Charleston Cheese Distributor Named Semifinalist for Eater Young Guns 2018

Every year, Eater kicks off a quest to recognize and honor the best new talent in the restaurant industry. Eater Young Guns highlights front- and back-of-house rising stars who are early in their careers but already exhibit the drive, ambition, thought, and care necessary to take on the restaurant world. The criteria is simple: Young Guns must be under 30 or have less than five years of experience in the industry. They all work hard and excel in their field, have gained deep respect from their peers, and hope to change the restaurant world for the better.

For Charleston, entrepreneur and FIG employee Nora Granger made the list of Young Gun semifinalists. Granger and husband Eric Casella run Counter Cheese Caves, which has a mission to “represent and support small cheesemakers around the country, with a specific focus on the Southeast.”

Here’s what Eater had to say:

Nora Granger, 28, works the door at iconic Charleston restaurant FIG. But when she’s not there, she’s running things at Counter Cheese Caves — the local cheese distribution company she created with co-owner Eric Casella that’s focused on representing small Southeastern and American makers and cheeses to restaurants and consumers in the city. She’s growing her business through wholesale orders and developing cheese boards for restaurants as well as by selling cheeses at farmers markets and via a weekly funky cheese share, and Granger hopes to grow her company to be the “primary cheese resource” in the region.

• All Young Guns Coverage [EN]
• Eater Young Guns 2018: Meet the Semifinalists [EN]