Joyce Hosea has brought a touch of Europe to Leschi with her new specialty cheese and sandwich shop, Cheese Platters. Located on the west side of Lakeside Avenue facing Lake Washington, the shop is difficult to miss.
Hosea calls her business "a quaint European specialty shop" that not only sells cheese, but platters, utensils, antipasto, peppers and sandwiches. She also offers gifts and hors d'oeuvres, as well.
A niche market
Hosea has been in the food business all her life, but her interest in opening her own specialty shop came to the fore about eight years ago. She started with Café Nudge in Georgetown in the late '90s, selling food made from scratch, fresh pastas and catering. She even smoked her own meats.
After Café Nudge, Hosea decided she wanted to open a smaller-scale specialty shop. Hosea found Leschi to be the perfect community for this niche market.
"The neighborhood has been very accepting, and I've been told this is a great addition to the neighborhood," Hosea said. "I love to see people enjoy good food. Everybody loves cheese."
Her current cheese offerings include Pierre Robert (pronounced "robere") triple crème; Chaource triple crème; Humboldt Frog goat cheese; a wide variety of popular Spanish cheeses, including Mahon, Manchego and Navalofhaces; and several wash-rind "stinky" cheeses.
Custom cheese courses for one or two people are available, as well as bulk cheese and special orders.
"We'll be changing out the stock of cheese and olives just to keep things interesting. Fifty percent of the cheese will be regular stock, and the other half will be rotating stock," Hosea explained.
A growing menu
At the customers' request Hosea has added a variety of hot and cold sandwiches to the menu, including tuna, Reuben, Italian salami, roast beef, pastrami and French dip, as well as custom orders.
"I've seen the shop a couple times and just decided to stop in," said customer Denise Willup, who enjoyed a pastrami sandwich.
Lining the shop walls and deli case are containers of eggplant caviar, Ajur and fig spread and a variety of antipasto makings: Kalamata, Pro-vencal, Tunisian and Nicoise olives; stuffed cabbage; beans; carrots; and dolmas.
In addition to being a restaurant and deli, the shop also offers many kitchen-type gift items, including plates, platters and cheese slicers. She expects to also sell wine in a few months.
A catering menu is also in the making. It will include a variety of cheeses, olives and antipastos, plus gourmet cakes and pies.
"They now have a gourmet cheese shop in their neighborhood," Hosea said, eagerly. "They don't have to go downtown and find parking just to do their shopping."[[In-content Ad]]
