“It’s a cozy, casual and intimate environment to try cheese and wine.”
Photograph by Jeffrey Bosdet.
Photograph by Jeffrey Bosdet.The story of The Farmer’s Daughter, Sidney’s new cheese shop, wine bar and bistro, is also a love story. Owners Jessica Sommers and Tom Dai met while working at the Artisan Wine Shop in downtown Victoria. “[We] discovered that the person we had been working with for over a year was also the person we were in love with,” says Sommers.
Inspired by the Ontario dairy farm owned by Sommers’ family, and Dai’s worldwide travels learning about “everything wine,” the pair decided to create a place that celebrates both.
“It’s been a dream of mine to do something that connected me more with my roots, which is dairy and farming, but I didn’t want to be a farmer,” Sommers says. “It also allows Tom to follow his passion for wine.”
Along with selling cheese, the fromagerie offers a cheese-of-the month club, with home delivery of three unique premium selections with detailed description cards. The wine bar’s “thoughtfully selected and perfectly paired” cheese-and-wine flights also come with detailed tasting notes. The space serves a cheese-focused small-plates menu and a full wine list.
“It’s a cozy, casual and intimate environment to try cheese and wine,” Sommers says. “It’s really about making two things that are good on their own become great when paired together.”
This article is from the July/August 2018 issue of YAM.