Joyce’s choices for Cheese Platters

Joyce Hosea has been listening to the community since opening Cheese Platters and More last summer, and is planning a party to celebrate one year in business and rebrand to better reflect the many services it provides.

“People are really happy that we’re here,” Hosea said. “They’re excited about the different things we offer. They love the variety that we have.”

Hosea opened Cheese Platters and More in The Valley building at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and East Union Street in July 2018.

Not only does it offer cheese and charcuterie platters like Hosea’s 2004 Cheese Platters shop, it also serves as a butcher shop, bistro, grab-and-go market, beer-and-wine shop, and catering service.

“We’re pretty strong with our catering, so catering is our strongest point,” Hosea said, “which is really nice because that’s our bread-and-butter right now.”

Cheese Platters and More receives a good amount of support from nearby Madrona residents, and is right across the street from Grocery Outlet, where the neighborhood farmers market runs from May to mid-October.

“The market continues to bring new faces,” Hosea said.

The focus since opening has included increasing visibility and responding to community feedback.

“People talk about everything,” Hosea said. “They’re engaged. They want to learn more. They’re helpful.”

While the response to Cheese Platters and More’s upscale food selection has been positive, she said, customers also want a place where they can simply grab a good sandwich.

Outdoor seating with blue parasols are helping to catch people’s eye, Hosea said. And new outdoor lighting has been set up, as will new signage when it arrives.

For a business providing so many services, Cheese Platters and More has proven confusing to some, particularly when it comes to everything the More entails.

An anniversary party is set for 4-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, when the business will relaunch under its new name, Joyce’s.

“I don’t mind putting my name on things,” Hosea said. “I don’t want things going out there that I’m not proud of.”

The anniversary party will feature live music, beer and wine, and a lengthy menu of appetizers and small bites for sale, including mini pesto grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup shooters, hummus crostini, vegetarian street tacos, cheese plates, caprese sliders and Spanish meatballs.

“We want to bring out some of the things that we know people like, and then introduce some new ones,” Hosea said.

The anniversary party will also mark the return of Sunday hours; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Joyce’s will remain open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Hosea’s anniversary party is a few months late. Her grandmother Izola Ballard passed during the week of the actual Cheese Platters and More one-year anniversary.

“My grandma always cooked,” Hosea said. “She actually had a cafe on Martin Luther King and McClellan.”

Ballard eventually changed the cafe to Empire Way Grocery.

“She retired at 94,” Hosea said. “We had to force her.”

She remembers being 13, and watching the grocery store fading into the distance as she sat on a bus. Hosea said that’s when she first realized she wanted to be in business for her self.

Find out more information at cheeseandmoreonunion.com, including a GrubHub option that includes a separate, rotating menu.