Cheese and charcuterie shop Parlourmentary opened its doors to the public on 7th December, in a former funeral parlour on Southbourne Grove. Owner James Fowler also founded The Larder House and Terroir Tapas, both on the Grove, so he knows a thing or two about foodie meccas. James used to run a cheese stall outside The Larder House every Christmas, and sold a literal ton of cheese last year.

The shop is striking and modern in appearance, with white tiled walls, white wooden floorboards and flashes of neon from the retro weighing scales and the model animals nestled amongst the cheeses in the window. At the back of the shop is a glass-fronted room full of cured meats from Hampshire-based company A Pinch of Salt (co-founded by a master butcher Alan Bartlett and Chef Director of The Pig, James Golding). They do Karma Ham, chorizo, red wine salami, lomo, coppa, bresola and pancetta.

Coming soon is a cheese room for the owners to make their own cheese and to run public workshops. How exciting that Southbourne will have its own cheese - The SoBo Stinker perhaps? They have an underground cheese cave all set up, ready for cheeses to be aged down there.

I was looking forward to trying the truffle cheese I’ve been hearing so much about, but alas they had sold out. So in the spirit of Burns Night, I bought two Scottish cheeses - an Isle of Mull cheddar and a Minger. No really, it’s called Minger, named for its pungent smell. The knowledgable manager told me it’s believed to be one of the world’s smelliest cheeses, and that sounded like a challenge I had to get involved with (see…there IS still an element of dare on this blog)!

Parlourmentary sells all the accoutrements you could want, from pickled figs and walnuts to curried apple chutney and Bloody Mary hot chilli jam - all made by local producers such as From Dorset With Love and Barbara’s Kitchen. You can even grab yourself some Dorset sea salt hand harvested from Chesil Beach or a pail/bottle of local farm milk which is gently pasteurised, not homogenised (Dorset Sea Salt Co. and Meggy Moos Dairy).

This place is another fantastic addition to Southbourne Grove. We just need Mr Fowler to venture east a bit and see what he can do with Highcliffe. Please?

Parlourmentary is open Monday - Saturday, 10am - 7pm