By Andrea C. Turner

Photogaph by Kandice Marchant.
Marchant Manor Cheese is a cheese lovers delight. A custom cheeseboard can be ordered for your event.

The Butcher, the Baker, and the Candlestick Maker – so goes the familiar 18th century nursery rhyme. But how about Doctor, Owner, Cheesemaker for a modern spin on this classic? Kandice Marchant, MD, PhD, summarizes her career with these three titles. She is the entrepreneur behind Marchant Manor Cheese, located at 2211 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.

Retired from medical practice two years ago, Marchant spent 36 years working at the Cleveland Clinic and as its Institute Chair for Pathology and Lab Medicine from 2006-16.

Marchant started cheesemaking as a hobby, primarily on Sunday mornings as a relaxing, quiet practice, but she’s always been fascinated by cheese. She and her English husband, now deceased, enjoyed countless after-dinner cheeseboards when traveling through Europe. In honor of him, she names all her cheeses after locations he’s been, primarily British towns in the Cotswolds. Her best seller is Elmstead Ash – a triple cream Guernsey cheese with a bloomy ash rind.

“What turned the switch for me was after I had the opportunity to do a three-day boot camp at Murray’s Cheese in New York City. We tasted 75 cheeses paired with wines and beers, and learned about the different types of animal milks used in cheese,” she said.

By establishing an LLC in 2018, she initially began making cheese at an Amish dairy farm in Stark County, and sold her cheese through Ohio City Provisions and the Shaker Square Farmer’s Market.

Her storefront, which opened in 2021, occupies a corner space on Lee Road (near Cedar Road) of a former bank, complete with vault and safety deposit boxes. She repurposed the fronts of them for the shop’s front counter. She chose the location because of other food and wine businesses in the area with whom she partners: The Wine Spot, Cleveland Urban Winery, Mitchell’s Chocolates, Sophie La Gourmande. And she works with nonprofits Heights Arts and FutureHeights for community-building events in the Cedar-Lee business district. Representatives of the French American Chamber of Commerce in Cleveland meet there occasionally and often bring French associates who are visiting the US. One gentleman commented that hers was the best French-style camembert he’s ever tasted outside of France.

Marchant Manor is the only artisan cheesemaker in the state of Ohio that makes cheese from cow, goat and sheep’s milk. This year, it won three blue ribbons at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus for its Lapworth Porcini Camembert, Brighton Blue cheese and Shepton sheep’s milk cheese.

The store is open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It offers a cheese happy hour every Wednesday through Friday from 4-6 p.m., where dine-in cheese is 25% off and select glasses of wine are 50% off. An outdoor street patio provides a lovely space to gather with friends, or sit indoors during inclement weather.

The business tagline is: Makers. Mongers. Mentors. Obviously, Marchant does the cheese-making, aging and wrapping; it’s sold both in her shop and other local businesses. But Marchant also loves teaching, so she leads a three-hour cheesemaking class a couple times a month. Participants learn the basics of making ricotta, cottage cheese, creme fraiche and more. The large interior space allows for the hands-on classes, as well as private events and team-building experiences.

Planning a party for the holidays? “The sky’s the limit,” says Marchant. Consider a custom cheeseboard. Marchant recommends offering a variety of cow, goat and sheep milk cheeses, both fresh, soft and hard crumbly cheeses, along with a flavored cheese that adds visual interest. Blue cheese can round out your offering, along with meats, vegetables, fruits, and pickled foods that cut the richness of the cheese. Gourds and bay leaves add a special touch to fall-themed cheeseboards, and pomegranates and evergreens are lovely for holiday parties. For more information, go to marchantmanor.com.