Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine is a European-inspired, neighborhood, specialty wine and cheese shop co-owned by business and life partners Ken Miller and Greg O'Neill.
Established in August 2004 at the corner of Broadway and Wellington Avenue, the first Pastoral shop was only 382 square feet. According to O'Neill, "My partner and I lived in Europe, New York City, Boston, etc., but we noticed how there weren't any boutique, specialty food stores in Chicago, unlike these other cities." O'Neill and Miller saw a market gap. Miller is a former software developer and trained chef while O'Neill has worked in brand management for Colgate, Palm Olive, Motorola, Verizon and other companies; the couple combined their skills and founded Pastoral.
"We opened the store as a solution to our problems," said O'Neill.
Although Pastoral has been branded as primarily French in the past, O'Neill asserted that he didn't want the shop to be excessively overt or exclusive. "We wanted something that appealed to all the great wine and cheese locations of the world like Sonoma, southern France, Italy and more," said O'Neill.
Pastoral certainly has a lot to celebrate at its 10th-anniversary festivities.
In 2007, Specialty Food Association awarded Pastoral the honor of "Outstanding Retailer of the Year," which, according to O'Neill, is the highest distinction a specialty food store can earn in the United States. Pastoral received the accolade for the East Lake View store's success, which is the smallest and shortest-tenured shop to ever win.
The same year, Pastoral founded its second location at 53 E. Lake St. in the Loop. According to O'Neill, the entire business changed after the new location's grand opening. "There are 500,000 people working within a Ľ block radius of the Loop store and Millennium Park was only a few years old, drawing crowds from all over the world," he said. "Pastoral went from a neighborhood shop to something more."
Then, just before Christmas 2009, Pastoral opened a third location in the Chicago French Market at the Ogilvy Transportation Center, 131 N. Clinton St.
Additional locations and success aside, the combined square footage of Pastoral's multiple locations could not accommodate the wine-and-cheese shop's increased business after 2009. "We were bursting at the seams," said O'Neill, "so we bought the space next to our flagship store and opened Bar Pastoral." The bistro, 2947 N. Broadway, gives patrons the opportunity to experience O'Neill and Miller's artisan concept in a sit-down environment. According to O'Neill, "We enjoy showing people which wines and cheeses pair well. The feedback from the neighborhood has been very positive."
Finally, Pastoral's cheeses have been featured in William-Sonoma holiday catalogs three years in a row; highlighted by The Today Show's Ann Curry a few years back; recommended by the Michelin Red Guide; and showcased on Oprah's Favorite Things on three separate occasions.
Regarding Pastoral's authoritative model, O'Neill is COO and Miller is CFO. Over the past 10 years, the enterprise has grown from five employees to around 85, offering full medical benefits and starting salaries higher than minimum wage. In reference to Pastoral's notable employment standards, O'Neill said, "This feels like success to us. There are more important things than making money; there is a social responsibility."
On a lighter note, O'Neill and Miller have been labeled a number of comical nicknames over the past decade, including "Dairy Queens" and "Cheese Bears," as well as pigeonholed as the owners of a "pop-and-pop shop."
What does the future hold? O'Neill said, "We embrace the possibility of opening another location, but it has to be the right fit. I don't think Pastoral is a destination within itself; we set up shop where there is an embedded market and substantial foot traffic."
O'Neill continued by discussing the burgeoning success of Pastoral's catering and hors d'oeuvres enterprise; instituting brunch at Bar Pastoral on weekends at 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; and considering the future of several projects that O'Neill isn't willing to chat about just yet.
In addition to his Pastoral-related duties, O'Neill serves as president and board chairman of the American Cheese Society, which is the largest trade association in the cheese industry across the world. Despite the fact that O'Neill holds this illustrious title, Pastoral included the mantra "It's just cheese" in its guiding principles when originally creating the artisan shop in order to never forget the pleasure behind food and drink.
" Pastoral employees do not take themselves too seriously; we are not trying to find the cure for cancer, "said O'Neill. "We just want to bring people a little bit of happiness as well as make ourselves happy."
Greg O'Neill and Ken Miller will host Pastoral's 10th-anniversay celebration Sunday, Aug. 17, 1-4 p.m., at 2947 N. Broadway.
