By Noma Faingold

Alex J. Sinclair, owner of the Sunset District’s charming, old-fashioned shop, Willow on the Green, which specializes is artisanal foods from the British Isles, has packed a lot of things into his 40-year-old life, before this latest passion project.

Born in the suburbs of London, Sinclair exhibited an entrepreneurial spirit as early as age 11, selling candy out of his trunk at boarding school. His culinary apprenticeship was as a military cook in the Midlands, from age 16 to 20. His training as a chef continued in London, where he worked at such esteemed restaurants as Le Pont de la Tour and The Chop House. 

His experience as a chef led him to be part of a culinary children’s show called, “The Food Factory.” His focus soon shifted to film. 

“That gave me the bug for film,” Sinclair said. He moved to New York in 2004, where he also began working in publishing (textbooks and education).

“All of that informed me to open this shop because it trained me as a curator,” he said. “I’m taking my food knowledge and merging it with the education and curation bit. When people come in, we treat it like a museum visit. We’re educators.”

At one time, Sinclair considered joining a monastery. He also learned to play drums and the Japanese  Shinobue flute, while briefly living in Japan and performing at music festivals. He moved to San Francisco in 2009 and did duty as an au pair and private chef for his brother, who lived in Sausalito at the time. 

The façade of the 350-square-foot Willow on the Green, which opened on May 1, 2022, has an old-world look, like something you might see in the 1920s, in New York’s Lower East Side, with its shiny black tile below a display window and gold lettering in classic typeface, which reads, “PICNICS,” “PROVISIONS” and “CHEESE,” bordering the window.

Inside, there’s an array of beautifully packaged chutneys, jams, marmalades, curds, crackers/biscuits, cookies and chocolates, along with refrigerated items, such as clotted cream, bacon jam and, of course, a wide variety of cheeses, mostly from England, Ireland and Scotland. Customers often are looking to put together a picnic lunch on their way to Golden Gate Park (less than two blocks away). The shop sells three sizes of picnic baskets and tartan plaid blankets. 

For more than three months before opening the shop, Sinclair went back to the U.K. to conduct intensive research on what products to carry and how to present them. 

“I went from farm to farm; creamery to creamery, interviewing and checking on quality and lineage,” he said. “I talked to cheesemongers, who were a lot of help.”

There was no substitute for seeing and tasting in person, which is the same philosophy Willow on the Green has adapted. 

“You’ve got to be there in person. You’ve got to see how it is. You’ve got to interact,” Sinclair said. “You can’t lie to people. You actually have to know. If I say something is quality, I have to look them in the eye. I can’t fake it.”

He also learned a lot by reading 2019’s “A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles,” by Ned Palmer. “It’s required reading for all the staff,” said Sinclair.

Laying out cheese samples every weekend (usually four carefully selected varieties) is part of the shop’s commitment to educating and serving a customer base that is about 60% walk-ins (including tourists) and 40% repeat business. Sinclair estimates that Willow on the Green served $15,000 in samples in its first year. 

“I can talk about British cheeses all I like, but there no way to describe Red Leicester unless you put it in your mouth,” he said.

Willow on the Green has its own label of cheeses, including Tipperary Flavored Irish Cheddar-Whiskey (product of Ireland), Royal Blue Stilton (England) and Knockanore Irish Farmhouse Raw Milk Cheddar (Ireland).

Other popular cheeses are Black Bomber extra mature cheddar and Red Storm vintage Red Leicester by the Snowdonia Cheese Company of North Wales, both packaged in wax.

“We’re the shop that brings in the hard-to-find cheeses of Britain,” Sinclair said. “Some of these products have never been in this country before. They’re made by mom and pops, small purveyors. A real interest for customers is to be able to get a piece of an exclusive thing.”

In its first year, Sinclair said Willow on the Green made a tiny profit. For the first several months he worked about 80 hours per week and almost never paid himself a salary. He admits it was not sustainable, which is why he also continues to maintain a side job with Encyclopedia Britannica Image Quest as a curator of digital collections for museums around the world. 

“I put my life savings into this,” he said. “We have to crawl before we can walk.”

Sinclair expects to be able to pay himself a salary by November. He has stepped back from being in the shop as often, to concentrate on buying, logistics and growing the business. Last August, he hired a manager, Fiona McGarry, to run the store. She is also learning about buying and other operations. 

He also has plans to open another business nearby, in the very near future. Its working title is the “Tiny Tuck Shop,” modeled after British snack shops, featuring candy and small bites. He would also like to serve beer and wine at Willow on the Green, to be able to offer cheese pairings.

A long-term goal is to open a restaurant. He wants to continue to invest in the neighborhood, where he also lives. 

“It will probably take five years of grinding,” said Sinclair. “I want it to be a British restaurant the way I know British – with high standards.”

McGarry, who previously worked with the Flour+Water Hospitality Group, and refers to herself as a “cheese nerd,” said a strength of the shop is the way Sinclair and staff connect with the neighborhood. “People come in here very deliberately wanting to support this business,” she said. “They value this place. A small shop like this selling fun things is really important to people. It’s going to give it staying power.”

It’s true that customers are rooting for Willows on the Green. People often stop by just to chat about random topics or to say, “You can do it!” Occasionally, a regular might even bring Sinclair a gift. 

“The personal interactions are so positive,” said Sinclair. “How can we not succeed?”

Willow on the Green, 1327 Ninth Ave. 415-259-1811. Facebook and Instagram: willowonthegreen.