For Richard and Danielle Sutton, cheese was the path to living their lives in full color. Richard and Danielle met at Tulane University, taking up respectable careers in banking and public relations. But while the office work was stable, it was not riveting.
The Suttons moved to London in 2002, armed with Danielle’s fresh British passport and a desire for something more fulfilling. The answer was Paxton and Whitfield, a 200-year-old cheese shop in the St. James neighborhood of London, and supplier of cheese to the royal household and Parliament. Over the next four years, the Suttons evolved from bored banker and PR exec to passionate cheesemongers. Working at Paxton’s allowed Richard access to the great cheesemakers and affineurs of Europe, learning the ways of cheese. In 2006, Richard and Danielle decided it was time to move back to the states to open their own cheese business.
Having met in New Orleans while at Tulane, and having enormous fondness for the city and the Gulf Coast, the Suttons chose the Big Easy as the place to open St. James Cheese Company. This was not without challenges, as the city had just weathered Hurricane Katrina. Dealing with highly perishable products in a hot and hurricane prone area is still a challenge to this day. But New Orleans was hungry for artisan cheese, and the city has welcomed them with open arms and a loyal following.