A Loop Covered in Cheese

By Chuck Sudo on Oct 18, 2007 6:00PM

Crain's weighed in yesterday on the big plans Pastoral has for their sparkling new Loop location, scheduled to open next week at 53 E. Lake. In addition to having up to 900 square feet of retail space for showcasing their artisan cheeses, breads, sandwiches and fine wines, Pastoral is partnering with Williams Sonoma to offer small farm cheeses on the Williams Sonoma website. The collections will retail for $69 and $99, respectively (view the press release here in PDF format).

This comes fast on the heels of Pastoral's mention in Saveur as one of the country's best cheese shops. The Crain's piece speculates on whether the Loop needs another sandwich shop (the new location will include some indoor seating for the lunch crowd), but sandwiches are only a fraction of Pastoral's business, compared to the cheese, bread and wine sales. We would expect the residents of Marina Towers and other high-rise complexes to flock to Pastoral for that. Ultimately, it's those numbers that will pay the rent on the space. We're just looking forward to having another space nearby to buy some good cheese.