Day 1021 : Root, Root, Root for the Hometeam Part Two - Gizella Otterson and Bklyn Larder

Up next, our second contestant -- Gizella Otterson of Bklyn Larder, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at last year's CMI. Bklyn Larder is one of those shops that you want to travel to -- living on the Upper West Side, it is definitely worth the trip to Flatbush Avenue to provision or well snag some tickets to an upcoming concert at Barclay's Center and stop there for a nibble before or after. A well curated selection of hard to find cheese delights; decadent cheese pairing selections from breads to crackers, pickles, jams, spreads and more; along with a wonderful assortment of prepared foods and a little counter in front at which to enjoy your nibbles. 

So without further ado, here's Fromagical's chat with Gizella:

1.    How did you get into the cheese world?

I got into cheese through an ex-, actually.  she worked in food and always wanted me to taste new things. I liked cheese as much as the next person, but i remember having this cheese plate at 'inoteca on the lower east side. I was absolutely floored at the variance of flavors in a single piece of cheese. a single piece! I wasn't tied to my desk job & she got me an interview at a shop. turns out that i was good at it. I never looked back.

2.     Tell us a little bit about your place of work/ establishment.

Bklyn Larder is a high end food shop in Prospect Heights/Park Slope, Brooklyn. We sell unique grocery items, make sandwiches to order, and have a service cheese counter.  We also have two kitchens full of professional cooks & chefs that handle pastry, savory, and also catering. We're the offshoot store of franny's, a top-notch Italian inspired restaurant in Park Slope.  Highlights of my store include: gelato & sorbetto, beer, cheese, charcuterie, sandwiches, prepared foods, hard-to-find sundries. 

3.     Which round of the Cheesemonger Invitational do you think you are going to ace?

Plate the slate

4.     What’s your favorite cheese pairing partner?

Pickles

5.     What is your favorite cheese for Summer 2013?

Mozzarella. I can't stop making tomato/mozz toast snacks during the summer. 

6.     Tell us one random fact that will win over the crowds.

I play bass in a rock band called All Forces.  We're almost done with mixing our album & i can't wait. 

Good luck Gizella!

If you want to stop into Bklyn Larder to grab some yummy cheeses or chat with Gizella, they are located at 228 Flatbush Avenue. 

Day 1019 : Root, Root, Root for the Hometeam Part One -- Amy Thompson

It's that time of year again -- time for interviews with the awesome cheesemongers competing in this year's Cheesemonger Invitational on June 29th. For more information on the Cheesemonger Invitational check out their website -- http://www.cheesemongerinvitational.com.

So let's get going with our first cheesemonger interview below -- Amy Thompson of the awesome Lucy's Whey location in Chelsea Market. Lucy's Whey is one of Fromagical's favorite cheese shops -- focusing on American artisanal cheeses, this little gem offers a wonderfully curated selection of local cheese beauties. Amy Thompson is the creative brains behind this wonderful selection and is definitely a force to be reckoned with on June 29th!


So Amy, how did you get into the cheese world?

After spending a college summer on a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, I was passionate about local food and sustainable agriculture.  I was searching for a job where I could talk about food and farming all day long. I landed a cheesemonger/manager job at Murray’s Cheese Grand Central, where I met great people (gotta love cheese people!) and learned all about the world of cheese. Nine years later I’m still in love with cheese.

Tell us a little bit about your place of work/ establishment.

Lucy’s Whey started six years ago in East Hampton, and a few years later Lucy was asked to open a second shop at Chelsea Market. She hired me to run the Chelsea Market location and we opened just before the holidays in 2009. We are now working on our third and largest location on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, opening late this summer! My job keeps getting better—we have a great staff and fantastic customers, and of course delicious, hand-crafted food of all sorts, with a focus on American artisan cheese.

Which round of the Cheesemonger Invitational do you think you are going to ace?

The perfect bite—but who knows? At any rate it’s the round I’m most excited about!

What’s your favorite cheese pairing partner?

Cheddar and pickles! A lovely farmhouse cheddar with a nice crunchy, briny cucumber. Really any pickled vegetable works wonders with cheese – onions, carrots, asparagus or kraut. I love their tangy zing with a rich, fatty hunk of earthy cheddar, especially Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.

What is your favorite cheese for Summer 2013?

Ledyard! It’s a little Robiola-style round, wrapped in grape leaves from Meadowood Farms near Syracuse, NY. I’m also a big fan of Mettowee, the chevre from Consider Bardwell Farm—a true taste of early summer! And I can't wait to taste this season's Arabella from Jacobs and Brichford in Indiana and Grayson from Meadow Creek Dairy, two great stinkers that will be back to our counter next week! 

Tell us one random fact that will win over the crowds.

 The fact I keep in my repertoire for customers who request low fat cheese always brings a chuckle for its unexpected simplicity: a smaller piece of cheese has less fat that a larger one! You can get a great cheese at our shop—delicious and full of fat—and eat half as much, or you could simply buy half as much. I’m happy to sell you a smaller piece!

Thank you Amy! Good luck to you on June 29th!

If you haven't visited Amy in her shop in Chelsea Market, it is definitely worth the visit. 

Day 846 : A recap of the Cheesemonger Invitational

This past Saturday was the much hyped Third Annual Cheesemonger Invitational. Hosted by Larkin Cold Storage, a speciality food storage warehouse in LIC, cheese lovers gathered from near and far to watch the competition, enjoy some nibbles and tipples. Forty-five mongers from around the world were asked to perform a series of tasks: a written test, a blind taste test, a 60 second pitch selling one of pre-selected cheeses and finally a wrapping, cutting and care challenge. The winner was Adam Smith of Cowgirl Creamery DC with Justin Trosclair of St James Cheese Company in New Orleans taking second place and Bryan Bland of Pastoral in Chicago taking third place. For the complete list of the top 11 finishers, check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/CheesemongerInvitational

Scroll down to see my coverage in photographs of the event.

Part of the Alps of cheese display

The Cellars at Jasper Hill, one of the event's sponsors

A few shots of Rodolphe Le Meunier's amazing Loire Valley cheese display. Le Meunier is one of the world's foremost affineurs.

Neal's Yard Dairy's table. One of the highlights for me was their St James Cheese, the orange brick pictured in the center. An unpasteurized washed rind sheep's milk cheese that just totally knocked my socks off!

One of a few raclette grills melting cheese for your enjoyment

Cheese tools, cheese papers, and more...

Part of DiBruno brothers cured meats display

More raclette grills making the "Swiss Nachos" seen below

Other spreads from DiBruno Brothers

Grilled cheeses waiting to be grilled in case you wanted a full-on sandwich!

Beverages galore!

Although not the best shot, a candid shot of Adam Moskowitz, the man behind the cheesemonger invitational's magic and the twelve finalists.

A great evening was had by all -- plenty of delish cheeses, nibbles and drinks and of course good old fashioned competition! Here's to Adam Smith of Cowgirl Creamery in DC and all of the competitors! I look forward to seeing everyone at next year's Cheesemonger Invitational if not sooner!

Day 843 : Root, root, root for the hometeam - Lilith Spencer

Located on Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope is the three year old BKLYN Larder - a shop for "cheese and provisions." BKLYN Larder is full of carefully curated local cheeses, salumi, prepared foods, preserves, beers, gifts and more -- the ultimate neighborhood food destination, it's definitely worth the trip if you're not in Park Slope. Behind the counter at BKLYN Larder is Lilith Spencer, the focus of today's cheesemonger chat!

Lilith is relatively new to the NYC cheese world, having relocated approximately a year ago from Northampton, Mass where she received her BA from Hampshire College. Hampshire College allows you to create your own major with a senior thesis year completely curated by the student. Lilith's senior year was all about the intersection of music and cheese. How you might be wondering right? She composed eight different pieces of music and paired them with eight corresponding cheeses based on texture, culture, and more. The cheeses she utilized ranged from Old Chatham Shepherding's Camembert to Vella Dry Jack to Cabot Clothbound Cheddar to Abbaye de Belloc to Bayley Hazen Blue and more. I just love the abstract concept of creating a bond between music and cheese -- perhaps because it feels very close to home for me whose life is a happy mixture of cheese and fine arts. But enough about me, back to Lilith...

Upon completion of her music and cheese compositions and her time at Hampshire College, Lilith decided that it wasn't yet time to open her own carefully curated cheese shop in Northampton but that it is definitely a future goal -- in the mean time, she decided it was the time to cut her chops in the big city and what better place than BKLYN Larder! At BKLYN Larder, Lilith has really been able to sink her teeth into a small business and be a part of its growth process.

For Lilith, "Cheese is science, politics, history, and culture all rolled into one." So here's to Lilith and her belief that cheese ties the world together!

Day 842 : Root, root, root for the hometeam -- Alex Garcia

Our next hometown competitor is head of all things cheese at Dean and Deluca. Dean and Deluca was if you ask me the first artisanal supermarket in New York City, started by Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca in 1977. Stocked full of the things we now have come to love and expect in a supermarket, Dean and Deluca truly was a trailblazing force in the culinary world of late 1970s Soho. Giorgio Deluca started out having founded a cheese shop in the early 1970s so cheese has obviously been an important aspect of the business and having Alex Garcia nowadays at their cheese helm is obvious.   


Our window into Alex is through a series of questions but we know its all business here and that Alex surely has the hometown chops to impress! So see below for our question and answer session.   




Fromagical: How did you get into the cheesemonger world? 


Alex: Had my first job after moving to New York and saw that the cheesemonger was the guy who was talking to allthe pretty girls, so I lied and told the manager of the store that I knew about cheese.


Fromagical What’s your favorite thing about being a cheesemonger?


Alex: The people in the industry are the most sincere and honest of any industry I’ve worked in.


Fromagical: How do you think your establishment has helped you grow as a cheesemonger?


Alex: I’ve grown a lot as a leader.


Fromagical : The contest states that cheesemongers will be tested on a basis of knowledge, care, and preparation.Which do you think is your strong suit?


Alex : Care. I used to be the Director of Affinage at Artisanal Premium Cheese


Fromagical : Stinky, runny, ashy, woodsy,citrusy, or brine-y?


Alex : Yes.


Fromagical : Beer, wine, spirits, or adifferent beverage with your favorite cheese?


Alex: All of the above, yes.


Here's to the hometeam and the head of cheese at the supermarket that changed the way New Yorkers look, consume, and purchase food!

Day 841 : Root, root, root for the hometeam - Martin Johnson

This coming Saturday is the Cheesemonger Invitational in Long Island City -- it is going to be a competition of epic proportions! 100 cheesemongers, 8 different rounds, plenty of cheese knowledge, care, and preparation on display! For spectators, there will be cheese, nibbles, wine, beer, and spirits galore, if you haven't bought your tickets - don't wait too long as you wouldn't want to miss this amazing opportunity : http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/246891

Over the next week, we will take a look at some of the hometown competition and give you a window into what makes them stand out from the pack.

Today's let's give you a window into the world of Martin Johnson - cheesemonger extraordinaire at Gastronomie 491 on the Upper West Side. An eat in / to go joint that opened on Columbus and 83rd in March, Gastronomie features a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, breads, cheeses, beers and more along with a sit down cafe area in the back area. Their cheese selection on any given day has anywhere between 50 and 60 different cheeses with approximately 200 cheeses in their full rotation. They get new cheeses in on a weekly basis and are always infusing new blood into their offerings.

So how did Martin Johnson come to end up here and as a competitor in Saturday's competition you might be wondering? How about a little bit of background?

For the majority of his career, Martin Johnson has simultaneously been involved in the world of cheese and the world of freelance journalism for publications such as the New York Times, New York Magazine, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, and many more. Johnson started out working for Bloomingdale's now defunct food division in the 80s and 90s while still furthering his writing career. In 1998, decision time came! Should he leave the world of food for writing? The opportunities were too great in the writing world so he took the chance. In 2002-2003, Martin decided to return to the world of cheese and made his name mongering at Garden of Eden. A year into his time at Garden of Eden, he returned to the written word part time, working at Bedford Cheese part time and starting the Joy of Cheese -- both an educational cheese blog with a fromage of the day highlighted along with Cheese pairing classes taught at the 92 Y in everything from Cheese and Wine to Cheese and Tequila and more. The Joy of Cheese aims to arm you with knowledge to appreciate the tastes you are enjoying and what flavor profiles create a sense of harmony with others. As Martin himself said, "It's about giving people a route in...that route will empower you with knowledge into your food, cheese, wine, spirits and more." Through the Joy of Cheese, Martin has had the opportunity to curate the cheese selections at a few wine bars around town and has consequently taught both private and public classes in their spaces.

Fast forward to 2011, Martin got approached to run the cheese department at Gastronomie 491 - a place that specializes in an intellectual yet fun and informative approach to your food with uniquely curated selections of everything from beer to cheese to prepared foods, baked goods and more. What a perfect fit! He still writes daily for the Joy of Cheese and teaches a few times a month at the 92Y.

Of the three main aspects, the Cheesemonger Invitational judges contestants based on -- knowledge, care and preparation, Martin definitely has a leg up on the knowledge end!!

Let's hear it for Martin!!!!

Day 834 : Event Alert - Cheesemonger Invitational

On June 23rd, Long Island City will have the pleasure of welcoming the third annual Cheesemonger Invitational! A competition of epic portions! Cheesemongers from forty different cheese shops will compete in eight head to head battles to crown one reigning cheese! There will be refreshments provided by Steve Jones who has been in the cheesemonger world for fifteen years and now runs a very well established cheese bar out of Portland, Oregon.

So why go?

Because how often do you really get to see cheesemonger competitions? And realistically it will be pretty cool to see people from all the world compete to win this coveted title! And also, if you live in any one of the five boroughs, it's pretty convenient!

Get your tickets here while they last: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/246891