When it comes to cheese, chef Laurent Brion is cursed with too much knowledge. He didn’t grow up on vacuum-sealed, rubbery cheddar from the dairy case. And getting fresh French cheese from the local market wasn’t part of a hazy lavender-scented Edith Piaf dream; it was just his childhood.

Brion would love to be able to make the goat cheese he made when he was young and back home in France. Short of that, though, he will settle for sourcing the good stuff for Chabichou, the new fine cheese and gourmet food boutique he is opening with his partner, Whitney Brown.

Named for Chabichou du Poitou—a creamy, unpasteurized goat cheese—the shop is the latest addition to Brion and Brown’s miniature French quarter on Harbord Street. (Many people start speaking French as soon as they walk through Chabichou’s door, says Brown, “Even if they don’t speak it that well, but it’s nice.”) They are already responsible for Tati Bistro, a vibrant reinvention of the space once filled by Kensington Kitchen, and Chabichou takes over a prime corner left vacant by the short-lived gelato-slash-coffee-spot Wild Thing.

The store itself is minimally decorated with dark wood, keeping the focus on the products. Chabichou keeps up a CanCon quota, but the emphasis here is clearly on French cheeses, like Selles-sur-Cher raw French goat cheese ($13.75 each); Bleu d’Auvergne French cow’s milk ($5.10 per 100 grams); and roquefort Légende sheep’s milk ($6 per 100 grams). Brion and Brown plan to stand out in Toronto’s increasingly ripe cheese market by responding to the neighbourhood and by having a variety of offerings. A cheese plate without pâté makes no sense to “self-respecting Frenchman” Brion, so Chabichou stocks pâté. At customers’ request, baguettes, baked by Jules on Mount Pleasant, are also available ($2.85 for a full, $1.75 for a demi).

The owners’ instincts seem to be spot-on. At mid-afternoon on a weekday, there is a steady stream of customers, many of whom are proprietors of nearby businesses: young, hard-working architects from the firm upstairs, the owner of Clay Design studio, and the staff from the nearby adult shop Good for Her. But there is plenty of prepared food ready for the drop-ins—those just walking by who feel the irresistible pull of a warm croque monsieur ($6.50).

Chabichou, 196 Borden St. (at Harbord St.), 647-430-4942, www.chabichou.ca.