The seeds for East Side Cheese & Provisions were planted more than two decades ago when Jeff DiMeo was an undergrad at Northeastern University. As a 19-year-old, he was thrilled to land an internship in management training at Bread & Circus, the groundbreaking organic grocery store. But he wasn’t excited about joining the specialty cheese department.
“I grew up on Land O’ Lakes American cheese and Cracker Barrel cheddar,” DiMeo said, admitting his palate was limited. Suddenly he was in a playland of cheese.
“I was overwhelmed by the textures and choices,” he said.
He had a mentor who was the specialty coordinator for the market. He spent a lot of time talking to DiMeo not just about the artisan cheeses they sold, but also about the people who made them.
It wasn’t long before DiMeo was hooked on cheese. He came to delight in how many flavors could be developed using just four ingredients – milk, salt, rennet and cultures. His reading material included the classic “Cheese Primer.”
His passion for artisan cheese led to a career not just selling it, but also importing it and making it. He’s helped open many a cheese shop. His experience includes being general manager and chief operating officer of different specialty food-importing companies.
Since 2019, he and his wife, Angie, have run their own food consulting business known as The DiMeo Group.
Followers of social media might also recognize their Instagram, Providence Date Night, where they chronicle their food passions.
Now the Providence couple is preparing for a July 26 opening for East Side Cheese & Provisions at 17 South Angell St. in Providence’s Wayland Square.
“I love that he gets people to come along with him, whether it’s making cheese, retailing and importing [or] supporting small farms,” Angie DiMeo said of her husband.
They will be bringing food lovers along as the latest entrepreneurs to open a cheese shop in Rhode Island recently, joining Edgewood Cheese in Cranston, Mozz in Newport and Wedge in Warren.
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