{"id":3696,"date":"2025-10-15T17:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/3696\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T17:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:04:08","slug":"londons-famous-cheese-conveyor-belt-restaurant-is-coming-to-new-york-city-and-its-the-first-of-its-kind-in-the-u-s-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/3696\/","title":{"rendered":"London\u2019s Famous Cheese Conveyor Belt Restaurant Is Coming to New York City\u2014and It\u2019s the First of Its Kind in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

New York City is home to countless restaurants, but nowhere can diners pluck plates from a slow-moving parade of artisan cheeses\u2014each paired with a clever little accompaniment like tomato and chili jam or rose Turkish delight\u2014as they float past under glass domes. That changes in early 2026 when Pick & Cheese<\/a>, the London cheese conveyor belt restaurant, crosses the Atlantic. The beloved British concept will open its first U.S. location at Shaver Hall<\/a>, an ambitious new food hall taking over the former Lord & Taylor flagship on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n

The concept is the brainchild of Mathew Carver, founder of the Cheese Bar<\/a>, a London-based, cheese-centric restaurant group. After launching the Cheese Truck in 2014 at London\u2019s Maltby Street Market, Carver spent years slinging gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches at U.K. music festivals. While dreaming up recipes for the truck, he discovered something telling: when he asked friends about their ideal cheese sandwich, they mentioned French Brie and Italian Parmesan, but never cheeses made closer to home. Spotlighting British farmstead cheeses became central to Carver\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

He went on to open his first brick and mortar restaurant in London\u2019s Camden neighborhood, also called the Cheese Bar. Inspired by the first sushi conveyor belt restaurant\u2014created to make luxury more accessible and approachable\u2014he set out to do the the same for cheese. When the first Pick & Cheese opened at Covent Garden\u2019s Seven Dials Market in 2019, it was an instant hit, expanding to Berlin in 2025 and now, New York.<\/p>\n

While London\u2019s Pick & Cheese celebrates British farmstead producers and Berlin\u2019s features German producers, the Manhattan menu will spotlight American cheesemakers, especially from the Northeast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely felt like New York was the right fit\u2014the restaurant scene is so similar to London,\u201d Carver tells Travel + Leisure. \u201cI just wanted to make sure it was done with the same values\u2014sourcing really good American cheese and caring about where it comes from.\u201d The cheese has to be delicious, he says, \u201cbut it\u2019s also about who\u2019s making it.\u201d He searched for passionate farmstead cheesemakers, using milk from their own animals, or with a close relationship to their farmers.<\/p>\n

To find the best options for America\u2019s first Pick & Cheese, Carver has been tasting his way through the Northeast\u2019s thriving cheese scene. His research has taken him deep into New York state, where he\u2019s met with makers like Four Fat Fowl<\/a>, a Hudson Valley creamery known for St. Stephen, a luscious triple-cream cow\u2019s milk cheese made with local milk, and Nettle Meadow<\/a>, an Adirondack creamery and farm animal sanctuary, famed for Kunik, a triple-cr\u00e8me cheese blending goat\u2019s milk and cow cream.<\/p>\n

His cheese hunt also brought him to the Fancy Foods Show in New York City, where he sampled cheeses alongside Hero Hirsh, the Cheese Bar\u2019s Head of Cheese and an industry veteran who\u2019s on track to become the first Master of Cheese in the UK<\/a>. They tasted Spring Brook Farm Cheese<\/a> from Vermont, and Intergalactic, a World Cheese Awards gold winner from Perrystead Dairy<\/a>, a Philadelphia-based urban dairy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pleasantly surprised by how good the American cheese scene is now,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many, the term \u201cAmerican cheese\u201d conjures images of electric-yellow processed slices. But Carver\u2019s showcasing something entirely different in terroir-driven, small-producer cheeses that can rival European counterparts. And beyond just delivering diners a revolving bounty of choices from these stand-out cheesemakers, there\u2019s an educational component also woven into the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cPick & Cheese attracts people who love the idea of an endless conveyor belt of cheese\u2014that’s what gets them through the door,\u201d Carver says. “But once they’re here, they realize they’re learning about local producers and regional cheese in a really fun way.\u201d The goal is for guests to leave with a sharper appreciation for regional American cheesemaking happening in their own backyards, be it a Hudson Valley Gouda or a clothbound Cheddar from Vermont.<\/p>\n

Pick & Cheese will join an impressive roster at Shaver Hall, operated by The Food Hall Co<\/a>., the team behind Legacy Hall<\/a> in Plano and Assembly Food Hall<\/a> in Nashville. Spanning 35,000 square feet, Shaver Hall will feature 11 chef-curated eateries, including F&F Pizzeria<\/a>, the duo behind Brooklyn favorite Frankies 457 Spuntino, Butter Chicken Social<\/a> from Sujan Sarkar, the chef and owner behind Chicago’s Michelin-starred Indienne, Chick Chick<\/a> by Bib Gourmand Chef Jun Park, and the first midtown outpost of Tompkins Square Bagels<\/a>. Also on site: two full-service restaurants, two cocktail bars, and a modern bodega, featuring a 20-tap beer wall with a range of self-serve beverages sold by the ounce.<\/p>\n

The space is named in honor of Dorothy Shaver, the groundbreaking former president of Lord & Taylor who believed timeless design should be accessible to everyone\u2014a philosophy that feels right at home with Carver\u2019s mission to democratize artisan cheese.<\/p>\n

When Shaver Hall opens its doors in early 2026, New Yorkers will finally get to experience what Londoners have been lining up for\u2014an interactive cheese restaurant that just might introduce them to their new favorite maker. \u201cIf someone walks out thinking a bit differently about what they buy at Christmas, or decides to support a local cheesemaker,\u201d says Carver, \u201cthat\u2019s success to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure<\/a><\/p>\n