An Ode to The Cheese Stands Alone – and Matt Parker

Back in 2004, there were no cheese shops in our area. Sure, there were wine shops which also sold cheese, but no one who was fromage-focused. That needed to change, obviously. I knew cheese but I had no idea how to run a cheese business – I had never even worked in retail before. Having no immediate resources, I consulted the trusty internet and was surprised that all over the country, there were very few true cheese shops. Of course there were the superheroes, like Murray’s in New York, but that would be like asking Barbra Streisand for singing lessons. I had to find someone who did what I wanted to do… and who would help me learn.

Enter Matt Parker of The Cheese Stands Alone, which had opened in Chicago the year before. One email was all it took – Matt responded right away and not only offered to answer my questions, but invited me to shadow him in his shop. Imagine that! Back then, I didn’t realize what a big deal it was. Now that I own my own business and see how exhausting and engrossing it is, his openness was nothing short of extraordinary. Little did he know when he encouraged my questions that I would show up with multiple pages of them. The cheese cases I bought? Matt told me to go True. The slicer? Twelve inch blade, just like Matt said. The care we take with our cheeses? Matt showed me it could be done with passion and precision. Eight years later, there is nothing about which he steered me wrong.

So why this belated homage? I just found out that The Cheese Stands Alone closed back in 2008, right about the time when we were expanding and freaking out about adding a restaurant. A cheese restaurant. A cheese restaurant that might never have been if a kindly cheese pioneer like Matt Parker had ignored me… or said the cheese business was awful… or told me to take a hike.

Thank you, Matt Parker, on behalf of myself and the 80 wonderful cheese geeks who work in our two locations today. I hope you’re kicking ass somewhere great and keepin’ it real. And the next time you’re in DC, please come by – I owe you a drink (and a lot more).