Yoav Perry has several potential sites in mind for his Perrystead Dairy. The No. 1 place on his list is the long-abandoned building on Coral Street in East Kensington, which was home to Harbison's Dairies for about 100 years.
Developers are turning the structure into residential and commercial space, so he's hoping to sign a lease and start operating by May or June.
But, don't expect to see cows grazing in pastures. His plan is to process grass-fed milk shipped in from nearby family farms.
"So we're going to do bottled fermented yogurts, bottled fermented kefir, which are kind of a new category in the drinkables. And about a third of the production would be very high-end cheese," he said. Perry is already known around the world for his cheese.
"We're doing some really crazy things. Crazy, but not esoteric, so if you're not a huge fan of cheese you're going to taste it and you're going to go, 'This is really nice, I like it,' " Perry said.
But if you are a big cheese fan, you can expect to be blown away Perry said.
"We're going to do a couple of short, seasonal runs every season. So eight cheeses a year. But they're going to be exceptional, absolutely exceptional."
The $126,000 state grant Perry received will go toward construction of a prefabricated creamery — approximately the size of a shipping container.