Last year I wrote about a local business, the Warwick Cheese Shoppe and their practice of closing on Mondays. The owner was a traditional cheese monger, a man of his trade. He could describe to you in immense detail the cheese of the week, what to eat with it, drink with it, the origin and life of the cheese. He explained to my wife and I how screw-top wine was the future of wine bottling, how it was not a sign of cheap wine. His reasoning, knowledge and method of explaining were so fine that he would have won the snobbiest wine enthusiast over.
His gusto for his trade was a fantastic addition to the delicious cheese that he stocked, curious variety of delectable international and local treats that one could walk out with, and the fantastic hand made sandwiches that I would pick up for lunch.
I can’t say this definitively, but I think that the Warwick Cheese Shoppe had an influence in mine and my wife’s decision to buy our house. It is that good a local business.
Today, I learned that George Ackerman, the owner of the Warwick Cheese Shoppe, passed on Friday. I am sad. I am not sure why. Part of it is due to my having seen him a week before Christmas, it is weird to know that he isn’t going to be there. Part due to the family being unsure of whether the shop will reopen. He was a tradesman, a lover of his craft, a connoisseur of food. He was only two years older than my father-in-law when he passed too early, all I can hope is that he was at peace before he parted.
George will be missed.
