It started with a love of cheese.
Cheese has always been a bit of a big deal in my life.
Some of my fondest memories involve it: childhood holidays in France, stopping on long journeys for baguette and a wedge of whatever cheese we'd picked up along the way, and family meals where the cheeseboard always appeared before dessert.
I didn't know it then, of course, but somewhere along the way cheese became more than just something I loved to eat. I became fascinated by it. The different styles, the flavours, the stories behind it and the people who make it.
But it would take one particular plate of cheese to turn that fascination into an idea.
Then one night over a plate of cheese...
November 2023. An anniversary night out, a conveyor belt of cheese and a conversation that started something.
Allan and I were at Pick & Cheese in Seven Dials, happily working our way through the menu, when we started talking about how brilliant it would be to have a proper cheese shop back home in Alton.
Somewhere we could buy the cheeses we already loved, discover ones we’d never tried and, importantly, actually talk to someone about them.
It was one of those conversations that starts with “Wouldn’t it be great if…”
Except this one stuck.
By the time we left, the seed of Cheese! Louise had been planted.
So, I needed to learn
how to do it properly.
Loving cheese and knowing how to look after it are two very different things.
I already had years of retail experience, but if I was going to open a proper cheesemongers, I wanted to understand the product inside out. How cheese is made, matured, stored, cared for, cut and, of course, tasted.
That journey took me to Roanne in France, where I trained in cheesemongering with the world-renowned Mons Formation and cheese expert Emma Young.
I came home knowing exactly what I wanted Cheese! Louise to be: brilliant cheese, properly cared for, without any of the stuffiness that can sometimes surround it.
And then I opened the doors.
In August 2024, Cheese! Louise opened its
doors for the first time.
The shop might have looked a little different back then, but the idea behind it was already very clear.
I wanted to create the kind of cheese shop I would want to walk into. Somewhere filled with brilliant cheese, where you could ask questions, try something new and never feel as though you were supposed to know what you were talking about.
And I made one big decision from the start: Cheese! Louise would champion British cheese.
Britain has an extraordinary community of cheesemakers, farmers and producers creating cheeses that deserve to be celebrated. By keeping my counter British, I can support them while also avoiding the unnecessary miles that come with importing cheese from overseas.
Two years on, the shop has evolved enormously, but that original idea hasn't changed.
Day one. August 2024
Great British cheese. No snobbery. Everyone welcome.
So what is Cheese! Louise today?
It’s still a cheese shop. But it’s become rather more than that.
It’s a place to discover brilliant British cheese, try something you’ve never had before and leave knowing a little more about what’s in your bag.
There are tastings, pairing nights, events, wedding cheese and plenty of conversations across the counter, all centred around an ever-changing collection made by some extraordinary British cheesemakers.
But more than anything, Cheese! Louise is about making really good cheese feel accessible.
You don’t need to know about cheese when you walk through the door. That’s my job. You just need to be curious.
You don’t need to know about cheese when you walk through the door. That’s my job. You just need to be curious.
