Urban Stead Cheese has been producing cheese in Cincinnati, Ohio since 2018. Their goal is to create “Cheddar for the Better” by contributing to their local community and economy while providing a cheese education platform.
“We started Urban Stead Cheese as a way to create a great local product that had a sense of community,” says co-owner Andrea Siefring-Robbins. She and her husband Scott transformed a building that sat vacant for over 10 years into a beautiful cheesemaking space. Located in the heart of the Evanston, East Walnut Hills & Walnut Hills neighborhoods, the site includes their cheesemaking facility and shop, as well as a Tasting Room, which will be reopening in late June.
“We create our cheese with milk from an Ohio Valley farmer,” said Andrea. Rather than going to a landfill, “our leftover whey from cheesemaking is then used to feed another local farmer’s livestock, and we take any excess cheese to a local food rescue” she explains.
Urban Stead Cheese produces a variety of hand-made artisanal cheeses, including traditional hard cheeses like their Gouda and Tomme d’Evanston as well as soft cheeses like Quark, Ohio Valley Pimento, Beer Cheese and Misty River Camembert, as well as fresh cheese curds – but they are best known for their Street Ched, an aged clothbound cheddar.
Customers can purchase cheese in their retail store or place an order for curbside pickup. Urban Stead also partners with many regional shops and restaurants. Patrons of the Tasting Room can enjoy a variety of cheese made at the facility with a cheese-centric menu, as well as a full-service bar. The cheesemaker also offers a catering service, in which customers can order beautiful custom cheese and charcuterie boards.
“A guiding principle throughout this process has been to do this with as small of a footprint as possible, and to contribute to the betterment of our city while doing so,” says Andrea. Their facility was recently awarded Silver LEED status, and they also house two beehives on their property. It’s safe to say the Robbins have successfully achieved their goal of bringing farmstead cheese to an urban setting to be enjoyed by all.
The cheesemaker’s Street Ched was recently awarded first place in the Cheddar division of the 2022 American Cheese Society Judging Competition, as well as reserve champion of the Ohio State Fair Cheese Contest.
Learn more about Urban Stead Cheese or learn how to create your own beautiful cheese board using Ohio-made artisan cheeses.