Nicole Sack (951) 676-4315, Ext., 2616 or nsack@californian.com.