A Full Plate: Chester River Wine & Cheese
In the heart of downtown Chestertown’s historic district, two wide plate glass windows frame the fantastic, grown-up version of the perfect candy shop. In place of endless jars of lemondrops and everlasting gobstoppers, however, are treats that would have appealed to Charlie several decades after he’d finally left the chocolate factory. A spectrum of cheeses, ranging from gooey unctuous French perfection to a blueveined British variety so pungent it’ll make your hair curl. Wines of every varietal, from a Malbec as red as a brothel’s drapes to a frothing, frilly dry Prosecco. And shelves groaning with every gourmet goodie your epicurean brain could wish for. It’s enough to make you forget yourself and press your face to the glass like a sugar-addled 7-year old. But then you come to your senses and march inside, credit card in your hot little hand.
John Laucik and Jennifer Laucik Baker are the curators/proprietors behind this trove of bliss known as Chester River Wine and Cheese Co.—two foodies who wanted to bring their love of fine wines and gourmet goodies to Chestertown. Like many transplants that have moved to the Eastern Shore, they were drawn to the riverside town by its charm, the close-knit community, and the quality of life created by a slower pace and a sense of place.
Former corporate consultants, they met on the job and continued their courtship through their mutual love of wine and cooking. A stint at the Philadelphia Wine School informed their complimenting palates—Laucik has a more academic appreciation, while Baker’s passionate about pairing wine with food—while long weekends away from the city led further and deeper into the Eastern Shore countryside. The Eastern Shore’s magic combined with their deepening wine connoisseurship was a potent blend—one only made stronger by their disenchantment with the corporate world.
The culmination of these was a shared dream—a little wine store in Chestertown. In 2015, they made that dream a reality. Laucik and Baker had unexpectedly had an offer on their Philadelphia home (not formally on the market), and the windfall was the push they needed to go all in. But for Baker, the decision was anything but hasty. “There were a couple of critical things to consider that made Chestertown positive in our eyes,” she says. “There was a study put out on the state of the downtown retail environment, along with the public arts master plan—for two business people, these are important signs that showed the community has a path and a plan, and has designated what it wanted to see. We saw immediately that Chestertown had a vision and an interest in doing something new—a signal to us that this was a good time to make an investment.”
After seeing the lack of gourmet food available in Chestertown, the couple decided their dream should broaden to include food as well as wine—a diversification strategy that reflected business savvy plus an earnest desire to meet the needs of the community. So it was back to school for the two of them—cheese school, this time. Then, after eight short months of intense business planning, market research, location scouting, community feedback, inventory purchasing, and shop design and renovations, the Chester River Wine and Cheese Company was open for business.
The Chestertown foodie community was as thrilled—to Laucik and Baker’s relief. As Laucik remembers, “Our biggest fear was filling up dumpsters with cheese, but fortunately with a lot of luck and a lot of hard work, we’ve been successful in throwing away hardly any.” Baker attributes their brisk sales to a well-curated inventory—one that reflects their ability to understand and meet the needs of their core local clientele. “We’ve not only listened to what folks want,” Baker says, “We’ve tried to respond to it. The most successful businesses around here grow and adapt to what people who live here on the peninsula full time are asking for.”
Adapt they have. In the last three years, Chester River Wine and Cheese Co. has evolved as Laucik and Baker experimented with different offerings, wine tasting events, and menu items. Patrons have always been able to take home a few bottles of delicious wine and a curated selection of cheeses and charcuterie, but Baker and Laucik have expanded into artfully arranged cheese boards for parties, expanded offerings of paté, wine by the glass, spirits, local beef, and a la carte cheese boards—some of which ultimately waxed and waned depending on demand, staffing, and space.
But the shop really hit a home run when it began incorporating home goods in addition to its fine comestibles. Baker’s keen eye for style and the couple’s willing ear for meeting the community’s needs discerned that the town needed basic-but-sophisticated necessities like linens, serving ware, and kitchen tools (oyster knives, anyone?). The shop’s inventory of platters, spices, dishtowels and bowls were in hot demand—so hot that in the spring of 2017, Baker and Laucik expanded into a new home goods store, Welcome Home, just two doors down.
It’s been a whirlwind three years, but this husband and wife foodie power couple isn’t done yet. Currently, liquor laws require restaurants to meet a ratio of 60% food sales to 40% liquor sales—legislation Chester River Wine and Cheese Co. has been actively lobbying (along with other local venues like breweries and distilleries) to change. The outlook is good—and if it passes, Baker and Laucik already have dreams of resurrecting their much-beloved wine by the glass offerings, along with assorted light noshes. It’s good news for their regular clientele, whose Friday happy hours will be made much happier by the addition of a bright rosé paired with a silky Delice at the Chester River Wine and Cheese Co.
For Laucik and Baker, the huge amount of change, the risk, the endless hours of work, tinkering and experimentation, the investment of time, money, tears, and sweat have all been worth it. They’re firmly rooted in the Chestertown community, and clearly love living and working in their small Eastern Shore town. For the couple, it’s really been about the people. “I really enjoy being a neighbor helping my neighbors have a great dinner at home,” Baker says, with Laucik nodding in agreement. “Giving other people joy in having a great date night at home, dinner with friends, a family experience, the chance to try something new. In our shop, we’ve been able to touch people’s lives in a personal way and get to know them—something that is so incredibly rewarding.”
> Chester River Wine and Cheese Co., 117 S. Cross St., Chestertown, MD, (443) 282-0220, chesterrivergourmet.com
