Pizza-grade mozzarella is a thing unto itself, nothing like the scintillatingly fresh cheese one might use to make a caprese salad. And at most pizzerias — where the plain cheese slice is the most fundamental product — either the crust, tomato sauce, or cheese is allowed to dominate. At Gio’s, a cave of a pizza parlor in Mott Haven, the cheese dominates, spread across the pie so there’s a fun mix of ingredients in every bite.

The exact story of how the chopped cheese sandwich was invented and prospered in Harlem and the Bronx (and now in Brooklyn) is murky, though some claim the sandwich was invented at Haijji’s by Carlos Soto. Suffice to say, the delightful concoction is a union of ground beef, onions, and lots of American cheese, which melts into the beef to create an entirely new food group. Shall we call it beese? Or cheef?

What is a bagel but an overgrown spare tire of dough and seed, before it receives its consecration of a thick schmear of cream cheese? And nowadays, those cream cheeses come in a wild variety of flavors, including — during a recent inspection of Ess-a-Bagel’s glass refrigerated case — scallion, olive, jalapeno, herb, raisin walnut, avocado garlic, blackberry, oreo, sundried tomato, vegetable, lox, and a dozen others.

After you’ve finished your giant dinner of steaks and polenta, it may be too late to save room for papanasi at Romanian Garden in Sunnyside. This incredible dessert consists of fist-size, newly fried globular doughnuts filled with branza de vaci, a fresh cheese. As if that weren’t enough, they’re served still warm and thickly coated in sour cream and with jam on the side. 

This Flatiron cheese store has roots in the Pike Place Market from a Seattle cheesemonger. A great selection of cheeses is sourced from all over but some varieties are manufactured on the premises. It also boasts a cheese cave, wine bar, and cafe, and it is in the cafe that one can order a range of great grilled cheese sandwiches. Many are made with Flagship, the company’s white cow’s milk cheese, aged 15 months and tasting like a cross between cheddar and gruyere. The sandwich I like best features a thin slice of beef, a few leaves of arugula used as an herb, and a slice of tomato, the flavors of which are dominated by the cheese.

By now, it seems everyone has tried the khachapuri, the Georgian boats filled with molten cheese, a raw egg yolk, and melting butter, more properly known as adjaruli khachapuri. But did you know there are all sorts of other cheese breads scattered across the transcaucasian state, many associated with certain locales? Penovani khachapuri is an estimable one, hand-held turnovers served warm that you can eat with one hand standing up, its imeruli cheese filling soft and salty inside.

Pão de queijo is the iconic cheese ball of Brazil, using tapioca flour instead of wheat flour and oodles of cheese to achieve a texture like a soft rubber ball. Soho’s Brigadeiro Bakery produces some of the best in town (you’d probably have to go to Newark to better ones). Other Brazilian baked goods, mainly sweet, are available to eat after your lunch of cheese balls (three should be sufficient),

If you really love American cheese, this may be the grilled cheese for you. At veteran East Village fixture Ray’s Candy Store, a modest pair of American cheese slices are put between two slices of white bread, and the thing is thrust into the sandwich press, etching brown lines on the bread but also melting the cheese without benefit of the questionable grease that is spread on this sandwich prior to grilling at diners.

Who doesn’t love tiny sandwiches? This Guatemalan cafe in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is a favorite lunch and brunch destination, and at both meals (or even in the evening) one may enjoy this pair of tiny sandwiches, radiating green and white hues like beacons. The filling consists of blanched spinach with clouds of puffy goat cheese, which, let us not deny, provides a funky caproic edge to the flavor, somewhat neutralized by honey and horseradish. For such a light sandwich, it’s dense and full of flavor.

Fondue is a sleeper of a Swiss recipe that seems to become popular in cycles of 30 years or so. Its last cycle saw guests giving newly married couples multiple fondue sets as wedding presents. And now it may be coming back again, as evidenced by the popularity of the fondue at this combo wine bar and cheese store in Ditmas Park. This being the keto age, the wine-laced melted cheese kept warm over a sterno flame is furnished with vegetable crudite as dipping implements, with the shop’s excellent focaccia provided at slight extra charge.