Cheese & Chutney

'Cheese & Chutney' is a great little delicatessen on Gordon Terrace in Saltaire.  I popped in to buy some blue cheese.  Spoilt for choice, I ended up with some Jervaulx Blue, made in Wensleydale (one of the Yorkshire Dales) to a recipe perfected by French monks who settled in the valley and founded Jervaulx Abbey in the 1100s.  Very delicious it is too - creamy, smooth and mellow.

'Cheese & Chutney', founded by Matthew Coxon about three years ago, was originally called 'Coxon's Kitchen'.  A trademark clash with a TV chef with the same name forced the shop to change its title last year.  The resulting publicity was, I think, no bad thing in the end.  The delicatessen seems to have gone from strength to strength and they seem to have benefited from focusing on cheese and chutney as their two main selling points.  They even supply wedding cakes made of cheese!

It's one of those shops you can happily browse in. You can select from over 40 UK and continental cheeses and 50+ chutneys and also buy artisan breads, cakes (try the wonderful chocolate brownies), olives, antipasti, cured meats, interesting store-cupboard ingredients and cookware.  They make up beautiful gift hampers too.  Matt has recently started supplying gluten-free products to order, sourced from a supplier in Leyburn in Wensleydale.  If you're in the area, I highly recommend you visit the shop, drool (though not over the produce!) and take a bag full of yummy things home with you.

I just happened in when Matt was rewriting his signboard and he happily smiled for the photographer.  I'm counting this as number two in my 'be brave and get people you don't know to pose for a photo' challenge! (The first being the KWVR train-driver last month).  Thanks Matthew!