Sona originates in a love story – maybe two. Conan and Gen fell in love with each other first, and the same enthusiasm that brought them together sparked an interest in their second love: making cheese. After all, cheese-making is an intricate process that requires practice, patience and a good dose of passion – ingredients that they have in spades. After seven years of making cheese in the other Washington, they were dreaming about quitting their day jobs to take the hobby on-full time.
Five years later, they've moved across the country and done just that. They didn't know they'd be making recorded history by opening the first cheese-making creamery inside the District, but they did just that, working alongside D.C. and Virginia officials to reinvent the regulatory wheel when it comes to cheesemaking in the city.
They chose D.C. to be closer to family and to the burgeoning artisanal food movement taking hold in the nation’s capital. They saw a city with an educated palette, ripe for a new cheese-and-wine obsession. And they’ve found in D.C. an audience eager to support their artisan food venture and to learn alongside them how to make unforgettable cheese.
In opening Sona, Conan and Gen also paired their love for wines, specifically from the Pacific Northwest, with a passion for excellent cheese. Soon after arriving in the District, they formed a “cheese board” of local food entrepreneurs and advisors to help them make some of Sona’s biggest decisions (Doe