Maplewood is quickly becoming a food destination in New Jersey, with new restaurants and specialty stores sprouting up throughout the town. The common thread among them? Their love of community and the joy of food. One particular neighborhood in Maplewood, the corner of Boyden and Jacoby Avenues, is home to Porta Rossa Pasta + Provisions, Perla Oyster Bar, and Corner Slice Pizza. This food family just welcomed a newcomer with a mission that's all too familiar. Wheelhouse Cheese + More, located at 417 Boyden Avenue, is a specialty market and cafe looking to make community connections through cheese (and more, of course). Read more about Wheelhouse Cheese + More, a specialty cheese shop in Maplewood, New Jersey. 

A Permanent Home for Wheelhouse

Earlier this spring, Wheelhouse Cheese + More opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Maplewood, New Jersey. The specialty cheese shop was previously operating out of The Co Lab in South Orange, a co-retail space designed to support small businesses. 

The new storefront, located at 417 Boyden Avenue, Maplewood, is a food specialty store specializing in a curated selection of cheese, but staying true to its name, there's a lot more in this wheelhouse. Nestled between the imported and domestic cheeses, there is olive oil, charcuterie, exotic canned fish, specialty sandwiches, and fresh baguettes (baked by another Maplewood gem, Arties). There are also sweets and desserts to indulge in, in addition to non-edible items like art.

Customers can BYOB and dine in at the garden or the cafe. The in-house menu includes cheese plates, charcuterie boards, sandwiches, and cakes. You might even learn a thing or two about cheese pairings, like how a specific mustard or syrup-soaked cherries can complement the flavor of a specific type. 

MG Pro Tip: Be sure to order The Chocolate Dream Cake — it's baked by Three Daughters Bakery in South Orange, and ridiculously good. 

Wheelhouse Cheese also provides customized cheese and charcuterie platters for groups of four to six, eight to twelve, and fourteen to sixteen people. Forty-eight hours' advanced notice is required.

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The Founders

Aaron Kirtz, a Maplewood local, started Wheelhouse Cheese in 2019 while working as a sales manager at Forever Cheese for over a decade. He is a member of the Guilde de Fromage and the American Cheese Society. Wanting to introduce his favorite cheeses to his community in Maplewood, he began selling them through The Co Lab. Aaron is also a D.J. and can be seen and heard spinning vinyl in the shop.

Leigh Friend, also known as FriendLee, went to culinary school, worked in high-end restaurants, and landed at Casellula in New York City, a cheese-focused restaurant serving over forty different kinds of cheese from all over the world. Leigh then worked in cheese retail and wrote a book about cheese, Composing The Cheese Plate. 

Aaron and Leigh became friends through the cheese industry, which, they admit, is a very small community. They would meet at cheese conferences, competitions, and other related events, where their friendship eventually led to a partnership, moving Wheelhouse Cheese to its current location and first storefront. 

The Mission

Aaron and Leigh believe in supporting locally crafted businesses, small farmers, and cheesemongers worldwide. They are committed to quality sourcing and a standard of excellence in all the goods the shop sells. The two see themselves as shepherds of all Wheelhouse's food, crafts, and arts, as each product has a story behind it.

Aaron and Leigh want to create a feeling through food and believe breaking bread with neighbors and new friends expands the community. This sentiment is shared within their unique neighborhood, and on any given day, their neighbors, Porta Rossa, Perla, and Corner Slice, are also breaking bread with the community, and of course, Wheelhouse.

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You can keep up with Wheelhouse Cheese + More by following its Instagram here.