BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kristen Cronyn is well-known by Western New York cheese lovers for her elaborate boards and grazing tables and popular local charcuterie classes. But her journey to become a business owner all started with breakfast.
"I actually was arranging breakfast foods as charcuterie boards for my kids during the pandemic," She said. "Every Saturday we would do a different theme, and I would post it on Instagram and people were just going nuts over it."
Three years later, and she's getting ready for her first brick-and-mortar location for Meet and Eat Charcuterie to open.
It's at 799 Seneca Street, right in Larkinville.
"There's an innovation element to what we're doing," she said. "I would consider myself a food entrepreneur, putting a different spin on the restaurant world and creating more experiential dining. I want people to be able to come here often for different things."
The shop will have a made-to-order charcuterie station, a wine bar, a local market, and classes all under one roof.
The classroom space is called the Western New York Cheese Academy.
"It's really designed to connect experts to enthusiasts around Western New York," Cronyn said. "Wine experts, cheese, charcuterie board, cheeseboard making, and also industry training. I would love to train the next generation of cheese professionals in this space and also use it for events bringing people together, letting them meet and eat."
Kristen's favorite part of her shop is the custom mural inspired by one of her real-life cheese boards.
"I actually had a dream that I carved the Buffalo skyline out of cheese and that's kind of what launched me into this space that I'm in today," she said.
Cronyn's friend, Cristy Francis of Avery and Harlow, painted the mural.
"It just is such a great representation of who we are as Buffalonians and the City of Great neighbors," Cronyn said. "That's what it makes me feel when I look at it."
Cronyn, whose background is in corporate banking, is still putting the finishing touches on the space and finalizing the menu offerings, before a grand opening next month.
The soft opening period will be from April 1st through the 19th.
The grand opening will be on April 20th, a birthday that Kristen shares with the City of Buffalo.
"I'm actually going to do a ceremonial cutting of the cheese instead of the ribbon," she said. "Eden Valley Creamery is going to provide me with a cake that's going to be made out of cheese that we're going to be cutting into instead of the ribbon itself."
For the latest updates, follow Meet & Eat Charcuterie on Instagram.