ABOUT US
Back in 2004 Karen Cunnington had the realisation that she should take her (and the family's) passion for good food and do something with it - so Madame Fromage was born.
In April of 2005 she opened a tiny cheese shop in Duke Street Arcade in Cardiff....and we are talking tiny, if she had a full Stilton in stock, people had to walk around it.
It was clear within a very short time (5 months) that the need for high quality food was enough to cause queues on a Saturday leading into the Arcade, much to the annoyance of the other shops - and so with the addition of daughter Sarah and her partner Stephen Charles (who with his knowledge of cheese can virtually tell you the personal name of the cow the milk came from) moved to the current location in the large corner store 21-25 Castle Arcade,an ideal location in a beatuiful Victorian arcade.
Combining product experience with the ever developing stock increase, a daily portfolio of over 150 different cheese varieties, then with the introduction of a mail order Gift Hamper service, a wholesale service to higher quality restauants and hotels, the development of the outside catering business and finally the setting up of its sister company The Welsh Soup Dragon Ltd - for manufacture of our own brands, has resulted in Madame Fromage being one of the busiest independant stores in Wales with a regular staff of 19.
Consecutively and as a result of the continual pressure from regular customers wanting to sit and try some of the food and the coincidental oportunity of the small shop directly opposite 18 Castle Arcade becoming vacant, she then opened a cafe!
Within six months she outgrew this - then following a yet another reshuffle...and yet another refit, part of the larger shop was converted to restaurant. This gives our regular customer (...or inmates as we like to call them since they keep coming back)...the ability to point at food as its being made....and eat it!
The restaurant is chaotic and light hearted, the ambiance is unique and the food is outstanding - ask anyone who has eaten here. The fact that we have to turn away up to 50 people on a Saturday is not very good in one respect - but it does say something about the food, service and reputation - and the rest is history.
The philosophy has remained the same - quality and service still count - Support smaller Artisan producers and source as much of the raw material from as near as possible - from suppliers who care and are passionate about their produce - ultimately Pay More, Eat Better, Eat Less - you don't get quality for nothing.
The passion to make the business succeed is the belief that supermarkets are taking over the world....its clear from our customers that the revolution has begun !
Come and experience a real food shop
