Another important consideration is finding
the PROPER PLACE on YOUR MENU for the cheese plate or course ...
We’ve set up programs as appetizers,
desserts, or as a prix fixe selection.
Cheese flights from The American Club.
Visit www.hotelfandb.com and click on
Extras & Galleries for The American Club’s artisan
cheese list, cheese flights, and wine & cheese pairings
from the Winery Bar. |
 ven in this age of calorie counters and
cholesterol warnings, a much-maligned,
traditional culinary favorite
is making its way onto menus once
again: cheese. Practitioners of Old
World artisanship with New World sensibilities
are reviving the image of cheese as a respected
epicurean delight. Perhaps the country that has
embraced Cheez Whiz and Velveeta can’t be
blamed for resisting the idea, but the movement—
over a decade in coming—is bringing the
cheese course back to the table.
The recent explosion in specialty cheese
producers has broadened the choices available
for restaurants to offer interesting, high-quality
cheeses. Famed Massachusetts cheesemonger
Matt Rubiner of Rubiner’s Cheesemongers &
Grocers in Great Barrington points to the “brutal
milk price cycle” as the factor driving many
farmers into finding more profitable ways to sell
their milk. In fact, statistics from the
International Dairy Federation show cheese
surpassing fluid milk as the major usage of total
U.S. milk produced over the last six years.
Rubiner—who has helped the likes of Emeril
and Thomas Keller select their cheeses—says the
rising culinary interest in cheese and increasing
number of quality cheese producers are helping
each other grow. “The last ten years have seen such
explosive growth in not just cheeses but food in
general, which has increased public awareness and
appreciation of great food, which in turn increases
demand … Cheese is a part of most local food
traditions and now there are few places where you
can’t find good-quality cheeses locally.”
USDA figures illustrate the increasing demand
of U.S. consumers, showing a steady climb from
18 pounds of cheese consumed per American
in1980 to 31 pounds per person in 2004. (The
United States lags far behind many European
countries, especially Greece, whose people eat a
staggering 63 pounds of cheese per capita.)
The American Club’s Immigrant Restaurant in
Kohler, Wisconsin, has taken the local traditions to
heart in their cheese program. “America’s
Dairyland” has shown an enormous surge in
specialty cheese production, rising from 99 million
pounds produced in 1995 to an astounding
355 million pounds in 2005 (Wisconsin
Agricultural Statistics Service). Their cheese list
features dozens of Wisconsin-made artisan cheeses,
as well as numerous California and European
varieties in one-ounce servings.
The list separates cheeses into cow, goat,
sheep, and mixed milk categories with a brief
description and place of origin. The American
Club’s F&B director and executive chef, Ulrich
Koberstein, and the Immigrant Club’s executive
chef, Ryan Anderson, add another innovative
dimension by offering flights of cheese. Each
flight of three or more samples spotlights a type
of cheese from various producers or at varying
ages. Examples include the “Evolution of
Cheddar” flight with cheddars aged from
one-year-old fresh curd to three, five, seven, ten,
and twelve years and “Chèvre Cheeses” with chili
pepper, herb, and key lime chèvres.
Anderson cites supporting local farmers and
showcasing their cheeses as the main drive in
offering such an expansive cheese program. “We’re
in the country’s greatest dairy state and I’ll put our
cheeses up against any California or Vermont
cheese. We have producers who bring European
stylings to cheesemaking and who feel free to try
new things. This cheese program is part of our way
of giving back.” The Immigrant’s program now
includes 43 cheeses that can all be tasted and
paired with wine in the Winery Bar tasting room,
as well. Anderson says guests at the Winery Bar
cheese locker are hosted by a chef who can guide
them through the wonders of the cheeses and offer
wine pairings from an 850-bottle list.
Americans have no set custom (yet) as to
where the cheese course should appear.
Europeans commonly place the course separately
after the entrée or in the dessert course. Anderson
says his guests have been known to start with
cheese, share selections as an appetizer, finish
their wine with it between entrée and dessert, or
choose it as dessert.
“We’re in a state where people eat cheese
anytime. They grew up eating cheese and they’ve learned to appreciate it.” Now over five-years-old,
the cheese program at The American Club is an
institution for satisfying cheese lovers and providing
opportunities for cheese artisans through inclusion
on the nationally renowned resort’s list,
cheesemakers dinners, and other special events.
Outside the cheese-friendly culture of
Wisconsin, Rubiner states that cheese lists, while
becoming more common, are not yet as firmly
rooted on menus as wine or dessert lists. “For a
customer walking into a restaurant, the question
is not usually ‘if’ they are going to buy wine, but
‘which’ wine they will choose. The advantages for
offering cheese are a little less clear than wine,
but if restaurants want to emulate, say, New York
City—from the Ducasse level to the hipster
places on the Lower East Side—then cheese
simply has to be included.” Indeed, the food
costs and upkeep associated with fine cheeses
can be daunting in themselves—“another thing
to take care of, another thing for the waiters to
memorize.” Rubiner asserts, however, that more
and more chefs are choosing to put out the extra
effort to provide an even fuller culinary
experience for their guests.
GETTING STARTED
Unless you can afford to hire a maître fromagier,
Rubiner supplies advice to get started with a cheese
program. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Start out simply,” he says. “Don’t initially use
tableside cart service or hard-to-care-for displays.”
Cheese programs are usually far more modest than
that of The American Club, but Rubiner says “a
thoughtfully selected and well-maintained” cheese
list needn’t be long to be a success.
In complete contrast to Koberstein and
Anderson’s extensive menu, Rubiner supplied
Boston-area chef Steve Johnson with “one perfect
cheese,” a “great-quality cheese at perfect
ripeness,” as his sole cheese offering. Rubiner
recommends partnering with a cheese shop or
distributor who can help select cheeses that fit
into the grand scheme of your restaurant (like
The American Club’s Wisconsin-centric selections
or Iberian cheeses for a tapas bar) and can train
your staff to sell and maintain them properly.
Another important consideration, says
Rubiner, is finding the proper place on your
menu for the cheese plate or cheese course.
“We’ve set up programs that were offered as
appetizers, as desserts, or sometimes they only
worked as a prix fixe selection.” Rubiner stresses
that determining the placement of the cheese
course on the menu is not to restrict guests to
that time frame but, as a marketing device, to
give servers the right opportunity to proffer the
cheese plate or cheese list.
According to Rubiner and Anderson, the cycle
of increasing awareness, appreciation and
demand for artisanal cheeses promises to
continue for the foreseeable future. With a public
discovering the nuanced flavors and textures of
cheeses made with artistic care, a new class of
cheese sophisticates will become diners with
fresh expectations. If so, maintaining a quality
cheese list can become another hallmark of any
restaurant striving for greatness.
Denny Lewis is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B EXECUTIVE. |
