There’s a lot happening at Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread and Wine, everyone’s favorite fancy cheese and stuff shop. For one, they’re planning Bar Pastoral, a neighborhood bistro whose menu will be built on the great cheeses, charcuterie and other items they offer at retail. It will open in the fall, one door north of their flagship at 2945 N. Broadway. They’re competing in a small business grant competition. They opened a central commissary to create sandwiches and plates for Intelligentsia coffee shops. And their own Adrienne Stone just started a local cheese column at The Local Beet. Chicago Business has a short video telling the story behind partners Greg O’Neill and Ken Miller’s growth of the chain, which has faced bumps (a rising Euro) but is trying to grown thoughtfully and with a consistent vision. As O’Neill puts it, “Anyone can name three-store chains of interesting shops that became very uninteresting 25 and 50-store chains.” Pastoral is working to make sure that kind of growth doesn’t happen. Watch the video below. [Chicago Business]
