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On the Menu: Artisanal plates show American cheese has more to offer than just orange slices

On the Menu: Artisanal plates show American cheese has more to offer than just orange slices

The cheese course, a tradition once limited to a handful of high-end restaurants, has begun to evolve and expand, fueled by increased availability of American-made artisan cheeses.

Though restaurants have become more serious about the cheeses they offer, the way the cheeses are stored and how the staff handles them, the cheese plate itself has taken on a far more informal personality. In fact, restaurants increasingly allow diners to customize their own cheese plates from a list of individually priced cheeses.

They’re also taking liberties with exactly when during the meal the cheeses are offered. Though any number of top French-style operations offer cheese assortments of varying complexity as an interlude between the main course and dessert, first-course cheese plates are gaining ground. They have become standard in tapas bars, wine bars, little places offering small plates and in other less formal settings.

The new Lazy Goat in Greenville, S.C., offers five cheeses individually or as a sampler. Rooster’s Wood-Fired Kitchen of the Jim Noble Restaurant Group in Charlotte, N.C., lists six individually priced cheeses on its menu and offers a choice of any three for $11. Noble’s Restaurant in the same city, another member of the same group, serves a plate of local and artisanal cheeses for $12. Similarly, La Madia in Chicago, which specializes in pizza, also has a list of cheeses on its menu.

LuLu Wilson in Aspen, Colo., includes an artisan cheese plate on its dessert menu. The Fig & Olive restaurants in New York serve cheese plates of four or six imported French, Spanish and Italian cheeses, which can be ordered as a starter or at the end of the meal. And Bin 8945 in West Hollywood, Calif., provides an option of three or five-cheese plates on its dessert menu.

Many operations go beyond simply listing cheeses to offer information about their production and area of origin. At Nizza in New York, a casual Mediterranean restaurant, the menu lists eight cheeses and includes the country of origin and type of milk for each. Staff members often participate in cheese tastings so they can answer questions from customers about the cheeses. Colvin Run Tavern in Vienna, Va., for instance, offers a cart with nine cheeses from almost as many countries. A brief description of each appears on the menu.

Though some operations let the customer take the lead, others emphasize composed cheese plates with carefully crafted condiments. Proof on Main in Louisville, Ky., is one of these, with such offerings as house-made quince paste with cows’ milk Hooligan cheese from Cato Corner farm, Humboldt Fog goat cheese, Point Reyes blue, and a drizzle of truffle honey and aged balsamic. Dovetail, new in New York, offers an American artisanal blue cheese with mustard fruits and a glass of aged sherry or a small Vermont cows’ milk cheese with honeycomb, lavender and mâche as choices on the dessert menu. A plate of five cheeses also is available.

Jason Donnelly of Murray’s Cheese, a purveyor in New York, says American cheeses, especially locally made ones, are in high demand, even though they tend to be more expensive. Italian mountain cheeses, cheeses from the Pyrenees, and stronger washed-rind cheeses are also popular these days.

Regardless of the type of cheese or presentation, a well-executed cheese course can have definite benefits for operators, Donnelly says.

“Cheese by itself is not necessarily a moneymaker in restaurants,” he says. “But they help sell drinks and more wine. That’s the real value.”

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