Taichungers don't normally associate the city's old Central District with cheese shopping. Yet that's a specialty of Lily's Delicatessen, welcoming passersby on a narrow street here. Owner Vivian is a bit surprised by her current vocation as she originally went to New York to study fashion and become a designer.
However, failing to find a job in this field after graduation, she ended up in Canada where a deli job taught her about various cheeses and related combinations, pairings and flavors. Transferring her previous love of colors and fabrics to flavors and textures, she returned to open her Taichung business, which shares a space with The Firmament Bakery. She creates perfect symphonies of bread, cheese, charcuterie boards and wine and can be contacted on Instagram for personal consultations to create handcrafted, customized charcuterie boards, priced by ingredients. There is also a regularly changing variety of European cheeses (NT$160-530), cold cuts (NT$180-300), store-made hummus, breads, imported wine, beer, coffee and kombucha.
To see what's available, check Lily's and The Firmament Bakery's Facebook groups.
台中人一般不會把中區這舊市區與起司購物聯想在一起，然而位於這條狹窄街道上的Lily's起司雜貨，正是以此為特色，迎接住家的行人。店主Vivian對如今的職涯其實也感到有些意外，她原本前往紐約攻讀時尚設計，立志成為設計師。然而畢業後未能在相關領域找到工作，轉而前往加拿大，在熟食店工作的經驗，讓她深入認識各式起司，以及不同食材之間的搭配、組合與風味層次。
她將過去對色彩與布料的熱愛，轉化為對風味與口感的探索，回到台中創立了這間店，並與天天烘培共用空間。Vivian擅長打造麵包、起司、冷肉拼盤與葡萄酒之間的完美交饗，亦可透過Instagram購擊，提供個人化諮詢，訂製手工製作的起司冷肉拼盤，價格依食材內容計算。店內另有不定期更換的歐洲起司（160～530元）、冷肉（180～300元），以及自製鷹嘴豆泥、麵包、進口葡萄酒、啤酒、咖啡與康普茶。欲了解當日供應品項，可加入「Lily's起司雜貨」與「天天烘培」的Facebook社團查詢。