We’re wishing you all the best in the New Year and hope 2025 will be filled with wonderful cheese plates and dreamy culinary adventures! We’ve been busy behind the scenes with some exciting new travel projects and doing our bit by enjoying brothy wedges of Westcombe Cheddar and hunks of Stilton from our friends in the UK.
You've probably seen that British cheese has been in the news recently. A consignment of British cheddars was stolen from our dear friends at Neal's Yard Dairy. It was headline news across the world and came as a terrible shock.
The fact that it was such a huge story shows just how good British cheese is these days. We've been taking people on Cheese Journeys to the UK for years, but it's still a surprise to some just how varied and delicious British cheese can be. There's been a revolution in the country in the past 20 years with cheesemakers launching exciting new creations and reviving classics of the past.
We get to meet many of them on our British Cheese Odyssey each autumn, which takes in visits to Neal's Yard and Borough Market in London, plus a stay at legendary cheddar maker Jamie Montgomery’s beautiful manor house in Somerset, where we host a gala dinner party for over 15 of Britain’s best cheesemakers.
Join us in 2025 or 2026 - It’s the perfect way to discover what all the fuss is about as well as have the rare privilege of tasting Chef Sylvain Jamois’s classic meals. Chef Sylvain, Cheese Journeys' private chef, referred to by NY Times writer Alec Lobrano, as “the exceptionally talented Frenchman”, will be in the kitchen teaching and preparing "food you rarely find in restaurants, such as handmade pies, potted prawns, gorgeous roasts, and a suckling pig!"
BOOKING NOW FOR 2025 & 2026
A British Cheese Odyssey: London, Somerset & Bath
12-19 October, 2025
19-26 October, 2026
Double occupancy: $6.200 per person
Single occupancy: $6,900 per person
Three reasons why the Low Countries
are the next big thing in food
The food and drink of the Netherlands and Belgium has long flown under the radar, but the Low Countries have a rich gastronomic culture that is starting to gain wider appreciation.
Our chefs, Sylvain and Milo, will once again be serving up culinary delights, highlighting French, Belgian and Indonesian flavors along with several Dutch favorites, on our Cheese Journey there in April.
Here are three other things to love about the food from this part of the world.
More than Gouda
There's a rich cheese culture across both countries that covers much more than Gouda. Cheesemonger Betty Koster's fabulous shop L’Amuse Fromagerie in Amsterdam is home to everything from Dutch camembert to Belgian blues.
Chocolate paradise
Chocolate has been a cornerstone of Belgian life for hundreds of years, nowhere more so than Brussels. The city is a chocolate paradise with dozens of exquisite chocolate shops, tasting classes and museums.
Brews that improve humanity
Belgian beer is so good that it was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2016. The country is home to some of the world's greatest beers, from boks and blondes to lambics and tripels.
BOOKING NOW FOR 2025
Belgium & Netherlands: Cheese, Chocolate & Brews
30 April - 10 May, 2025
Double occupancy: $9,950 per person
Single occupancy: $8,950 per person
Meet Madame Fromage!
Continuing our 'meet the team' series, let us introduce to someone who really needs no introduction. Tenaya Darlington (AKA Madame Fromage) is an award-winning educator, author, and content creator who has worked with Cheese Journeys since its inception.
Tenaya is the author of six books on cheese and drinks (most recently Madame Fromage's Adventures in Cheese) and has a legion of fans on social media. She will be joining our tours to the Low Countries and Burgundy this year, where she will be hosting tastings, teaching food photography workshops and mixing some killer cocktails for happy hour!
When she isn't travelling with Cheese Journeys, Tenaya serves as an English professor at Saint Joseph's University near Philadelphia. She also hosts workshops on pairing cheese with wine, beer and cocktails and is the Cheese Director for the Tria group of restaurants in Philadelphia.
What she doesn't know about cheese and cocktails isn't worth knowing!
Meet the rest of our team here.
Other tour dates for your diary
Savoie France & Switzerland Cow Parade
24 September – 5 October 5, 2025
We are running two trips to the Alps this year to discover mountain cheeses, rare wines and the joys of a Swiss cow parade. Expect plenty of fondue
We also run private tours for groups of our foodie friends. We're thrilled to be taking guests from Di Brunos Bros, Fairfield Cheese Company, Plums Cooking Company and Savory Gourmet on bespoke Cheese Journeys in France, Switzerland and Italy in the next few years. Get in touch if you would like to find out more about these trips or how to go about organizing your own.
If you're interested in coming on a tour and want to know more, drop me an email (anna@cheesejourneys.com)