Speciality Food Inspirational Cheese Retailers 2025

felt a sense of longing to run her own business again. Emmanuelle adds she couldn’t have found a better location than the buzzy Sunny BankMills complex in Farsley, just outside Leeds. “It’s a village within a village,” she explains. “It reminds me of the East side of Paris, with artisan breweries and artists. It’s so vibrant.” Renowned for being a part of the area’s historic fabric industry, she adds, “It’s like the stones have been soaking up the energy.” A local champion You’d think, having Gallic roots, Emmanuelle would dedicate much of her counter to French cheeses. But supporting local and being in tune with the farmers and producers around her, gives her a sense of purpose and meaning. “There is so much to say about cheese in the North,” she explains. “So 18 @specialityfood A Parisian native, Metz Cheesemonger founder Emmanuelle Metz says she has an ingrained, innate love for good food, and (more importantly) sharing good food. This epicurious nature, and her fascination around the quality and provenance of ingredients, is what drove Emmanuelle last year to take the leap, opening her own shop, where she adores pushing boundaries, experimenting, and bringing immense joy to customers with cheeses they, quite simply, cannot find anywhere else. It was a career running her own photography studio, specialising in food, that prompted the entrepreneur to delve further into the cheese world. And having spent time working for a large cheesemaker in France, and later (five years ago) for a cheesemonger in Leeds uponmoving to the UK, she says she LOCATION: FARSLEY FOUNDED: 2024 FOUNDER: EMMANUELLE METZ Metz Cheesemonger The Affineur Emmanuelle won Best Cheese Display at the Great Yorkshire Show this year, as well as golds for Cheeseboard, Grazing Board and Celebration Cake. “I love creating them,” she says. “I’ve been raised that you eat with your eyes. It’s important to have quality, but also for things to look beautiful. I challenge myself all the time with shapes and colours – I’m non-stop creating. “One of my favourite pairings is with Glaston Tile fromWhite Lake Cheese. It’s a really young, fresh goats’ milk cheese that’s brilliant with candied lemon and verbena. When you can take a cheese and do something gently to complement it, it’s magical.” PERFECT PARTNERS NORTH