Speciality Spotlight with George & Joseph

We are proud to share the third journal in our ‘Speciality Spotlight’ series – a collection of features that shares the stories of some of our trade customers across the country.

This month, we spoke with Stephen Fleming from George & Joseph – an award-winning cheesemonger based in Chapel Allerton, Leeds. We wanted to find out more about how their business began, their plans for the future and why they started stocking Peter’s Yard.

What made you want to open George & Joseph?

A mixture of mid-life crisis, wondering what my life would have been like if I’d made different choices!  Seriously though – I’d been thinking about doing something in the food/deli business and spotted there was no-one in Leeds selling good cheese.  I started trying it out at farmer’s markets and a year later we opened our first shop in Chapel Allerton.

 

What is it that you love about the artisan food industry?

I love the enthusiasm of the people in the industry.  Everyone is keen to help others and share knowledge.  There are so many amazing products out there and they keep on coming!

 

 

How did you find out about Peter’s Yard and what made you want to stock our products?

I honestly can’t recall how I first came across Peter’s Yard – I think it was probably at a food fair somewhere.  I was taken by the taste and texture of the crackers – they’re perfect for cheese in that they provide a great backdrop without marching all over the flavour of whatever cheese you put on them.

 

What cheese / topping would be your perfect pairing with Peter’s Yard?

My personal current favourite combination is Dorstone goat’s cheese with Peter’s Yard Rye & Charcoal Sourdough Crackers.

 

What’s next for George & Joseph?

We’re getting ready to get back to hosting real-world tastings in our shop – we’ve had great fun hosting Zoom tastings but we can’t wait to welcome people back into our shop for a live tasting in person!