A Wisconsin girl, Laurel Lather grew up eating cheese. “I just love my cheeses, and I love my wines,” she says. So after a long career as a chef, Lather transitioned to retail in 2009, opening The Market, a combo cheese counter, wine shop, and eatery, with her husband, Doug.

Located in historic downtown Sioux Falls, The Market offers a unique-to-the-area dining experience: With wine on the left, cheese on the right, and a restaurant running down the center of the shop, customers can choose a bottle, select from a variety of local and imported wedges and wheels, and enjoy both on premises. They can also order dishes—some of which feature house-smoked meats—off the menu or sample from the cheese cart, which features The Market’s most exciting new offerings.

culture: If you could only eat one cheese for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Laurel Lather: Really sharp cheddar. I am a big fan of truckles right now—I love [Milton Creamery] Flory’s Truckle.

culture: Do you have any cheese pet peeves?
LL: When people come in and ask if we have [processed] American cheese. That’s not even a category, come on! Luckily, we don’t get too many of those.

culture: What’s your favorite wine and cheese pairing?
LL: One of my favorite pairings we do is grilled halloumi with a really smoky pinot noir out of Willamette Valley, Ore.

culture: What’s the strangest customer request you’ve ever received?
LL: We actually had someone come in who wanted yak cheese. We had never heard of it, but we researched for the longest time and finally got it in after a year. It was a unique taste for sure.

The Market
196 E. Sixth St.
Sioux Falls, SD
605.275.9463

Mon.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m

Rachel E. McLean

Rachel is an editorial intern at culture for Spring 2017. She is Junior at Boston University studying Journalism and Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations. Known as "the cheese queen" among friends, she's had a passion for fromage from a young age.