The Cheese Gourmet

I met Jo & Brian Dick a few years ago when we did olive and cheese tastings together. They are the owners of the Cheese Gourmet, an absolutely delightful cheese shop in Linden. Not only do they stock 140 boutique farm cheeses (only three of them are imported!), but they provide you with an “experience” when walking thru the doors of their shop. They are always willing to advise on which cheese is the best for the occasion you want to use it for and you can sample any cheese before buying it. Their passion was the first thing I noticed when I met them at our combined tasting evenings, and it is the first thing you feel and see when you walk into their shop.

The shop also stocks a variety of complimentary produce such as olive products, jams, pickles and cold meats (including my favourite, Richard Bosman’s cured meats!). All of this is on offer at their coffee shop. They have also been the winner of the EAT OUT magazines’ Best Outlet in the North award.

We often tend to belittle Johannesburg, in the sense that we know we can get everything here, but that for authenticity we’d have to go elsewhere. Buying wine from a shop up here just doesn’t compare to getting it from the cellar in the Cape, or for that matter, buying cheese in a supermarket is nothing like buying it on the Natal Midlands farm where it’s made.

Jo and Brian’s place in Linden provides a haven from all this – a place where the best of local is not just put on a shelf, but is presented with a passion and knowledge which, I believe, makes every bite taste just that little better for knowing where it comes from. 

 

Cheese Gourmet

71 Seventh Street (on the 3rd avenue corner)

Linden

Johannesburg
Tel: 011 888 5384
Email: sacheese@gmail.com

Image credits: All photography by me