We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Mattingly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I grew up on a dairy farm and we have been making cheese for 28 years. I knew that i wanted to do something that could incorporate the farm and the family cheese but wanted to stay in the city. Customer service is something i am very passionate about and i feel like it has slipped a lot in all industries. Creating a space that took the fanciesness out of Charcuterie and a space where people could socialize over small bites and great drinks while getting great customer service and fantastic local foods was very important to me.
recreating the feeling i felt when i was in my grandmas house is what i was going for. Educating our customers on great cheese, charcuterie and spirits just comes with that.
We also opened during covid which gave us time to ease into things. I had never worked in a restaurant before owning one but i knew how i wanted it to feel. Everything else just fell into place after that.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Great customer service and actually taking time with people. The business model is intentional in the way it forces the customers to have to speak with the team members to learn more about what they are ordering and eating.
As well as saying yes until we know we cannot figure it out.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My background before owning a business was in the beauty industry for 10 years. So i knew nothing about the restaurant world.
What i did know is customer service and how to create a great environment and just how to BE with people. I trusted the rest would fall into place.
Due to opening during covid, we only knew those rules and restrictions and really had to focus on carry out. When the ban was lifted we really had to push our in house business and catering side, as well as the craft cocktails. and charcuterie classes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.culturedcheeseshop.com
• Instagram: culturedcheeseshop
• Facebook: Cultured Cheese and Charcuterie Bar
• Yelp: Cultured