Greg O'Neill and Ken Miller

Greg O’Neill & Ken Miller-Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine

Pastoral, Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine is one of America’s finest cheese retailers.  It seems like there are plenty of cheese shops around the country today but that was not the case when they opened their doors in 2004. They not only have great retail stores in Chicago neighborhoods but a thriving online store too.  They host a lot of great events in Chicago and educate a lot of people about cheese.

Cheesemonger/proprietor: Greg O’Neill and Ken Miller

Locations:  3 locations in Chicago-Lakeview, Loop and Chicago French Market

Year Established: Opened Lakeview store in 2004

www.pastoralartisan.com

https://www.facebook.com/PastoralArtisan

Lakeview Store Front

MMM: Do you remember when you first fell in love with cheese?

GO: I moved from like to love during the years I lived in Europe, in Budapest and Hamburg, as “grazing as dinner” was a wonderful past-time with friends and colleagues after a long day.  Continued back in the US on our return, especially when Formaggio was my local when I lived in the South End of Boston.

MMM: Watching our your team is amazing.  What is your secret for successful camaraderie?

GO: We place service and education above all else in terms of our expectations, training and the type of experience we seek.  Self-starter team players make the best Pastoralites.  We also steer away from individual goals in favor of team goals in terms of compensation.

MMM: How often do you have classes? Are they held in the shop?  What are a few of the specific topics?

GO: We offer cheese and related cuisine educational classes and structured tastings in our stores and also privately off-site.  We try to make learning about cheese approachable, informative and fun, without any snobbery or attitude.

MMM: How often do you have the opportunity to visit the farms and producers?

GO: We get out to farms often and our employees actively represent our local and regional cheese makers at farmers markets.  In fact we are taking our entire staff of 50+ to Wisconsin for a whirlwind producer visit day(five in one day) in October in conjunction with Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board for American Cheese Month.

MMM: Favorite story from a visit?

GO: Our favorite visit remains the time we stopped in (just as we decided to open Pastoral) to visit Ig Vella, the late great icon of artisan cheese.  What we thought would be 20-30 minutes ended up being 2.5 hrs with all sorts of “old sage” advice being dispensed.  He told us not to “sell out” and stay true to our mission—he certainly did!

MMM: What percentage of your cheese is American?

GO: About 50/50

MMM: As an avid supporter of the ACS – what are your thoughts on the raw milk legislation?

GO: While I am somewhat concerned by the potential prospect of Raw Milk Cheese being scarce or outlawed, I am heartened by the constructive discourse with the FDA and feel that you can either be on the train or under it.  We of course want to be a part of the dialogue so we’ll opt for the former!

MMM: Additionally, what are your thoughts on the Cheese Certification Exam?  Do you feel this will be a worthy tool?  Would you encourage your staff to take the exam?

GO: We are excited ab out the program and saw great momentum achieved on it this year in Montreal!  ACS is rallying around it and we are on track to launch the first exam next year in Raleigh.

Store at Chicago's French Market

MMM: How did Pastoral come to be?  Did you both always want to open a specialty cheese business when you grew up?

GO: We saw a gap in the Chicago market, where we had world-class restaurants but a rather underdeveloped gourmet retail scene.  There was a time when Corporate America was no longer floating our boats, as it were and we took a discussion and brought it to fruition, through market research and a whole bunch of homework!

Contributed by: Cheryl Sullivan

Peter with Crucolo

A Classic American Cheese Shop

Location: Concord Massachusetts (right outside Boston)

Year Established: The store has roots going back to the 1860′s

Employees: There are 16 employees year round and 24 during the holidays.

Website: www.concordcheeseshop.com

Store’s Facebook page

MMM: Do you remember when you first fell in love with cheese?

PL:  Twice.  First time was October 1976,  The Cheese Shop in Caldwell, NJ.  Lee Knowles was my boss.  My dad wanted me to play football so I did what every rebellious kid did, I got a job instead!  The second time in 1998, I stopped in the shop that I own today and cheesemonger Ellen Nesbeda, a friend from college, cajoled me into putting on an apron and getting behind the counter.

MMM: When did you purchase the shop?

PL:  We had a purchase agreement in 2001 but I did not officially take over until December 2003.  My orignal offer was refused because there was a better offer.  The other party making the better offer talked about all of the changes he would make.  After a while the former owner called me back and accepted the offer because of my appreciation of the shop.

MMM: The Concord Cheese Shop is one of the oldest continuous cheese shops – what year was it established?   Is it one of the oldest shops in Massachusetts and / or the country?

PL:  The Cheese Shop was actually started in NYC in 1860 and  turned into as a franchise  with 20-30 quickly opening (some of the notables are Cheese Shop Beverly Hills and Greenwich Cheese Shop) the franchise sold in the 1960’s (approx.. 90 franchises at that point).  Bill Barber bought the Concord Cheese Shop on October 14, 1976 from Arthur Rosegow and Norma Belman(who opened in 1967).

Front of the shop

MMM: What is your fondest memory in the shop?

PL: Picking up the cheese plane  that fateful day in 1998 and the everyday excitement in each and every customer and sharing the love of cheese! It’s very rewarding.

MMM: Your team  is amazing – what is your secret for your successful camaraderie?

PL:  We generally care about one another and are interested in hearing what each has to say. We train college kids during summer and they all come back to work holidays.
During the recession we had no lay offs.  We offer great benefits, including 401K with matching funds, and pay 85% of health insurance.
MMM: How often do you have classes? Are they held here in the shop?  What are a few of the specific topics?

PL:  We offer two classes per semester through the Local Community College Adult Ed program.  The classes are held in the shop and limited to 12 people.  They taste 12-14 cheeses in 2 hours.

MMM: What is the best thing you have heard a customer say?

PL: This is a great place to wait in line!

Interior of the Store

MMM: What is your percentage of American cheeses to European?
PL: 60/40 – 75/25 depends on the season/deals/availability.  Our primary focus is New England cheeses but we do have a loyal following to many great European cheeses.

MMM: As an avid supporter of the ACS – what are your thoughts on the raw milk legislation?

PL: Don’t let fear dictate what history has already proven to be safe.

MMM: What are your thoughts on the Cheese Certification Exam?  Do you feel this will be a worthy tool?  Would you encourage your staff to take the exam?

PL:  We will definitely have 1 person from shop take exam.  The expense is a concern,  especially the renewal every few years.

MMM: What are your top 5 favorite cheeses today?

PL: My desert island cheese is  Parmigiano Reggiano/Aged Gruyere because they are versatile, substantial and full of protein.  My last supper cheese would be strong and stinky like Brescianella Stagionata, Epoisses and  real Vacherin Mont D’Or.  My home refrigerator at this moment contains Toma di Langa, Crucolo, Moliterno with Truffle, Cremont,  Crottin.

Rolling the Giant Crucolo

MMM:  Tell me about the Croculo Event .

PL:  Last year we had a  400 pound wheel of Crocolo made just for us.  It arrived in December just in time for the holidays.   It took four expert cheesemongers to prepare the behemoth for retail sale.  Crucolo is handcrafted by the Purin family and has been made since the 19th centtury at Rifugio Crucolo in Trention Italy.  It was the largest Croculo ever exported.  This cheese is usually only made in 25 lb wheels.

PL:  My whole life was an Apprenticeship to own the Concord Cheese Shop without my even knowing it!

Contributed by Cheryl Sullivan

Cheese Case

Sarah Furno

Ireland’s 1^st Farmhouse Blue Cheese

Sarah Furno is the second generation of her family to be involved in the business started by her mother Jane Grubb.  Their Cashel Blue was the first blue farmhouse cheese from Ireland and probably the best known Irish cheese around the world.  Their family farm is near Cashel Rock in County Tipperary where the grass is very green and very lush.  It’s beautiful, quaint and the neighbors are friendly.  What more could you ask for?

Partner: Sara Furno

Company: J & L Grubb Ltd.

Location: Tipperary Ireland

Year  Established: 1984

Cheeses: Cashel Bue and Crozier Blue

Attributes: Artisan, farmstead, grass fed, family owned, no pesticides, no herbicides and no artificial hormones

Distribution: cheese shops in Ireland, Europe, Japan, China, Australia and USA

www.cashelblue.com

Cashel Blue’s Facebook Page

Cashel Blue Cheese Building

MMM: What is special or unique about your cheeses Cashel Blue and Crozier Blue.? Are there certain attributes that you try to bring about?

SF: Cashel Blue is made from unhomeginsed whole friesan cow’s milk, no cream is added. It’s richness comes from the quality of milk, due to our mild climate our girls are fortunate to be able to graze outdoors in the meadows for up to 9 months of the year. Cashel Blue is made in traditional open vats without any mechanical aids, with the curds being cut by hand. Cashel Blue’s distinctly creamy subtle yet charactherfull style can be described as milky/buttery, with distinct but not overpowering blueness, and less salt than traditionally associated with blue cheese. In Cashel Blue we favour a 100% natural rind and we neither wax or treat the cheeses outer surface in anyway during maturation thereby allowing the natural moulds present on the rind to contribute to the gradual process of protein and fat breakdown resulting in Cashel Blue’s appealling creaminess.

MMM: How has your cheese changed since it’s inception 1984?

SF: Our cheese has changed little in 27 years, although in the period between 1984 and 1998 we have increased the size of our vat from a single open top 20 gallon copper brewer’s vat to several 500 gallon open top cheese vats. We have resolutedly decided to stick to open vats and still today use the same cheese harp to cut our curds as we did in the 1980′s. At times over the years consumers may have commented that Cashel was less or more creamy, while there can be subtle variations in intensity of creaminess and this generally related to demand, younger cheese being chalkier than more mature wheels. Since 2005 we have put considerable emphasis on the maturing of our cheese and hold at any given time anywhere between 20,000-30,000 wheels of Cashel Blue in our maturing rooms on the farm.

MMM: How did your family come to the decision to make blue cheese?

SF: Quite simple few people were making soft cheese and nobody was making farmhouse blue cheese in the early 1980′s, indeed few people new what blue cheese was in Ireland, as the majority of the population at the time would have had a very traditional diet of meat, potatoes and of course good Irish butter!

Crozier Blue

MMM: You’ve been making and selling your cheeses internationally for quite some time. What are the biggest changes that you have seen in the cheese industry in this time and how do they affect your business?

SF: Yes we’ve been exporting since 1985, our earliest export customer was Neals yard Dairy from London, to whom we still export today, it never fails to astound me where our cheese pops up. In the last 12 months we have sent Cashel Blue into the speciality market in China, Australia, South Africa, Canada and the USA. The global recognition for speciality cheese has changed incredibly over the years, when in the early 90′s we first exported to the US, it was before the American Cheese Society was set up and farmstead cheesemaking was in its infancy today there is a thriving array of American Farmstead cheesemakers making very good cheese, a similar scenario is the case for the South African and Australian markets. On another level many of the larger dairy entities recognising demand for softer styles of product have developed products in the last 15 years which compete alongside farmhouse cheese, which is quite confusing in terms of provenance, often it is he/she who shout loudest who is best heard. Exporting farmhouse cheese and conveying your authenticity/brand all the way through to the end consumers table is hard work today, requiring knowledge not only in cheesemaking, maturing but also in distribution, PR, and marketing. All in all it has become more competitive and quite confusing for the consumer who has a tendency to generalise about blue cheese, this said it is great to see Farmstead cheese makers growing from a tiny to viable scale. There is a fear however due to the cost of supply and fragmented nature of sending speciality cheese to a broad but small market that the product is being distributed in such small quantities that ultimately it fails to find its way to enough mouths in light of the competition from larger dairies, who may be part of larger global concerns who can offer the type of support to retailers that a farmer producing cheese from a single farm in Ireland simply could never dream of!

Sarah and Louis with original kettle for Cashel Blue

MMM: How much of your cheese is sold in Ireland compared to the rest of the world?

SF: 40% sold in Ireland 60% exported

MMM: Your operation is a family business started by your parents Jane and Louis Grubb. Are they still active and if so what are their roles? Who else in your family works in the business and what are their roles (including yours)?

SF: Louis Grubb is still actively involved and has been at the centre of our recent developments, he has a great analytical mind and is good at considering a conundrum in macro while the rest of the family get tied up in the minutae of day to day. My mother Jane, while lending a critical view when asked describes Cashel Blue as her baby that has grown up and flown her nest, she today enjoys her garden and dogs. On a day to day business the dairy is run by Sarah and Sergio Furno (Louis and Janes daughter and Son in law respectively) together with Louis Clifton Brown, the Grubb’s nephew who gave up a job in Dublin to help in the growing demands of running Irelands most well established farmhouse cheese dairy, Henry Clifton Brown his brother milks the 300 sheep that provide the milk for Cashel Blue’s sister cheese Crozier Blue, a semi-soft sheep’s milk blue.

Sarah and her parents Louis and Jane Grubb

MMM: What is your favorite way to enjoy Cashel Blue?  Do you have a particular recipe or accompaniement?

SF:
That’s dificult to say and depends both on my mood and the maturity of the cheese. I enjoy Cashel simply with a mature slice of pear or it is excellent with a ripe fig, however recently I had a really great Cashel Blue caeser style salad, with salad leaves coated in a dressing made of Cashel Blue, home made mayonaise, natural yoghurt, honey, chives, roast walnut pieces and lovage, yummy! A ripe piece is very enjoyable served with a glass of Botrytis Semillon Wine, or I’ve had fun in beer matchings where I’ve discovered the Belgium Beer Duval (10% vol), is a heady rich combination.

Cashel Blue

MMM: There are many new cheese making operations launching all over the world today. Do you have any advice for them?

SF: It’s a long journey, keep your passion, there are always ups and downs but it is such a joy to meet like minded people around the world striving to ensure the viability of family farms in an ever increasing industrialised global agri food sector.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-IcP2miNc

Contributed by: Maria Walley

Cashel Rock, Tipperary

Adventures of an American Pioneer in Goat Cheese

Judy Schad along with Allison Hooper of Vermont Creamery and Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove, were the first really great goat cheesemakers in the USA.   It has been fun to watch the cheeses develop over the years.  All have grown very distinct personalities.  These cheeses were the only alternatives to the French goat cheeses that were imported in the late 80′s and early 90′s.  They were similar yet also different and in a lot of cases better!  Judy’s cheesemaking has influenced and spawned a market for American artisinal cheeses.  Today these cheeses can be found all over the USA and are certainly some of the best and most unique cheeses available today.

Company: Capriole Inc.

Owner: Judy Schad

Year Established:1988

Location: Greenville, Indiana

Cheeses: O’Banon, Fromage a Trois, Juliana, Old Kentucky Tomme, Mont St. Francis, Crocodile Tear, Piper’s Pyramid, Sofia, Wabash Cannonball, Blue River Buttons, Chantal Aperitifs, fresh goat logs, fresh rounds, fresh rounds with herbs.

Employees: 12-15 creamery and barn

Attributes: Farmstead, closed herd, raw milk, farm store, hand ladled, hand shaped, artisan, certified humane, family owned

Distribution: farm store/website for all cheeses, local and national retailers for select cheeses

Website: www.capriolegoatcheese.com

MMM:  What year did you first start selling cheeses commecially?

JS:  I started making cheese commercially 1988 but started making cheeses in my kitchen in 1981 and 1982.

MMM:  Are you still the cheese maker?

JS:  I am the jack of all trades. We are going through some changes in staff so I am heavily involved in the making of the cheese but usually spend more time on managing the dairy and marketing.  I will always be very involved in making and maturing the cheeses since we have such a variety of cheeses.  I think we make too many different cheeses but when we started, there were very few goat cheeses so the demand was there for different types of goats milk cheeses.

MMM:     You still do a lot of farmers markets.  How much of your cheese is sold locally and how much is sold outside of your region?

JS:  We sell about 10% of our cheeses at farm markets, and another 10% is wholesaled locally, another 40% regionally (Louisville, Indiana and Cincinnati), and the rest nationally.

MMM:     Your Crocodile Tears and Wabash Cannonballs shaped by hand. What inspired you to do that? I liked the shape & so do the customers.  I wanted our cheeses to be visually interesting and various.  I see them after a meal on a cheese board as a family of various tastes, textures, as well as tastes. Chantal Plasse, the French affineur had encouraged me to make them, so I did.  She also took me to see a small producer in Provence who was hand molding goat cheeses.

MMM:  Other than the aesthetic qualities, are there any particular benefits to doing it this way?

JS:  No–a lot more labor intensive.

MMM:     Tell me about your closed herd of goats. Was this done mainly to protect the animals from outsiders or because you really like the qualities that you have developed in your herd.

JS:  Both. About 20 years ago we brought in 40 very nice, healthy animals, but mixing them with our herd caused some major health issues.  After that we closed the doors and decided to grow from within with our own excellent genetics. We’re playing with the same blood lines as several other breeders who are friends so about every 3-5 years we buy a breeding buck from one of them, but it’s hard to find genetics better than the ones we’ve bred for over the last 30 years–longevity, hardiness, flavor, production, and components.

MMM:   You were one of the first artisan goat cheesemakers in the USA.  I imagine the growth of your operation has been a bit irregular.

JS:   It was very difficult to put together a productive dairy herd of goats.  One can’t just go out and buy the potential that we’ve developed and the process has been very slow with many years of not enough milk.  Now we are downsizing a bit and keeping only the best.

MMM:    Which of your cheeses are you most proud of?

JS:  The whole family of ripened cheeses–both the most difficult and the most similar to the French ones from the Loire that I first fell in love with in France ( St.Maure, Selles sur Cher, Pouligny St. Pierre, etc.).  The surface and flavor of these cheeses is a very delicate mold that is quite tempermental but the perfect one for these cheeses, and only a few US cheesemakers use it.

Wabash Cannonball Aging

MMM.    Which of your cheeses, besides the fresh ones are the most popular?

JS:  Probably the aged Julianna and Old Kentucky–very friendly cheeses, but my favorite is Mont St. Francis, the big stinky washed rind.  We are making less and less fresh goat logs these days and more of the ripened and aged cheeses.

MMM:.    I love the quote on your website “I think our city roots have served us well and allowed us to do what no farmer in his right mind would have attempted”.  I think this is so true of most things that are innovative.  Is there anything specifically that stands out as “crazy” that has contributed to your success?

JS:  Probably that I knew food–good food–and that was my starting point, not just wanting to save the family farm or make money (still a problematic focus for me).  I had the advantage of a husband with a good income and could concentrate on developing what I loved.  Also ate every piece of good and awful cheese I could.  I knew what a great cheese should taste like, and wanted mine to be able to stand up to the best of Europe.  I was my customer.

MMM: What were the particular challenges when you first started making goat cheeses to sell?

JS:  There are so many that it’s hard to pinpoint any one issue.  Started with growing a herd to developing signature cheeses, to finding the right labor and team that are passionate about what they do. I think this has to be motivated by my passion and I sometimes have trouble communicating that without being totally OCD.  Also when one is this obsessive and the learning tools are trial and error, waste is a huge factor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anEB_usuU7E

Contributed by: Maria Walley

The specialty cheese industry is full of colorful people and Adam Moskowitz, like his father Joe Moskowitz, is certainly one of them.  I remember when he entered the business and I thought it was refreshing that he was from outside the industry.   He was not staid or arrogant but very eager to be part of an industry which his family has influenced for many years.  He has infused a bit of “show biz” into his family’s cheese importing company.  He’s recently known for hosting the first Cheese Monger Invitational at the Larkin Warehouse in Long Island City, NY, during the Summer Fancy Food Show of 2010.  This year he says he has 30 cheese mongers signed up, one coming all the way from Australia.

Adam Moscowitz

MMM: How long has Larkin been in business and what year did you join?

AM: Larkin has been in business since 1978 and I grew up working at Larkin.  I remember unloading floor loads of rocca regianno when I was like ten years old.  Those wheels almost killed me.  I then worked for Larkin full time right after graduating GWU.  To be honest I thought my parents worked too hard and was petrified that if I didn’t venture out of my own I would simply become a carbon copy of my father.  I like being original.  So I left for the media business.  I discovered that to be successful you have to work hard and working for someone else stinks.  What I couldn’t find was a mentor.  Until I realized the best mentor was standing right next to me… my father.  So I finally, and thankfully, came back on board in March 2007 and currently serve as CEO.

MMM: What did you do before you joined your family’s business?

AM: I spent most of my career (approx 10 years) working in business development on the internet.  First at Yahoo then Ifilm and finally at Amplify.  Then at the age of 30 I decided to focus on music and reinvented myself as a new school hip hop emcee called The Beat Poet.  During this time my grandfather passed away.  It was a transcending moment.  To honor him I decided I needed to know cheese so I started working at Formaggio Essex in the Lower East Side.  And there my love for cheese mushroomed into me joining the family business.

MMM: What exactly do you guys do at Larkin?

AM: I like to describe Larkin as a logistics hub for cheese and other food specialties.  Our core competencies are international transport and warehouse services.  Eurolarkin, our daughter company based in Rungis, France serves as the gateway from Europe to the United States.  Every week (52 weeks per year) Eurolarkin receives cheese (and related foodstuffs) from over 50 different producers/exporters (origin France, England, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Germany etc.) destined for approximately 40 different importers based around the United States.  For every importer we consolidate 1-10 or more orders, prep their documents and ultimately facilitate the import to Larkin in NYC.  Said simply, we make importing transparent.

Larkin’s warehouse services business can most easily be described as the back end logistics and admin infrastructure for leading producers, importers and distributors so they can simply and effectively focus on marketing and selling their product.  Logistic services include:  crossdock, deconsolidation, storage, order prep, fulfillment and truck brokering.   Administration services include: billing, banking, a/p and a/r.

Topline, in 2010 Larkin handled over 12 million pounds of cheese and related food stuffs and currently provides warehouse services for leading brands like Somerdale, EMMI, Neals Yard Dairy, Columbia Cheese, Essex Street Cheese, Jasper Hill, Rogue Creamery, Nettle Meadow, Redondo USA, Rick’s Picks, Bee Raw Honey, Formaticum, McClure’s Pickles, Max Brenner just to name a few.

MMM: Your family has been importing cheese into the USA for 3 generations.  What are the significant changes that have taken place in that time?

AM: Historically, the supply chain for imports is as follows:  producer, exporter, importer, distributor and retailer.  Today there is consolidation in the supply chain.  Producers perform as an exporter and sometimes even an importer.  Importers perform as distributors.  Distributors perform as importers.  Retailers perform as importers and distributors.  And everybody would love to be the producer of something original, either, a product or a brand.

I believe this consolidation in the supply chain was inspired by the Uruguay round of the GATT in the nineties.  This round of GATT opened up importing possibilities beyond those who held historical license.  Use of license became pragmatic only if you were dealing with commodity priced cheese.  Thanks to this round of GATT, if you want to import expensive cheese you now can do it ‘over the top’ without license.  By opening up the importer field, the new supply chain fostered strong, regional importer/distributors, as well as, created a greater diversification of cheese imported into the United States.

Then there was the creation of the EU and adoption of the EURO.  This made importing even easier thanks to eased trade zones and need to worry about less currencies when making purchases from many countries.

Another big change, caused by terrorism, is greater cooperation and tighter controls amongst government agencies (customs, fda and usda) when it comes to imports and food safety.  For example, the recent Food Safety Modernization act has given FDA absolute power.  Historically, FDA only could suggest that a recall of a product occur.  Now, FDA has the power to mandate a recall.  This is serious power and how this will affect the cheese business remains to be seen.

But the most important change to acknowledge is the depth and breadth that cheese is permeating the consumer marketplace.  More people are eating cheese.  And more people are eating good cheese.  Cheese is like what wine was 20-30 years ago.  It used to be something only consumed by the elite.  Finally, it is something enjoyed by the everyman.  And excitingly, this has inspired a plethora of artisan American Cheesemakers creating product that stands up to the greatest cheese produced in traditional cheesemaking countries of the EU.

MMM: What are the challenges for the future of cheese imports in USA?

AM: The biggest challenges now are increased milk prices, increased oil prices and wild fluctuation with the value of the dollar.  Also, the raw milk debate in regards to food safety.  Hopefully, the people in power will understand that faulty pasteurization is way more dangerous than raw milk.

Pallets just received at Larkin Cold Storage

MMM: You have started Euro Larkin.  What do they do and how has it impacted your overall business?

AM: EuroLarkin was a dream of my fathers for twenty years and when I came on board he finally had the depth he needed to create such a company.  EuroLarkin is our consolidation point in Rungis, France and is a key ingredient to our International Transport business.  We believe consolidating and importing cheese requires experienced staff.  It is called perishables for a reason.  And we are the only cheese focused company in the international transport business that has our own personally trained staff on both sides of the ocean.

MMM:  What inspired you to do the Cheese Monger invitational?

AM: I noticed a trend in making the cheesemaker a rockstar.  I liked this trend but realized the cheesemonger was also a rockstar.  I also felt that there is no single event in the United States that honors and celebrates the cheesemonger exclusively.  Plus, I am a deejay who used to go to raves and felt it would be fun to have a party in my warehouse with the best cheesemongers from around the country.  And the Cheesemonger Invitational was born.  I like to think its like fight club meets top chef for cheese.

Cheese Monger's Invitational 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNt1_n_G4IQ

Contributed by Maria Walley

Owner Laura Downey and Partner Chris

Cheese Shop in Conneticut Features Local Artisan Cheeses

Fairfield Cheese Company is celebrating their second anniversary this week.  They are one of the many new cheese shops around the country.  They have a great selection and provide a lot of personal attention to their customers.  It’s nice to see cheese shops like this doing so well.

Cheesemonger/Co-Owner: Laura Downey

Company: Fairfield Cheese Company

Location:  Fairfield, Connecticut (55 minutes outside of NYC), in a small shopping center next to  Harry’s Wine and Liquor

Year Established: 2009

Square Feet: 1000

Employees: 2 full time, 3 part time (including owners Chris and Laura)

www.fairfieldcheese.com

Their Facebook Page

MMM: What did you to prior to opening a cheese shop?

LD: My partner Chris was a caterer and I worked part time in a gift shop that had a party planning theme. It sold some specialty foods and also had a small pre-cut cheese case. It was located in our current space.  When it went out of business I wrote the business plan for Fairfield Cheese Company. Fairfield really needed a cheese shop, the only choice for artisan cheese was the super market.

MMM: How important is your cheese school to your overall business.  Where do you conduct your classes?  Do you have a special room or do you conduct them off premises.  What was the most unconventional class that you taught?

LD: Cheese School is a very important part of our overall business. Besides bringing artisan cheese to Fairfield we wanted our customers to be comfortable at the shop.  In cheese school they learn that the world of cheese is fun and enjoyable and not as intimidating as they think, we want to be approachable.

MMM:  Where do you conduct your classes?

LD: Our classes are held in the shop.

Cheese Class at Fairfield Cheese Company

MMM: What is the most unconventional class that you have taught?

We haven’t taught anything too unconventional yet. My favorite is Cheese 101. Its fun when it comes together for the participants, suddenly all the styles of cheese make sense and their confidence increases.

MMM: Your Facebook page is one of the best cheese shop pages. It is engaging.  What was your favorite post or which one garnered the most attention from your fans.

LD: Thanks, I promised myself when I decided to create the page it would be a priority.  I think it can work against you if you don’t update and engage with your customers. It really has helped us grow our business.  Customers like to be included in the shop so any posts about places we go like the Vermont Cheesemaker’s Festival or The Fancy Food Show seem to garner the most interest. Also if I describe a new cheese well or pass along cheesemaker information they like that.

MMM: Who does your facebook page?  Is it a team effort or is there one person leading it?

LD: I do our facebook page. I try to update 4-5 times per week

MMM: Favorite cheeses right now?

LD: I hate picking a favorite but right now I would say Hooligan from Cato Corner Farm. I love it this time of year because it is softer, creamier and has just the right balance of buttermilk flavor and pungency.  I also just tasted some Sofia from Capriole Farm and it was incredible. Light, lemony with a perfect goaty tang. I think Judy Schad makes some of the best goat cheese in the world.

MMM: Favorite type or region of cheese?

LD: I don’t have a favorite type but my favorite region would have to be the Northeast.  We have such great cheesemakers here. Vermont Creamery, Consider Bardwell, Vermont Shepherd, and Cato Corner are just a few of my favorites. It has been fun to develop relationships with everyone and it makes stocking the case a breeze because there are so many great cheeses to pick from!

Cheese case at Fairfield Cheese Company

MMM: How many retailers sell fine cheese within a 5 mile radius of your store?

LD: Within five miles there are three retailers that sell artisan cheese, Whole Foods, Balducci’s and Mirabelle Cheese Shop.

MMM: How do you stand out from your competition?

LD: I would say first and foremost customer service and then selection. We aim to make every customer happy with their purchase and to create an atmosphere of friendliness and trust. Our cheese and specialty foods are a thoughtful well edited selection. While we carry chese from around the world we have an emphasis on American artisan.

Contributed by Maria Walley

Brian tending vat.

6th Generation Farmer Makes Cheese

Cheesemaker: Brian Schlatter

Company: Canal Junction Farmstead Cheese

Location: Defiance, Ohio

Year:  Established: 2007

Cheeses: Wabash Canal, Miami Erie Canal, Burr Oak, Flat Rock, Lock 1, Charloe, Black Swamp Gouda, mmBossie Cheddar, Herb and Garlic

Attributes: Artisan, farmstead, grass fed, family owned, no pesticides, no herbicides and no artificial hormones

www.canaljunctioncheese.com

Canal Junction’s Facebook page

MMM: What year did you start making cheese at your farm?

BS: November 12, 2007, it was a batch of cheddar. Nothing great or grand but it was a great way to break in the creamery.

MMM: Do you make cheese every day and are some of your cheeses seasonal?

BS: During the height of the season, May through July we are producing 5 days a week. The cows have finished calving for the spring then and are at their peak in production, which coincides with the massive amount of spring pasture growth. After the spring flush of milk we level off to 3 days a week, but are in the aging rooms everyday making sure that the cheeses are aging properly. We produce most of the cheese seasonally with a little production in the winter. We feel the best tasting cheeses come from when the cows are out on grass. The hurdle that we have had to deal with is that majority of the American consumer is used to a very, very standard tasting dairy product that comes from cows on silage all year. There is no variation in the taste profile of those cheeses.

MMM: You make a wide variety of cheeses.  Which one are you most proud of and why?

BS: We started producing a very wide range of cheeses to fill the local demand, which was the first business plan. But after not being accepted as well as we thought we were going to be, we started to look to other varieties of cheese to hit the artisan area of the market along with the local part. The Charloe cheese is the cheese that has filled that gap and is quickly gaining in popularity. It is a combination of trial and error, boredom, and knowledge with a little bit of luck thrown in there. Through all of this, it is truly a Canal Junction original and is unique to us. From my experience while working at Gubbeen, I see that in today’s world in order to stand out and make a difference you need to have a cheese that is you. You can replicate the great cheeses but you will never match the original so I want to be the original.

Charloe Cheese

MMM: Was there a specific cheese that inspired you to make cheese or one that you really wanted to make?

BS: There never really was one specific cheese that inspired me. I loved swiss cheese and knew from the beginning that was one of the types that I wanted to make. When I started making cheese I just enjoyed the changes, process that takes place with cheese making. It was not until I started my technical training at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese that the cheese world really opened up to me. Until then I was the typical midwesterner who’s idea of a specialty cheese was smoked cheddar. From March of ’07 the cheese world became enormous. It was then that I started to understand more about the different types of cheese. The washed rind cheese came 3 years later after trying to figure out what to do next. I had tried some washed rinds and realized that they were not as intimidating as a Limburger. From those experiences I took off working on the washed rind.

MMM: I love your cheese names.  They are original and also refer to your locality.  What is your favorite cheese name of yours and why?

BS: Charloe is the one name that I would have to say catches most people’s attention. It’s a name that you are not going to see every day. The other names are ones that people have seen or heard in some way shape or form and are familiar with.

MMM: What are the challenges of making artisanal cheese in Ohio?

BA: It is a new area of food production, in it’s infancy. Like any other area that is new, it has a lot to work out. People are starting to become more aware of the fact that local and artisan cheeses are out there and are delicious. One of the biggest challenges for me personally is location. There is a good population around us but we have to drive to Toledo (1 1/2 hour away) to get to the biggest market near us. From there it’s 3 hours to either Cleveland (western side) or Columbus and 4 hours to Cincinnati. Those distances alone make doing farmer’s markets unsustainable/unprofitable because of the travel and cost on equipment. So for us we have to get into markets that are willing to sell cheeses that we make. Since we are not a vacuum sealed, 8oz, bar coded, nutrition labeled, self distributing to your store shelf, creamery. A lot of stores do not look at us because we do not ‘fit’ into their system. The cheeses that we produce need special care all the way to the end.

MMM: What are your plans for the future?

BS: This year are big goal is to be in every cheese shop in the region. It’s not that I am against selling nationally I think that the region needs to be filled up first before we branch out nationally. We are going to continue to improve on the cheeses and really start to focus on just a few cheeses that we make really, really well instead of being all over the board with different types. For us since we are not at multiple markets we need to focus on the quality of just a few and sell to a bigger area than making a range of product to fill customers tasting profiles.

MMM: What is your favorite cheese that is made by someone else?

BS: Hard cheese: Pleasant Ridge Reserve and Vermont Shepherd. Soft cheese: a fellow VIAC classmate (Veronica Baetje from Baetje Farm) from St. Louis area makes a soft ripened goat milk cheese called Bloomsdale.

Cheeses in their molds.

MMM: How many cows do you have and what breed are they?

BS: We have what some would call a cheese makers herd. A mix of this and that. The farm always had American Holsteins but when we started grazing we sold half of them and bought a herd of Jerseys because they were the ‘grazing’ breed. What we found out is that the American Jersey is just a Holstein in a squashed down body that is brown with an attitude. What we needed was an animal that would work with our grazing system here in Northwest Ohio. What we have found is the milking Shorthorn bred. All our semen comes from a farm in IL that has been grazing with the same family lines since the 1930′s. Last fall we had our first Normande cross calves. We are starting to use them because of the cheese making, we will see in another year how they will work with our system. We really like how they hold flesh but are a little concerned on their size. We have been breeding smaller animals because they are easier on the land which is important in the spring with our heavy clay soils. Just like the cheese our ‘breed’ of cattle is an evolving breed that we could call the Canal Junction Dairy cow. We will be milking 85-90 cows this spring once all the cows and first time heifers have calved.

MMM: You have a farm shop.  Is that where most of your cheese is sold?  Do you ship cheese to other cities or states?

BS: We sell a little cheese out of the shop. Majority of the cheese is shipped. We will ship to anywhere in the U.S.

Brian with his dog.

MMM: Recently you worked with Gubbeen in Ireland.  Did you go there with specific learning objectives and what did you take away from that experience?

BS: I went over to Gubbeen with a very board objective in mind to see and experience a successful operation first hand. To see how their systems were set up. Who’s doing what, how does the team work together, what systems are they using to keep track of everything and really try and grasp the making and aging of a washed rind cheese. The big picture that I saw at Gubbeen is that if I was going to have anyone working for me, I need to make them feel like what they do really does matter. They need to take ownership in what they do, have pride in it. To produce a quality product it takes time, energy, and a dedication to the craft, there is no such thing as doing is half way.

MMM: Is there another cheese maker that you would like to work with someday or a specific type of cheese?

BS: I would love to go over to the Alps and follow the cows up into the mountains in the spring, make cheese while they are up in the mountains and then follow them back down. To get a small taste of that original way that cheese was made before any white walls and stainless was needed to make cheese.

Makers, Mavens and Mongers contributor: Maria Walley