SMORGASBORD / FOOD TOPICS : Say Cheese : A Ventura store offers dozens of kinds, and a bakery at Channel Islands Harbor sells tempting desserts.

Trying to track down a good French Morbier or Swiss Appenzeller?

How about a cheesecake in an unusual flavor--such as Mississippi Mud and Margarita?

The Cheese Store and Barbi’s Bakery offer all sorts of cheesy choices.

The Cheese Store, in downtown Ventura, is unique in the county.

Owner Samantha Gastineau regularly carries more than 50 kinds of imported and domestic cheeses as well as deli meats, pates and gourmet items.

Gastineau’s products are high in quality, and she offers seasonal specialties, such as cheeses made only in the spring when the grass on which cows graze is sweetest.

Her stock, she said, is also affected by U.S. customs agents, who are very particular about imported cheeses allowed into America.

“Getting a true French brie is very hard to do because the French do not pasteurize their milk, but customs requires that milk used to make cheese be pasteurized,” she said. “It really makes a difference in the taste.”

The Cheese Store specializes in putting together gift baskets and boxes filled with wines, cheeses and other gourmet items that can be picked up or delivered.

And Gastineau will fill your picnic basket with your choice of goodies, including fresh French bread (Mark Oliver’s of Santa Barbara), condiments, wineglasses and tablecloth. Prices start at about $25. Buffet platters and light catering are also available.

When you see “Barbi’s Bakery . . . Addictive Since 1984,” you might guess you are in for a treat.

Barbi Kurisu started baking cheesecakes for the Whale’s Tail restaurant in Oxnard while employed there as a waitress.

Soon, she said, she was inundated by requests from other local restaurants and from customers.

Kurisu went into cheesecake and dessert production full time in a wholesale kitchen in Ventura.

She switched two years ago to a retail location at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

Along with 30 flavors of cheesecake on the menu ($30 for a whole cake, $2.75 per slice), the bakery has a selection of layer cakes for weddings and other special occasions.

Barbi’s sports a complete espresso bar, and she bakes plenty of breakfast pastries to accompany frothy coffee concoctions.

Along with all the treats, whole bean coffees and gourmet knickknacks are available.

Barbi’s makes gift baskets for all occasions and has a full delivery and catering service.

* WHERE AND WHEN

* The Cheese Store, 12 N. Fir St., Ventura; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. 653-0577; fax 653-0577.

* Barbi’s Bakery & Espresso Bar, 2810 Harbor Blvd., Channel Islands Harbor; 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 985-0527.