ARE you a cheese lover or hater?
If it’s the former, then a Jersey-born restaurant founder’s unique cheesy concept will suit you down to a tee – and his empire is set to expand even further.
From serving British artisan cheese toasties from food trucks at festivals twelve years ago, Mathew Carver has taken London’s niche-dining industry by storm with The Cheese Bar.
Sine opening his first restaurant in 2019, he has since broken into mainland Europe with the a restaurant in Berlin, and is next set to fork another continent with a new site in New York next year.
Mr Carver’s venues offer his guests a sushi-like conveyor belt of artisan cheeses local to the area of the restaurant – ideally coined ‘Pick and Cheese’.
The idea behind it all was to champion small cheesemakers and farm producers and showcase their products.
Explaining where the idea came from and why it is has achieved so much success, even following the young company’s “decimation” during Covid lockdowns, Mr Carver said: “When people go to restaurants these days, they want something that’s fun, interesting and maybe a bit different.”
However, he noted that being a restaurater in the UK at the moment “is tougher than ever”.
“The margins are so tight,” he said.
But due to the ‘Pick and Cheese’ concept’s low price mark, and his yearly cheese toastie pitches at Glastonbury, Mr Carver has kept the momentum going.
‘Pick and Cheese’ enables us to serve incredible produce, but at a price point that’s not going to break the bank. For £15, you can try three different cheeses and have a glass of wine, which is still pretty affordable,” he explained.
Having studied furniture design, Mr Carver said that he initially became interested in the artisan cheese industry because of the level of hands-on craftsmanship involved – an aspect that has dimmed with the online prevalence of furniture making nowadays.
“I like people who make stuff for a passion,” he explained.
“[Producing cheese] is a process that you can’t really do on a computer and you have to be passionate about it and be there on the farm, making the cheese. “
“What drives me, is showcasing their stories and getting more people to take an interest in [their produce],” Mr Carver added.
Although his focus is firmly on the opening of his New York restaurant next May, he admitted his dream would be to see a Cheese Bar open in Paris, showcasing French produce.
“France is probably the most famous place in the world for cheese,” Mr Carver said.
