Portland Vegan Cheese Shop Cultured Kindness Opens on SE Stark | Eater Portland

"What began as Justin Miller’s hobby making cultured cashew cheese has grown into one of Portland’s most talked-about vegan businesses: after debuting at the St. Johns Farmers Market in 2017 with 20 rounds, the couple now produces about 600 cheese wheels per week and opened a dedicated shop and production kitchen in the Vegan Mini‑Mall on Southeast Stark. The deli case features small-batch, aged cashew cheeses in flavors like black garlic, sundried tomato, a soft brie crusted in crushed black peppercorns, cashew chèvre with balsamic caramelized onion, Miller’s favorite smoky gouda, and playful items such as Pepper Jill (a pepper‑jack–style cheese blended with guajillo and habanero). The menu includes cheesy Buffalo dip, smoky spinach‑artichoke dip, grilled cheese sandwiches (a wink to the previous tenant’s awning sandwich), and signature cheesecakes — ube cheesecakes on an almond‑flour and shredded‑coconut crust and a New‑York–style cheesecake topped with Bloom caramel on a Biscoff‑style rice‑flour crust. Miller’s technique — fermenting organic cashews with dairy‑like cultures (fructooligosaccharides and ascorbic palmitate), adding fair‑trade coconut oil for creaminess, and aging cheeses from one week up to 30 days — aims to recreate the distinctive funk and texture of dairy cheese without additives like tapioca, leaning instead on traditional aging to achieve firmer, grateable textures. Cultured Kindness products are sold at their shop and wholesale accounts (including Food Fight Grocery, Market of Choice, 45th Parallel Wines, and co‑ops throughout Portland and Seattle) and are used by local cafes and restaurants such as Coffee Beer, Secret Pizza Society, Happy Day Juice, and Spielman Bagels. The shop is located at 1217 SE Stark Street and is open noon–6 p.m. Wednesday–Friday and 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday–Sunday." - Waz Wu