Why Chicago’s Randall Felts Believes in Making Cheese Fun
Randall Felts of Beautiful Rind dreamed of a sustainable cheese shop that benefited customers, cheesemakers, and, of course, cheesemongers. But he hadn’t expected to open up his own cheese shop or even his own business.
After falling in love with cheese after working at a farm-to-table California-style restaurant in Birmingham, working in the cheese section at Whole Foods, and later at the acclaimed Pastoral which closed in 2019, he felt there was a hole in Chicago’s cheese scene. That hole was hard to miss also because he saw so many excellent cheesemakers mere hours from Chicago’s downtown.
His dreamy store is a combination shop, restaurant, and classroom, all devoted to cheese. Read why Beautiful Rind is a cheese shop we love.
Felts decided to open his own cheese shop in 2020. He saw “A huge potential to really tell the stories of the different producers that were around us” and to highlight the work of cheesemakers and other food producers making good cheese and doing good work —like employing sustainable agricultural practices or hiring formerly incarcerated people to make the food products.
Inspired by Cheese
Felts is inspired by young farmstead cheeses because he says, “People are taking this highly courageous step of opening up a business where you're making something with milk.” Adding that they have to compete with big agricultural companies and hope that they can find a market for what they produce. “It just blows my mind the amount of work and effort they put in and the pride they take in what they do.”
Blakesville Creamery’s Lindeline photo credit Will Kallenborn
His favorite cheeses vary each day, but he adores everything about Blakesville Dairy Farm because they are “making some of the tastiest, most interesting cheeses.” Read more about Blakesville Creamery. The famous English blue cheese, Stilton, has a special place in his heart because “it tastes like [how the] English countryside smells.” And the third final cheese is whatever cheese that happens to be going on his plate next.
Making Cheese Approachable
Felts also wants to make cheese more approachable. Some people find cheese intimidating with a lot of rules. Cheese can be and should be fun. Part of Beautiful Rind’s work is educating customers about great cheeses and the companies behind them. While COVID-19 threw a monkey wrench in a lot of plans, Felts is still committed to education, whether it’s teaching people through online classes or in-person events. The store’s cheese clubs also provide a wealth of information with a touch of humor.
While Beautiful Rind is not yet sampling cheeses—a concession to the fact that it opened during April 2020 at the start of the pandemic—they work hard at explaining cheese to customers. Plus, there’s no minimum cut for cheese so people can buy small samples of cheeses and come back later for bigger slices if they fall in love with a particular cheese. At some point, they may be able to provide samples of cheeses in the future but that depends on what happens with the pandemic.
Fair Pay
A cheesemonger himself, Felts noticed that cheesemongers had deep knowledge of their products, but they were not compensated appropriately. People left the industry for other careers and thus the cheese industry was experiencing some brain drain. Felts said, “one of the reasons I wanted to open [Beautiful Rind] was to give good sustainable jobs to cheesemongers in the profession.” Helping to move past the idea that being a cheesemonger is a college job until you found something “better.”
Since 2021, he’s been able to pay well above industry standards; with tips and bonuses, cheesemongers can make $20-$25 depending on how busy the shop is. Says Felts, “Through combining restaurant and retail operations, we are able to achieve a wage that more closely aligns with the expertise, passion, and skills that it takes to be a great cheesemonger.”
He’s been able to hire new staff, promote staff from within and work on long-term development.
Committed to the Community
Felts and Beautiful Rind have been also able to help give back to the community by hosting fundraisers in-store and elsewhere. He said, “I’ve always enjoyed giving back. Even from a professional standpoint, I've always found that it really motivates everybody involved to support others. People become cheesemongers because they enjoy cheese, but they also enjoy helping.” He sees community involvement as an extension of that desire. They’ve hosted fundraising events for Chicago Children's Advocacy Center as well as local animal shelters.
“It feels good at the end of the day, but it also does a little bit of good in the world. And from a business standpoint, you bring in new people to your shop. I'd rather give the money to a charity organization to bring people in than a public relations firm,” explained Felts.
Felts says that it feels great to know that he will help this farm or that producer. He also loves the continual learning. If he is going to teach a class on sheep’s milk cheese, he will learn about the genetic history of American sheep to share it with the class.
Ultimately, cheese proves to be an endlessly fascinating subject. Says Felts, “There's always a new cheese to try. A new story to learn. I think that's what really gets me up in the morning, the thing that helps me go to sleep with a smile on my face. It’s the kind of difference you can make.”