Syracuse, N.Y. — Sarah Simiele’s career — and love life — began with cheese.
Cheese helped the cellular microbiologist realize she didn’t want to become a doctor, her original goal as a student at Binghamton University, and it helped her and then-roommate, Matthew, fall in love. Six years after the two graduated, and one wedding later, she and Matthew run The Curd Nerd, a specialty cheese and local produce store.
Already, less than a year since its debut, The Curd Nerd has become an integral part of the Eastwood small business community, and a hit on TikTok, to boot.
Located on the corner of James Street and South Collingwood Avenue, The Curd Nerd is home to dozens of regional, national and international cheeses, along with fresh local produce and spreads. For those who can’t handle lactose, there’s a jar full of lactose pills for 25 cents each.
The Curd Nerd began at Binghamton, after Sarah heard that a cheese club was in the works and knew she had to get in on the fun. She became the first president of the club, and Matthew came along for the ride, becoming the first “man” of Cheese Club. Cheese Club became an escape for Sarah, somewhere she didn’t have to think about science.
“Cheese Club is kind of how I found out that there’s a plethora of jobs in the cheese world that sort of use my biology degree, but in a way that isn’t being a doctor,” she said.
She told her parents she was ditching the med track to work in the cheese industry—that conversation went exactly as you would expect, she said—and got her first job as a cheesemonger in Brooklyn. Day one on the job, she said she knew would be a cheesemonger for the rest of her life, and her degree proved to be the perfect fit.
“It helps me everyday as all I did was study enzyme reactions, mold, fungus, bacteria in college, and that’s really all cheese is—enzyme reactions, mold, bacteria and yeast,” she said. “So all of my research in college goes to being able to tell that mold on that cheese is not safe, that mold, totally good to eat and meant to be there (to help the) microflora of that cheese.”
Four years into the job, Matthew, an electrical engineer, snagged a job in Syracuse and suggested some big changes.
“Let’s move to Syracuse,” Matthew said.
“Let’s not,” Sarah responded.
“I can buy us a house,” he said.
Sarah was sold.
“I was born and raised in New York City,” she said. “Buying a house is not something I ever thought I’d be able to do.”
The Curd Nerd artisanal cheese and produce shop has become a staple of Syracuse’s Eastwood community less than a year after opening.
The couple moved at a slightly bad time, April 2020, and Sarah’s plan to work on a local Finger Lakes farm fell through. She tried to work other jobs, but there was nothing quite like what she did back in Brooklyn. Sarah became unhappy, so Matthew suggested another bold move.
“Why don’t we use the money we’ve been saving to renovate the house and open your business instead?” she recalled him saying.
Sarah calls this her rom-com moment, because “I was like, what? Open a business? Really?”
And they did. A week after the conversation the two sat down with landlord Stephen Skinner, pitched The Curd Nerd and a year later, March 25, the shop opened its doors.
“Eastwood is such a great community within Syracuse,” Sarah said. “It has been very welcoming to us and…people who go get coffee at The Cracked Bean they walk down here, they go pick up a plant next door, go shop at the marketplace and grab their cheese for the week. That is very rewarding for us.”
A lot has happened since March, such as Matthew transitioning from running the store’s behind-the-scenes operations, to becoming a cheesemonger himself.
“I did not really think that I was going to get pushed into this role,” Matthew said. “I just kind of thought I was going to be the person behind the cart and dealing with the finances and all the other stuff that goes into running a business.”
Meanwhile, Sarah decided to join TikTok, went viral and has more than 96,000 followers.
“TikTok started as a joke,” she said. “My neighbors next door at The Marketplace on James were like you guys should get on TikTok. It’s fun, no one cares, you’ll probably reach some local people.”
Sarah thought her audience would be Matthew, her mom and her grandma. Instead, her first video hit 600,000 views, and has drawn in customers from all over Central New York and even as far as Alaska to the shop.
“People really like learning about their food and where their food comes from,” she said. “And a lot of people don’t realize what goes into getting a cheese and it kind of made people respect the price point of some cheeses.”
Artisanal cheeses, and artisanal food in general, can feel intimidating for many consumers, especially lower-income people. The Curd Nerds know this and are trying to make their products more accessible, from selling all of their cheese by the pound, to applying to become a SNAP retailer.
“I want people, no matter their income, to be able to enjoy good food,” Sarah said. “I can’t guarantee you a lot of cheese for $2, but to at least experience any artisan food I think has become this very privileged thing. It should be fairly accessible.”
The Curd Nerd artisanal cheese and produce shop has become a staple of Syracuse’s Eastwood community less than a year after opening.
Cities thrive because of small business communities like the ones in Eastwood, Sarah said. That’s part of why people like New York City so much, because it is a walkable city where it’s possible for store owners, workers and customers to have relationships with one another that goes beyond stereotypical customer service. When Sarah goes home, her butcher, fishmonger and bagel guy all know her by name and ask her about her life. By shopping locally you’re not just supporting a stranger, you’re supporting your neighbor, your community, she said.
“I think that is the pinnacle of human connection,” Sarah said, and Syracuse has those communities, too.
The Curd Nerds have a lot on their plate for the coming months, including cheese tasting courses, cheese wheel cracking events and Thanksgiving charcuterie boards. But their number one goal is to become a household name, a place where everyone from Eastwood and beyond can come and buy high quality local food.
“Come in and get some cheese,” Sarah said. “If you don’t like cheese, come talk to us. I bet you I could change your mind.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the location of the shop listed incorrectly. It is at the corner of James Street and South Collingwood Avenue.
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