Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Vaughan.
Hi Megan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts in New York and New Jersey, where I first fell in love with restaurants — not just the food, but the whole world of hospitality. That love led me to The Culinary Institute of America, where I discovered cheese almost by accident. I revived the campus cheese society, started nerding out on American artisan producers, and realized I’d found my thing.
After graduating in 2005, I joined Eleven Madison Park in New York City — what would become the best restaurant in the world. I started on the floor and eventually built and ran the cheese program from the ground up, designing service carts with local artisans and collaborating with Murray’s Cheese to create Greensward, a washed rind cheese inspired by picnicking in Central Park. I grew into the role of Service Director and ultimately Assistant General Manager, leading the service team through some of the restaurant’s most defining moments — four-star reviews from the New York Times, three Michelin Stars, and the number one ranking on the San Pellegrino 50 Best list.
But after more than a decade in fine dining, I knew I wanted to build something of my own — something rooted in the same commitment to genuine hospitality but centered entirely on the thing I loved most: American artisan cheese and the small farms and families behind it.
I founded Vaughan Cheese in 2018, starting with private cheese tastings and events before opening our brick-and-mortar in North Beach, Maryland. Today, Vaughan Cheese Counter & Bar is a full cheese and wine cafe — boards, snacks, shareable dishes, wine, beer, cocktails — alongside cheese classes, events, and nationwide shipping. We’re a gathering place for people who love good food and good company, and everything we do is grounded in one simple idea: be kind. Eat cheese.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth? Not exactly. The biggest gut-punch came in March 2020. Overnight, every one of my restaurant accounts closed, every private event cancelled, and I was standing there with $20,000 worth of perishable inventory and no clear path forward. It was genuinely terrifying.
I gave myself about thirty minutes to freak out — which, honestly, felt appropriate — and then got to work. Online retail, local delivery, virtual cheese classes — whatever I could spin up to keep things moving. I didn’t know if it would work. I just knew I wasn’t going to watch everything I’d built rot in a cooler. And then something unexpected happened. People were stuck at home, craving connection and something beautiful to gather around — even if “gathering” meant a Zoom call with a cheese board — and cheese was exactly that. We moved through all of that inventory and needed to reorder. Then reorder again. What started as a survival move turned into proof of concept. It became clear that there was a real appetite — pun fully intended — for what we were doing, and that the right next step was a permanent home for it.
That pivot was the direct springboard for opening Vaughan Cheese Counter & Bar. Sometimes the road doesn’t go the way you planned, and it takes you somewhere better than you imagined.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Vaughan Cheese Counter & Bar is a cheese and wine cafe specializing in American artisan cheese. We offer cheese and charcuterie boards, snacks, and shareable dishes alongside a robust selection of wines by the glass and bottle, beer, and specialty cocktails. We also offer cheese classes, private events, and nationwide shipping — so whether you’re coming through our door in North Beach or ordering from across the country, there’s a place for you at our table.
But what we’re really known for — and what I’m most proud of — goes deeper than the menu.
We are unapologetically focused on American artisan cheese and the small farms and families who make it. There is so much extraordinary cheese being made in this country, by passionate makers who pour their lives into their craft, and it deserves to be celebrated. Our job is to be the bridge between those makers and the people who want to discover them. Every cheese on our board has a story, and we love telling it.
The other thing that sets us apart is how we treat our people. We operate under a philosophy I call Radical Genuine Hospitality — the belief that true hospitality isn’t a transaction or a performance, it’s a core value system. It means creating a space where every person — team member and guest alike — feels safe, seen, and genuinely cared for. No script, no ego, no agenda. When your team is truly invested in that belief, it radiates outward in ways that are impossible to fake and impossible to miss. Our guests feel it. Our regulars come back for it. And in an industry that averages around 170% staff turnover annually, we’ve held onto an incredible team because we mean it.
Be kind. Eat cheese. It’s not just a motto — it’s how we operate.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Honestly? The refusal to treat people as a means to an end.
In an industry that has long operated on the idea that staff are replaceable and guests are transactions, choosing to genuinely care — about your team, your customers, your farmers, your community — is both the hardest and most important thing you can do. It would be easier to cut corners, to hire fast and fire faster, to chase trends instead of building something real. But that’s never been what this is about.
I think the characteristic that has driven everything for me is the deep belief that how you treat people is the business. Not the product, not the margins, not the accolades. The people. When you lead with genuine care and hold yourself to that standard even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable, everything else tends to follow. The team stays. The guests return. The farmers trust you with their life’s work. The community invests in you because they can feel that you’re invested in them.
That, and an almost embarrassing amount of stubbornness. You don’t survive a pandemic with $20,000 of perishable inventory and no revenue by being someone who gives up easily.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vaughancheese.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vaughan_cheese/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VaughanCheese/
