It's a bountiful life: Champions of the cheeseboard
Fall 2024 California Bountiful magazine
Sisters create a dream business embracing food, farms and hospitality
Interview by Linda DuBois
Photos by Richard Green
As third-generation restaurant and hospitality kids, twin sisters Sarah and Rebecca “Boo” Simms grew up with a passion for food and serving others. After embarking on careers in these areas, they dreamed of creating something new together, and in 2016, they launched Lady & Larder, an artisanal cheese and charcuterie shop in Los Angeles.
Later moving to Santa Monica, the business focuses mostly on cheeseboards but also offers vegetable, fruit and charcuterie boards, created for every occasion. It also sells wine, sandwiches, floral displays and other food and gift items, and offers online workshops, delivery to nearby locations and shipping nationwide.
Sarah, an accomplished chef, sources the food and develops the menus, and Boo, a professional graphic designer and artist, creates the visuals. Together, the two work with customers while running the business that’s earned the attention of celebrities and national media.
In the summer of 2023, the twins left their Santa Monica shop in the care of about 13 employees and moved back to their childhood home of Carmel Valley. Last December they opened a second shop there, which they run themselves with help from their husbands.
Why did you choose to specialize in cheeseboards?
Sarah: We both fell in love with cheese and realized there wasn’t really anybody selling 100% domestic cheese—and almost 10 years ago when we started the idea, there weren’t a lot of people making cheese and charcuterie boards either. You could get a plastic cheese-cube tray at the grocery store and then there was high-end catering, but there wasn’t much in the middle. I had been a private chef for 10 years before this and was building relationships with farmers and makers who could fill in hyper-seasonal local things that complement cheese. We looked around and nobody else seemed to be doing this, so we thought, “Why not us?”
Why do you prioritize supporting local and sustainable producers?
Sarah: For me, it’s because that’s the way I want to eat. I think that’s the healthiest way to live a lifestyle. Also, a lot of these farms are third-, fourth- and fifth-generation family farms, and it’s really important to us that we see these farms continue. So, we find opportunities to tell the multigenerational stories and show people what it means to support local agriculture.
Boo: A lot of people don’t realize the blueberry they’re eating came from Peru and went to two different countries before it got here, and what’s involved in getting it down to that price point. We can explain that this fruit we use is grown, picked and brought to the market at its peak. The question we probably get more than anything is, “Why does this taste so good?” or “Why do your boards taste different than when I’m buying them at a larger grocer.” When it’s picked ripe and brought to the table, it’s going to taste its best.
Did you envision all the different elements to your business from the beginning or did they just evolve?
Sarah: It was definitely evolution. It was survival when the pandemic hit. At that point, 90% of our business was catering big wedding installations and parties, and, obviously, all of that stopped overnight. So, after we refunded a year of wedding deposits, we looked at each other and said, “How can we keep our staff employed?” We did that by saying yes to a lot of other fun avenues. We became a florist and we did online classes and we started shipping.
Boo: Having worked in restaurants our whole lives, the biggest fear was all the food waste. When restaurants closed down, we realized all of the farmers’ food wasn’t going to go anywhere. They’re in trouble. So, we called a bunch of the farmers we knew and asked what we could do. We started doing CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box pickup at our cheese shop. We pushed hundreds and hundreds of CSA boxes through our shop. And it was wonderful because it also helped us by driving traffic to our shop. We realized there’s so much synergy when you lean into each other and work together. I think that’s something we’ve really carried away from the pandemic.
How did you start adding lunch sandwiches?
Sarah: Well, we would make them for ourselves and our team with the ingredients we already had in the building on our lunch break, and then one day we all looked at each other and thought, “Our sandwiches are pretty good. Maybe we should try selling them.” Even though it’s not a secret, we still call it our “secret lunch menu” because in the beginning it was just a word-of-mouth thing. The name had so much charm that we just kept it. The LA shop has eight to 10 seats out in front on the sidewalk but is built mostly for grab-and-go. The shop in Carmel Valley has about 25 seats and two patios.
Do you serve very large parties?
Sarah: We love large parties! We do onsite installation and custom buildouts for parties of over 75 people and up to about 1,000. So, if you have a wedding or a large event, we’ll come on site and design a big cheese and charcuterie display curated to the size and shape of your space. For smaller groups under 75, our boards start at a date-night size serving two to three people and then go up to a large size that serves 30 people.
What is your favorite part of running this business?
Sarah: It’s the people, 100%—our team that we get to work with every day and the relationships we get to build with the vendors. If you’re someone who has hospitality in your blood, serving people fills the cup. It’s amazing to be able to serve our community. That’s bringing us a lot of joy right now.
Boo: Agreed! It’s also the joy that the product brings. We get to be a part of people’s really special days. Our boards are used at weddings and baby showers and birthday parties and anniversaries, and we take a lot of pride in playing a tiny role in these special memories for people—and it feels wonderful that people trust us with that too. We feel very lucky to be doing what we’re able to do.
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