Sarah Simiele, famed cheesemonger of The Curd Nerd cheese shop, takes a leap with The Wedge
Sarah Simiele is a self-proclaimed cheese wiz. Since 2022, she’s been spreading cheese expertise from her Syracuse fromagerie – aptly named The Curd Nerd.
Now, she sits in the space next door to her store at a dining table with kitschy mismatched cups, sipping from a mug with The Big Cheese printed on the front. A server slips past carrying a vat of fondue and fries dusted with Parmesan snow.
Simiele opened The Wedge in April, a cheese-forward sister restaurant beside her award-winning store. Together, the two bring double the charm to their corner in Eastwood.
The Curd Nerd
When Simiele and her husband, Matthew, moved to Syracuse in 2020, they missed the mom-and-pop cheese shops where she had worked in Brooklyn. They decided to take a risk and do something about it.
“I was really missing the connection you get from a smaller community store and that one-on-one you get with customers, and so my husband and I decided to try to open it ourselves to see if we could get that feeling back,” Simiele said.
Simiele offers an expansive inventory at her Eastwood store, including made-to-order charcuterie boards and vegan options. She has built out an expansive brand, which includes a website, a newsletter (the curd herd), a subscription service, and educational cheese-pairing events.
“The events have been such a cornerstone to how we support the community,” Simiele said.
Eventually, The Curd Nerd was hauling materials to so many events offsite that they began to consider owning their own hosting venue. The logistics of opening an event space involved financial considerations, including the need for bar or food service to help pay the rent between events.
“And then all of a sudden we were like, are we opening a restaurant? And it sort of snowballed from there,” Simiele said.
The Wedge
On a recent Sunday brunch, The Wedge was lively with cheese pulls, chatter, and the same welcoming nutty aroma of the store next door.
When the reality of opening a restaurant began to materialize, Simiele knew that she wanted it to build on her Curd Nerd brand. But her extensive expertise in cheese only went so far in the culinary space.
She brought in Alisyn Hart, former chef of Circa in Cazenovia, to build a restaurant and menu in conversation with Simiele’s expertise.
“[Hart] is also really into supporting local, working with local farmers, using seasonal food, and doing new and interesting things all the time,” Simiele said.
This season’s menu includes French onion soup with long-aged Gruyere, fondue atop house-made focaccia, and fries with Parmesan snow.
That passion for seasonal produce and cheeses extends into the drinks menu, which currently features an unexpected Cacio e Pepe cocktail slung by local legends behind the bar.
“I kind of just surrounded myself with other people who are very accomplished in their fields and also all had the same general goal of bringing something new and different,” Simiele said.
The restaurant and storefront, which share a wall, are mirrors of each other – the waitstaff have the savvy expertise of shopkeepers, and the hostess stand doubles as a refrigerated cheese case. If something in their dish piques diners’ interest, they can pop in next door to take a sample home.
Simiele often makes the rounds to visit with customers, and her team at both the store and restaurant loves to chat and offer cheese-pairing recommendations.
Patrons are encouraged, too, to talk with each other – a long community-style table is a trademark option of the dining room.
“The goal of both of the businesses has always been to create community, be a part of community. And get people excited about food altogether,” Simiele said.