Taste this: Make-your-own charcuterie board at Constance Fromagerie & Café (330-805-4005), located in Northwest Akron’s Pilgrim Square, constanceakron.com
Creator: Rachel Balko
Eye test: Is there anything more appealing than a well-organized charcuterie board? Constance owner Rachel Balko is a pro at assembling a board that not only looks pretty (Tiny purple flowers! Small pots of Akron Honey!) but tastes delicious.
Process: Customers start by choosing a size (petite, midi and grande) and then a base (cheese and charcuterie, cheese only or vegan cheese). I selected the midi board ($22), which feeds one to two people as a snack or one person as a meal. Balko walked me through the easy — and fun — process of choosing three cheeses, two meats and one dip.
When it comes to choosing cheeses for a charcuterie board, Balko only has one requirement. “I think my biggest rule is [selecting a] variety of textures and colors and flavors,” she said. The cheese bar selections change weekly, but Balko strives to have a goat’s milk cheese, a cow’s milk cheese and a sheep’s milk cheese on hand at all times.
Cheese wise, I selected manchengo, aged cheddar and brie. I then added prosciutto and spicy salami. For a dip, I went the sweet route and picked Akron Honey. Balko finished the board off with olives, house-made nuts, fresh raspberries and blackberries and a couple of chocolate morsels.
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Sides: To drink, I had an iced strawberry rose matcha ($7), one of the cafe’s seasonal beverages. If you order a charcuterie board to share, round out your meal with a slice of quiche ($9), the soup du jour ($8) or the white miso, kale and farro Caesar salad ($9).
How does it taste? The charcuterie board was a wonderful mix of salty (cured meats, nuts, olives), sweet (honey, fresh fruit), sharp (cheddar and manchego) and creamy (brie). There wasn’t a bad bit on the plate, and it was more than enough to serve as lunch. The iced strawberry rose matcha was refreshing and springy and complemented the charcuterie board nicely.
About the creator: Born and raised in Fairlawn, Balko spent several years working as a musical theater actress in New York. It was there that she got into charcuterie boards, thanks to a market in her neighborhood with an excellent cheese selection. When the pandemic hit, it triggered a move back to Northeast Ohio — and a career change.
“I was teaching voice, but not really wanting to go back to that, so I was searching for something else to do,” Balko said. “I noticed that all of these cheese businesses on Instagram had popped up, and it had really become a trendy thing. And I say trendy loosely, because it’s always existed. Martha [Stewart] started with grazing tables, essentially, and charcuterie boards, and it’s always been a thing. It just took a different life, I think, through the pandemic.”
In 2021 she launched her catering business, Westside Charcuterie.
About Constance Fromagerie & Café: After living in Cleveland and renting kitchen space from Brewnuts and Cent’s Pizza for her catering business, Balko and her family moved to Akron. Having a brick-and-mortar storefront was always her dream, so when a space at Pilgrim Square opened up, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I just always admired this plaza, the kind of European feel of it, and how special this area is, with the walking community, and that really solid neighborhood kind of vibe,” she said. “I always thought if I was going to do it in Akron, this would be the place to do [it].”
Constance Fromagerie & Café opened in November 2025. Balko also runs Westside Charcuterie out of the space. She named the shop after her grandmother, a woman she described as “hilarious and full of life.” The two had a close relationship, and Balko admired her grandmother’s ability to take care of everyone and make time for all of her children and grandchildren.
“That sense of community, I think, inspires me through her in this space, because that’s something that’s really important to me, making sure people feel taken care of and special here,” Balko said.
Family photos, including several of Balko’s grandmother, adorn the cafe’s pale pink walls. The space is bright and inviting with comfortable seating, soft lighting and vases of fresh flowers throughout. Outside of the cafe menu, Constance’s also sells all the fixings needed to make a charcuterie board at home, plus soups and sandwiches to go, French butter, baked goods and an array of sodas.
How to buy: Constance Fromagerie & Café is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
