News From The Cheese Caves

The following interview is with Executive Chef Vincent Menager of Hotel Sofitel

When did you decide you would work in a kitchen?

I started working at 13 in a bakery. When I started my Hotel school, I went to the work in a kitchen and that was then that I decided I would never leave it.

What is the most interesting part of your work?

Teaching my staff about new dishes that will please my customers.

There is this kitschy expression: if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Have you ever felt that way?

I deal very well with pressure. I work even better with it! I think it’s never hot enough!

What is your greatest rewarding moment as Executive Chef at Hotel Sofitel?

There are few great rewarding moments; however two of the greatest are when I have customers that thank me for the experience, or some come to ask me for the recipe of the dish. This does not happen all the time but it did in the past…

Do you have cheese or dessert when you go out?

Sometimes cheese, sometimes dessert, sometimes cheese and dessert!

Has the diversity and quality of cheese evolved in the restaurant industry?

Very much so. People enjoy more matured and more complex cheeses nowadays.

Do you remember one of the first cheese plates you tasted when you arrived in the US?

My feeling was H..y S..t! We have a lot of work to do! There was a Brie out of the can, a blue cheese out of a bag, a goat cheese log and one that I prefer trying to forget about it, it was that bad…

Could you describe what you’re looking for when creating your cheese plate?

I am looking for a palette of flavors, acidity, saltiness, texture and presentation. All the flavors also need to come together as complexity is important.

What is your favorite cheese in winter?

Munster.

Do you feel your cheese plate is competing with your desserts?

No. They compliment each other.

What amazes you in cheese in general?

The most interesting is that they all start from one common matter, milk but then the diversity is unbelievable!

If you had to make a cheese what would it taste like?

I would make one out of goat’s milk. I would work on the saltiness, creaminess. I would use the milk in September add a little bit of spice. I would do something smooth but you will remember about it.

Is there a cheese you would have loved to make, create?

Roquefort!

Do you think customers are daring enough?

More and more people are willing to try new things. We however still run a business so we have to be careful about the way we present to them.

About Gaby restaurant, what changes have you made?

I arrived 5 years ago as a line cook and it was perfect for me so I had time to learn the culture from the inside. As an Executive Chef I tried to bring more French Culture, the feeling of what the French technique can bring to a kitchen.

What do you have to say to our readers?

Enjoy cheese! Artisanal Cheese!

Below is an interview with Gray Kunz, Chef / Owner of Cafe Gray:

When did you decide you would work in a kitchen?

I have three brothers and they are all Chefs. At 14 years old I started cooking in a restaurant during summer to earn money!

What is your greatest rewarding moment as a Chef/Owner?

My biggest reward is to see people that have worked in my kitchens who have become their own entities. It is also rewarding to see my business growing. We’ve recently opened Grayz and I am very happy with it.

Do you have cheese or dessert when you go out to restaurants?

I must admit that I have a sweet tooth BUT if you have a great piece of cheese, I can have that as an entire dinner! Forget about meat, fish, etc… give me a GOOD piece of cheese fully matured on a piece of bread with some wine and I am very happy!

If you had to make a cheese, what would it taste like? What type of milk will it be made of?

Simple mozzarella style!! No, just kidding…It would probably be a cow’s milk, a washed rind cheese, a Reblochon style…Simple & complex! Toni tells me what is the best available right now and I kind of follow his lead. He tells me what is great, not necessarily what I like.

What amazes you in cheese in general?

The process is what amazes me the most. It has a lot to do with art. For me it is an Art form.

What do you have to say to our readers?

Keep on eating Artisanal cheese and be daring about them! If you love food then you should never exclude cheese as it is such an integral part of good eating.

Is executive chef a larger role than what it used to be?

There is a distinction between a Chef-Owner and an executive Chef. Larry Finn, my Executive Chef is the person in the trenches. He has a big responsibility on the food side of the business but also now on the financial side of it. At Café Gray it has become a steep learning curve when it comes to Human Resources, Finance, it has become a much more complex task to manage. Larry is a very good guy, a good person on top of being an excellent Chef.

What is your favorite cheese in winter?

d’Or. Tome vaudoise.

What amazes you in cheese in general?

What amazes me is the process. It is a natural chemical process, it’s about intuition, timing, it’s an art form. Diversity is also something that amazes me.

Is there a cheese you would have loved to make?

In my apprenticeship, we studied a lot about cheese making. I would love to be with the person that makes a Gruyere from the beginning g to the end.

Do you think customers are daring enough?

The American public has become very daring. The more daring they are, the more challenges they pose for the Chefs. It elevates the standard, the knowledge and also gives the Chef a great ordeal of space to maneuver in. There are a lot of possibilities but daring means that must have good solid foundation, solid techniques.

Has the diversity and quality of cheese evolved in the restaurant industry?

YES! It has evolved tremendously. 18 years ago nobody was thinking about cheese then. The choice and variety is amazing. Coming from Switzerland I had to have cheese so I feel better now! Terrance has done a lot to that!

According to the response to our Sexy Cheese Class this past Wednesday, we learned something too…sexy cheese is where it’s at! Our pre-Valentine’s Day class was sold out (thanks in part to a little help from Daily Candy and Time Out New York in “spreading the curd”) and made for a fun, festive V-day pre-cursor for the always inquisitive cosmopolitan types looking for a new way celebrate love. Complete with champagne, roses and chocolate covered Strawberries, this tasting class featured some stunning Artisanal cheeses such as a decadent triple-crème-style, Pierre Robert, a silky, brandy-washed Epoisse and an award-winning, leaf wrapped, Rogue River Blue. Some of the evenings perfect pairings included Parmigiano Reggiano Cravero with Mumm Joyesse Champagne and creamy Cypress Grove Chevre, Purple Haze, paired with Kurt Darting Pfalz Ungsteiner Spatlese Riesling (say that 5 times fast). As always Fromager Waldemar Albrecht’s passion was contagious and his depth of knowledge, impressive but never intimidating. With his ode to the sexiest Cheeses, he created a unique and memorable Valentine’s Celebration for all!

Join us next month for another special holiday class, Erin Go Braugh: Irish Cheese for St. Patrick’s! on Thursday, March 13th!

From NY Food and Wine’s blog:

“One more recommendation about the fabulous Artisanal cheese that we wrote about last week: you can get a limited selection from Fresh Direct. Shortly after this online grocer started selling Artisanal cheeses, we tried a few of the French selections. We were stunned at how good they were, arriving in pristine condition and perfectly ripe. The Epoisses from Burgundy was running off the plate. Subsequent orders with other varieties confirmed that this was no fluke. After our last order a few months ago, we agreed that what we had right here in New York rivaled the cheeses that we buy at Barthélémy, considered by many to be the best cheese shop in Paris.

We were reminded about Artisanal from Fresh Direct after going to a dinner party at Drs. Pedro & Vivian on Saturday evening. Sometime before the music went louder and the dancing started, the tray of mouth watering cheeses came out. That’s when our lovely hostess (and cardiologist!) admitted that she ordered them from Fresh Direct.”

Here’s what TODAY has to say about Artisanal Cheese!

“For the food gift that keeps on giving, subscribe to Artisanal’s Cheese of the Month Club. Each month you receive three artisanal cheeses (about 1 ½ pounds) each at peak ripeness. You also receive notes explaining each cheese as well as serving and food paring suggestions. The program comes in 3, 6, or 12-month installments, $210 for 3 months.”

See full article here.

Jeffrey Roberts, author of The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese, is referenced by The New York Times as “a walking encyclopedia of American cheeses…”

Read the full New York Times article, “A Guide To America’s Cheese Trail”

On Friday, July 6, Jeffrey Roberts will be leading a tasting at the Artisanal Cheese Center. Jeffrey will be speaking about the growth of artisan production and lead a tasting of America’s most exquisite cow, goat, and sheep’s milk cheeses such as Uplands Pleasant Ridge, Hoja Santa and Rogue River Blue.

Read more about this class

The idea:
Simple entertaining with charcuterie & cheese.

The Point:
Join us at Artisanal and let us share some of our secrets to simple summer entertaining. Low maintenance and high quality is the key to making sure you enjoy your next summer party as much as your guests. You can even take these tips on the road and bring a charcuterie board as a host or hostess gift. You’ll learn what we mean by “charcuterie”, what cheeses to pair and how to create a charcuterie board based on your own personal tastes. And of course, don’t forget the wine, champagne, rose, port, we tried them all and see what we recommend serving at your next summer get together. Most importantly, keep it simple by skipping the hours of preparation, relax and enjoy instead!

Who:
Waldy jumped on the chance to do this research and asked Max to join him for a tasting to select the best pairings of cheese, charcuterie & wine.

When:
June 27th – save the date! We’ll do it in time for summer entertaining. In fact, we could teach this class once a season and keep the simple entertaining theme year round.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is truly amazing… wanted to post this fast in case someone reading this may actually want to go see it in the next half-hour! But I’d love to know the back story on this cheese. And will the Swiss deny it’s the biggest?

Restaurant Girl has a fun interview with Andrew Friedman on her site today. Andrew was co-Author of Chef Brennan’s, Artisanal Cooking: a Chef Shares His Passion for Handcrafting Great Meals at Home. Andrew speaks about how he got into the business of food writing, and where he hopes to go in the future, and about his own forthcoming book, The Weekend Warrior Cookbook, which he describes as geared toward hobbyist cooks, the “people who Rachel Ray left behind”!

This is brilliant. Earlier last week, Chowhound posted a wonderful call for mouth-watering stories, entitled: “Cheese - the best cheese experience you ever had” It begins with, “Roqfort, soft and squishy, pungently fabulous on crisp lavosh with a Temprinillo to divert the taste buds momentarily before returning to another heady mouthful.” Oh that does sound good. And the comments, … “A round of Brillat Savarin (triple creme), drowned in cognac soaked golden raisins….;” “Atwater Market in Montreal on visits back to my home town and picking up 4 Québec and/or French cheeses…;” “Large wedge of Beaufort cheese, some kind of dried ham, fresh baguette and wine for lunch while hiking Grand Balcon du Nord in the Alps;” … Check it out.. !