urophiles, unite! And get thee to Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, where an extensive cheese program has been established at Old Hickory Steakhouse—a brandwide initiative. Richard Peterson, the hotel’s Maitre Fromager, was hired to manage the cheese program and help educate hotel guests in their selection of cheeses. “The tableside presentation of a cart laden with 25 exotic stinky cheeses can be frightening to the average guest,” says Peterson. “My goal is always to make the program accessible and enjoyable for everyone, whether it’s a gastronome or a blue-collar worker. We are a convention hotel and serve a broad spectrum of guests—so we strive to make the experience fun and informative.”

The Gaylord Opryland partners with Artisanal Premium Cheese in New York City, a purveyor of over 300 artisan and farmstead cheeses and provider of educational classes. Peterson raves about Artisanal, where he received training. “Going there is like stepping into the Willie Wonka world of cheeseism, with the most stateof- the-art cheese caves in the country. They are masters of affinage, the maturing and nurturing of cheeses to optimum flavor.”

Peterson serves cheeses on white platterware with an organic, contemporary design. He plates the mildest cheese at the 6 o’clock point on the plate, and continues clockwise to the strongest variety. Portion sizes are 1.25 ounce, and a threecheese plate is priced at $15, a six-cheese at $28. Accompaniments might include rustic baguettes or Italian bread, quince paste, medjool dates, fig/almond cake, and fireweed honey. The guest is presented with a trifold souvenir brochure, with cheese selections described and marked. Peterson suggests that a well-rounded cheese plate might contain a buttery triple crème from France, a savory sheep’s milk cheese from Spain, and a mixed-milk bleu cheese. The key is in providing a variety of textures, flavors, strengths, and mix of animal sources.

The cheese program is very profitable for the Gaylord Opryland, currently yielding $11,000 in monthly cheese sales and an additional $7,500 in monthly wine sales. With a 30 percent gross profit margin, the program maintains itself nicely.

On a much simpler scale, Rivers Restaurant at the Avalon Hotel and Spa in Portland, Oregon, features an artisan cheese plate served with brioche toast points and homemade pear and apple chutney. Four selections are provided on the plate, which is priced at $12 and offered as both a small plate in the bar and as a dessert option. Current selections include Marin Rouge Et Noir Yellow Buck Camembert, a Rogue Creamery Oregon “Blue Vein,” a Cypress Grove “Humboldt Fog,” and a Carr Valley Cheddar. Chef Tim Shevlin has seen an increase in cheese sales over the last year, with one of every five guests now opting for the dessert cheese plate. “With some of these cheeses at a $10 per pound wholesale cost, the cheese plate is not overwhelmingly profitable. However, we do see incremental wine sales—as guests seek to accompany the plate with a nice Cabernet or Shiraz. That’s a great bonus.”

At Hotel Monaco’s Panzano restaurant in Denver, the focus is on Italian artisan cheese. The northern Italian menu features the cheese plate as both an antipasto item as well as a post-dessert course. Chef Elise Wiggins plates three to five cheeses in a triangular fashion, surrounding a fruit compote, hazelnuts, and crossed breadsticks. Current cheeses include a Tuscan Caciotta Al Tartufo, a rindless cheese with Umbrian black truffles; a semi-hard Toma Brusca; a hard crystalline Bra Duro Vecchio; a semi-soft Taleggio from Lombardy; and a Cambozola, a camembert/gorgonzola variety. It seems that there’s enough variety of cheese to please even the most discriminating of cheese lovers.

Nancy Fox is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.