What is it?
A specialist cheese shop which has been doing tasty business in Jesmond since early autumn 2020. It’s the latest welcome addition to a foody cluster at the Cradlewell end of Jesmond Road, including Dene’s Deli, Papa Ganoush, specialist off licence Rehill’s and, just over the road, Something Good.
More than 70 different cheeses are on offer along with a wide assortment of crackers and chutneys and even books such as The Philosophy of Cheese and A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles.
Grate is a popular independent and rather delicious cheesemonger in Jesmond
Why is it smashing?
It’s owned and run by an enthusiast and you can tell. Moz Murphy, a Dubliner, says: “I’ve always worked in food but cheese is my passion. I’ve loved cheese forever.
“About two years before we opened, I decided I was sick of working for other people and wanted to do something by myself. My sister had just passed away and left me bit of money, a ‘grand’; but I felt now was the time to go and do something with my life.”
Moz was in London for eight years, arriving to do a degree in modern languages but giving it up to work in the food business, notably at Fortnum & Mason.
“I’ve done fishmongering, a little bit of butchery, but mostly cheese and always retail/customer service,” she says.
Meeting a lad from Northumberland first brought her to the North East in 2003 and while that relationship didn’t last, her affair with the region did. She loves it now, she says, as she loved Dublin as a kid.
She lives in South Shields and used to work in specialist food shop mmm… when it was in the Grainger Market. Then with her plan taking shape, she heard from the folk at Papa Ganoush that 252 Jesmond Road was available.
“It’s a good location,” she says. “Jesmond has a villagey feel. I think a shop like this needs regulars. I wanted to get to know the people I was selling to basically.
“Also, every resident seemed to be telling me there used to be a cheese shop on Acorn Road and how much they missed it.”
Moz Murphy – cheese guru and Grate shop owner
It didn’t take long for local connoisseurs to find Grate and sheer curiosity has lured others whose knowledge doesn’t extend far beyond Cheddar and parmesan on a pizza.
A planned May 2020 opening was delayed by the pandemic but since the doors opened in October 2020, trade has been brisk. The website gives details of how to order hampers, gift vouchers or cheeseboard selections for special occasions as well as your regular weekly cheese fix.
Moz is also doing her best to support suppliers in the North East, such as Doddington, near Wooler, and others in Weardale and Teesdale.
Moz delights in tempting customers with cheeses that might be unfamiliar, such as Durrus, from County Cork, and Killeen, from County Galway, which she describes as “a creamy, smoky gouda made from goats’ milk”.
Grate has a terrific range of cheeses for all tastes
Then there’s Almnas Tegel, “similar to a Comte or a Gruyere but from Sweden, a country not well known for its cheeses.”
One of Moz’s favourites is Montgomery cheddar. “It’s a very traditional West Country farmhouse cheddar and it’s the one that made me realise I wanted to work with cheese when I was about 19.”
Vegans needn’t feel excluded. On sale with the rest are products from Tyne Chease whose very cheesy alternatives to cheese have devotees across the country.
You can’t visit Grate without wanting to ask questions. So what’s that black thing that looks like a cannonball? “It’s a Lancashire bomb,” says Moz. “Very light and crumbly.”
This shop full of surprises is open from Wednesday to Friday, 11am to 6pm; Saturday, 9am to 6pm; and Sunday, 12-4pm.
Website: www.gratenewcastle.co.uk
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Address: 252 Jesmond Road, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1LD
Tel. 0191 649 2528