The Cheese Shop | 106 South Greensboro Street
A new “cut-to-order” cheese shop is coming to downtown Carrboro. After a year of testing their craft at local pop-ups, cheesemongers Michelle and Stevie Webb are bringing their curated selection of small-batch, artisanal cheeses to Glasshalfull.
“We’re delighted to partner with The Cheese Shop and provide this startup space for their first brick-and-mortar, especially since we share a like-minded philosophy around offering high quality and thoughtfully curated products, as well as showcasing hard-to-find and small-batch producers,” Jim Wald, co-owner of Glasshalfull, said in a press release.
The Cheese Shop officially opens its doors for business on March 9th and will be open three days a week: Thursdays through Fridays 12-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Webb’s moved to the Triangle from Brooklyn in 2020 and founded The Cheese Shop in 2022. After accruing a loyal following of cheese enthusiasts through the pop-ups, as well as an online shop and monthly cheese club, the couple is hoping that the convenience of a permanent space will make cut-to-order cheeses accessible to locals and offer a more personal experience than that of a supermarket cheese counter.
“A lot of people don’t understand the difference between a cut-to-order shop and your average cheese counter,” Stevie, co-owner and head cheesemonger, tells the INDY. “When you can have a taste of the cheese and hear the story behind it, then it’s not just going shopping. It becomes an experience.”
The couple’s new brick-and-mortar location will occupy about 100 square feet adjacent to Glasshalful’s wine shop and feature a case of cheeses sourced from “here, near, and far,” as the two explain. More specifically, customer favorites from North Carolina creameries include Snow Camp from Goat Lady Dairy (a “petite soft bloomy cheese” that tastes good on a cracker with some “honey drizzled all over,” the couple suggests) and Looking Glass Creamery’s Green River Blue (a “creamy, peppery, mild blue” cheese that pairs well with fig jam or chocolate).
The counter also features a selection of pantry goods and provisions.
Don’t confuse the Webb’s with cheesemakers, though. The pair are cheesemongers—a role almost like a cheese sommelier. Previously, Stevie trained as a chef at London’s prestigious Leith School of Food and Wine and worked as a cheesemonger at The Greene Grape in Brooklyn.
The Cheese Shop works closely with Glasshalfull’s chefs to select cheeses to incorporate into the dishes they feature. The partnership will also take the form of community events like cheese education courses and cheese and wine pairing classes.
When asked about their favorite cheeses of the moment, the couple offer tasting notes not unlike those you’d hear at a wine class.
“My favorite cheese right now is our Comté, a French cheese that is one of France’s most popular cheeses,” says Michelle. “It’s a semi-firm type with similarities to Gruyére; it’s nutty, nuanced, and has notes of caramelized onions and fine broth.”
Stevie says that his is Quicke’s Mature Cheddar, which is made in Devon, England.
“It is a perfect example of terroir in cheese, where the cheese tastes exactly like the area it’s made,” he says. “It starts with a strong punch of horseradish and evolves to notes of grass, salt water, and warm butter and grass.”
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