A Small Counter, A Lot Of Curiosity
Love Cheese began life as a single glass counter on a York side street, run by a small team who couldn't quite believe how much good cheese was being made within a few hours' drive and how little of it anyone outside the trade ever got to try. So we set about changing that — one wheel, one wedge, one very enthusiastic conversation at a time.
We're still a genuinely independent shop, still based in York, and still small enough that the person who cuts your cheese is usually the same person who tasted it, tracked it down and drove to collect it themselves. Nothing on our counter is chosen because it's easy to source — it's chosen because someone on the team stood in a dairy, tried it, and couldn't stop talking about it on the drive home.
That's the whole idea behind Love Cheese: your knowledgeable friend behind the counter, minus the small talk about the weather. Ask us anything — what to pair it with, how long to let it breathe, whether it'll survive the post — and we'll give you a straight, useful answer, because we've almost certainly eaten the thing ourselves.
Meet The Team
Elle Pimlott
Content & Marketing Manager
Harry Baines
The Big Cheese
A Few Milestones
Nothing about growing a cheese shop happens quickly — which suits us fine. Here's the short version of how we got from one counter to where we are now.
The Counter Opens
Love Cheese opens its doors in York with a single counter, a handful of British cheesemakers, and a lot to learn.
First Trade Recognition
Shortlisted at the regional Great Northern Cheese Awards — our first sign that the sourcing was paying off.
The Speakcheesey Opens
Our secret garden bistro opens behind the shop, tucked in the shadows of York Minster — small plates, good wine, and more cheese still.
Virtual Cheese Tastings Launched With Nationwide Success
We take tastings online — a live-hosted Facebook tasting, with real cheese and wine sent nationwide before you tune in.
Small Dairies, Not Big Factories
Almost everything on our counter comes from independent British cheesemakers — small dairies, family farms and one-person operations we've got to know over years, not spreadsheets. Some make a few hundred wheels a week. A couple make barely a few hundred a year.
We visit where we can, taste every new batch before it goes on the counter, and buy in quantities small enough that nothing sits around losing its edge. If a cheesemaker has a bad season, we'd rather sell out and wait than pad the gap with something that doesn't belong next to their name.
It costs more and it's slower — but it means when we tell you a cheese is worth trying, we mean it, because we've met the hands that made it.
Meet The Cheeses →
Press & Mentions
Come And Meet The Counter
Whether it's a box on your doorstep or a table in the garden, we'd love to talk you through what's good this week.