That’s Veronica. She’s worth over a million dollars,” the young woman behind the counter at Arethusa Dairy told me. She pointed to the large, framed photo of a cow that hangs on the wall of the black and white dairy shop that opened in March on Chapel. All of the dairy in the shop comes from the hundreds of cows at Arethusa Farm in Litchfield Hills, CT, and everything that isn’t from the farm is imported from Italy. The cows of Arethusa, who churn out everything from rich ice cream to savory hard cheeses, are spoiled: “We treat our cows like family here—we know the name, personality and specialized needs of every lady in the barn or on the field,” their website boasts. Clearly, happy cows make happy people; everyone you pass in the immaculate cow-themed shop seems to be in a daze of delicious dairy.

When I first stopped in, I got a waffle cone of the mint chocolate chip. For $3.25, they pile a small mountain of ice cream into a crispy waffle cone—certainly more than a single scoop, but I was not complaining. Upon taking my first bite, I was overcome. I almost had to lie down on the checkered floor to take it all in, but I didn’t want to embarrass the people I was with. So instead, I ran around the shop sampling everything they had laid out. (Pro tip: you can sample anything in the store—cheese, milk, ice cream, their own brioche bread. All fair game). In addition to the heavenly ice cream, the Bella Bantam cheese and the coffee milk were definitely highlights of that first visit.

I went back two days later to grab one of their five-dollar grilled cheeses. They make it with their three main hard cheeses (Bella Bantam, Crybaby, and Europa) on brioche bread, and grease the grill with Arethusa butter. I chatted with the friendly staff and watched it melt on the griddle before I let it melt in my mouth. Absolutely unreal. I stopped someone on Old Campus and made her try—it it was that good. (A little swissy maybe, but warm and melty).

I swear I wasn’t trying to butter the staff up for free food, and I don’t want to milk this too much. But I promise, if you can tolerate lactose, Arethusa Dairy will be a rich experience. Even if you think that’s cheesy.