Local musician Shone Harcourt has been swapping his guitar recently for his hammer, working day and night to create all the woodwork inside of new shops on Cleveland, including a new cheese store.
“It’s been me and my hands,” he says. “Everything from the ground up – the soap cutters, the shelves, everything.”
The first shop, Be Clean Naturally (owned by Harcourt’s partner, Kirstin French, a familiar face for Farmers’ Market shoppers), opened last week. Right next door is his own retail venture, Black Market Cheese, a shop that is set to open this week.
“We’ll have an assortment of B.C.-made cheese. Raw milk, grass fed and organic, as well as different types of imported cheeses,” says Harcourt. Plus, there will be at least four or five different kinds of his own personal favourites: the blues.
“We’ll start small and we’ll have a list. And if you want it and I don’t have it, I’ll bring it in.”
As a man with many food sensitivities, including preservatives and pasteurized foods, Harcourt’s journey with cheese started after he explored what he could consume.
“I read some literature that directed me to understand that raw milk, done right, can actually be non-reactive to the body. So I started drinking raw milk and, sure enough, it was good,” he says. “I had access to a cow so I started milking every day up the Paradise Valley and, sure enough, I started making cheese.”
While plans were underway for French’s shop, the opportunity arose for Harcourt to open a store of his own. “We thought, well, what would you do? And well, I know about cheese and I love cheese!”
Within a short time the decision was made and Black Market Cheese was born.
Beyond bringing cheese to Squamish, what sets Harcourt’s venture apart is that nothing is pre-packaged. “I’m excited about the open, fresh cheeses that we’ll have. You’ll be able to look at the round and say, ‘I want a piece off that,’” says Harcourt. “When we wrap it up, we take something out of it. But when it’s sealed and the cheese is in its unit, it’s still alive and aging.”
There will also be collaborations with local businesses for wine-tasting events and cheese-tasting evenings, plus there will be a selection of other locally made products on sale.
Most exciting so far though, for Harcourt, has been the realization of a dream. “Anybody can say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to open up a cheese shop – I’m going to build this or do that,’ but you know what? I design and live my life consciously,” he says. “With practice, you can do anything you want. Just look it up, get a little gumption, take a little chance, get some friends excited, and do it. You can do anything.”
Black Market Cheese is on Cleveland Avenue and opens this week.
