St. James Cheese Company New Orleans

Richard and Danielle Sutton’s interest in cheese began as a children when they both, separately, visited Europe with their parents. However, on the way to becoming New Orleans’ premier cheesemongers, they were waylaid into banking and public relations. On a whim, and with Danielle’s fresh British passport in hand, they sold their house in Philadelphia and moved to London in 2002 to see what adventures would find them. What found both of them was Paxton & Whitfield, the over 200-year-old cheese shop in the St. James neighborhood, and supplier of cheese to the royal household and Parliament. And so began Richard and Danielle’s transition from bored banker and PR executive to passionate cheesemongers. Living in London and working at Paxton’s allowed Richard access to the great cheese makers and affineurs of Europe and a wealth of knowledge and training about cheese. In 2006, Richard and Danielle decided to move back to the US and open their own cheese business. Having met in New Orleans while in college at Tulane and having enormous fondness for the city, they decided that this was where they would open the St. James Cheese Company. Despite the challenges of opening a business in post-Katrina New Orleans (and dealing with highly perishable products in a hot and hurricane prone area), St. James Cheese has been welcomed with open arms by the city and has grown a loyal and steady following.

Justin Trosclair is our perpetually cheerful Wholesale Manager. He claims to have a cold robot heart, but yet has never been seen frowning… ever. If you do happen to see him frown, please alert management immediately as it means something has gone catastrophically wrong.

Justin likes to say that cheese chose him, and his career path certainly highlights a propensity for fromage. He hails from the Westbank of New Orleans (there is some debate about whether its the best bank). He has served stints as a cheese buyer for Whole Foods and a cheese maker at Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. Craft beer is the only thing that comes close to matching his love for cheese. The two together are a one-two punch that ignites his most fervent feelings. For a live demonstration of this fanaticism, sign up for one of the monthly cheese and beer classes he leads.

Cheesemonger Casey Foote has enthusiasm for cheese that knows no bounds. He is a man of mystery and reveals little about himself. Here’s what we do know: he’s a Louisiana boy born and raised in Bunkie. He’s lived in Spain and Ireland. He’s shot and directed two short films; the first won a Reel 13 award and the other has made him a household name in Siberia, Macedonia, and Kentucky (please do not request autographs during the lunch rush).

Casey attended LSU and holds a stunning three degrees in topics we’re still trying to find the correlation between: Fine Arts, Photography, and Paleontology. Before coming to work at St. James, he was a cheese buyer at Whole Foods. He recently completed a cheese-inspired cross-country road trip.

If you’ve been to the store and caught a glimpse of Richard Dreyfus circa 1975, then you’ve seen our chef and kitchen manager, Andy Scurlock. When he is not acting as body double for young Dreyfus, he is churning out mind-blowing charcuterie in our kitchen. In fact, Danielle’s British father claims that Andy’s pork pie rivals that made by his mother when he was but a small boy. Andy, an Herbsaint alum, trained at the New England Culinary Institute, and worked at Prune in NYC. However, now that he’s purchased a home, he is a somewhat permanent Nola resident. He is originally from Butler, Alabama, and is therefore responsible for the many “Butler, Alabama” references coming from the kitchen. He is also married to a very talented pastry chef who sends us delicious treats.

(Andy is no longer this clean shaven. He looks more like a young Richard Dreyfus crossed with Jeremiah Johnson these days. He grumbled something recently about being an urban pioneer. Actually, he got mad when I called him that and said that he is not a “niche hipster.”)

Restaurant Manager Clare Ashburn’s infatuation with cheese began when her sister sent her a crate of Cowgirl Creamery cheese for her 20th birthday. Not even a 30-day full immersion diet of cheese dissuaded her from moving to New Orleans to pursue a career in food.

Clare was born and raised in Washington, DC, and moved south to attend the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, where she majored in International and Global Studies and played varsity field hockey. Clare oversees our restaurant with a cheerful efficiency not seen since Mary Poppins and delights customers on a daily basis with her can-do attitude.

(We are trying to get a good picture of Clare, but she remains illusive. We have included one of her getting lectured on the finer points of bocce by Richard.)

A native of Wisconsin, America’s Dairyland, Annie likes to tempt fate by wearing a Green Bay jersey in the shop on Saints game days. Annie spent a year living in rural China before moving to New Orleans and following her dairy destiny. She plays a mean game of cornhole, a game we are told is very popular in the midwest.