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 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, hailing originally from Wilmington, Delaware and Tallahassee, FL, and having enormous fondness for the city and Gulf Coast, 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.