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Syracuse Cheese Shop Attracts Locals and TikTok Fans Syracuse Cheese Shop Attracts Locals and TikTok Fans

By Danyell Monk

SARAH SIMIELE: If anything jumps out at you in the case let me know. We can get a sample for ya.

DANYELL MONK: Sarah Simiele is a self-proclaimed curd nerd. In fact, that’s the name of her shop on James Street in Eastwood. Next month, Sarah and her husband Matthew Simiele will be celebrating one year since the shop’s opening.

SIMIELE: Just looking forward to a really exciting one year of celebratory cheese.

MONK: On any given day you’ll find dozens of different cheeses in the shop. With so many options, the cheesemongers are always there to help answer any questions. However, make sure you never ask what their favorite cheese is.

SIMIELE: I could never choose. I love them all dearly and for different reasons.

MATTHEW SIMIELE: Every time anyone asks me that question I give like eight different cheeses as my answer.

MONK: Owning a cheese shop wasn’t always Sarah’s dream career. While studying cell and molecular biology at Binghamton University, Sarah helped start a cheese club. This was when she realized that instead of being a surgeon, she wanted to be a cheesemonger.

SIMIELE: My parents were I think a little like ‘Well, we’ll just let this run its course and see what happens’ kind of thing. And now my family is more supportive than everyone in the world.

MONK: Sarah worked as a cheesemonger in Brooklyn until the couple moved to Syracuse nearly three years ago. They noticed there were no cheese shops in the area. In March of 2021, they decided to start their own cheese shop and one year later The Curd Nerd officially opened.

SIMIELE: Surprisingly and amazingly Syracuse has welcomed us with open arms.

MONK: On top of running the shop, the couple also found great success on TikTok. There they create videos showcasing some of the different types of cheese around the shop as well as making charcuterie boards. The Curd Nerd TikTok page has nearly one hundred thousand followers and the videos have amassed nearly six hundred thousand likes. The most-watched video on the page has 3.5 million views.

SIMIELE: I was like who is going to watch me cut cheese? And the answer is a lot of people will watch you cut cheese on the internet.

MONK: With daily visits from locals and TikTok fans alike, customers make sure The Curd Nerd remains the big cheese of Syracuse. In Eastwood, Danyell Monk, NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The Curd Nerd on James Street in Eastwood celebrated one year since officially opening in late March. Prior to the event, owner of the Curd Nerd Sarah Simiele said a celebration was planned to commemorate all that has happened over the past year.

“We’re doing a big anniversary weekend here,” Simiele said. “We’re going to throw a big party and I think we’re going to crack open a wheel of parm again.”

Prior to the shop’s opening in 2022, there were not any other cheese-specific shops in the Central New York area. Many grocery stores in the area offer a good variety of cheeses but none to the level that a cheese shop does. Simiele said another great thing about cheese shops is how cheesemongers can get to know customers’ tastes and interact with them on a more personal level.

“A cheesemonger is a bridge between the cheese and the people,” Simiele said. “My job is to know a little bit about all the cheese, the cheesemakers, and everything about cheese and relay that information to the people.”

Just like other small businesses, Simiele must decide what types of cheeses go into her shop. There are a variety of ways Simiele figures this out and she said this is the most fun aspect of her job.

“Some of it is stuff I’ve had throughout the course of my career in cheese,” Simiele said. “Some of it is I go to cheese conferences and things like that. I sample all the new cheeses that are out and figure out what would be a good fit for the shop.”

The Curd Nerd shop can be found at 2800 James St. in Eastwood. In addition to being a place to buy unique cheeses, the shop also offers a variety of events and classes to help people learn more about cheese. Business hours, an event schedule, and other information can be found on The Curd Nerd website and Facebook page.

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