A Foodie Dinner Party & Spectacular Cheese Plate
Have you ever been invited to a dinner party hosted by a serious Foodie, and by foodie I mean someone who worked alongside legend Alice Waters of Chez Panisse? I was beyond excited to join Karen (the same Karen who founded my favorite Kids Cooking organization Sprouts Cooking Club) when invited to her casual Sunday dinner party. She told me various chefs and food/beverage industry folks would be joining, all cooking or preparing their speciality. I naturally asked what I could bring suggesting Wine and a Cheese Plate? It’s not like I was going to dare cook along these experts! So Wine & Cheese Plate it was!! No pressure, I was responsible for putting together a cheese plate impressive enough for Chefs at restaurants such The Coachman, the Co Founder of Petit Pot (also a former pastry Chef at Coi) and impressive mixologist Chris Jordan from St. George Spirits. I had my work cut out for me.
So I enlisted the experts at Whole Foods, San Francisco’s Potrero’s location. I met Stephanie Echevvaria, The Cheese Specialist and Buyer for the Whole Foods Potrero location who was amazing. Being the cheese lover I am I keep a running list of cheese I’ve bought and love and want to enjoy again. So upon meeting Stephanie I told her the below were a few of my favorite cheese and asked where we should go from here?
Brie: Cowgirl Creamery’s Mount Tam Triple Cream Soft Ripened: Bon Bueche which is a goat and cow and beyond creamy. I discovered this years ago at Beechers Cheese and fell in love. Sheeps: Humbolt Fog. A very light Sheep’s milk that pairs nicely with White Wine and isn’t too over powering so a great easy Sheeps for everybody. Goats: The Truffle Tremor. It’s beyond amazing, super smooth and rich and if you like Truffles you’ll love this! Parmesan Regiano: I mentioned that I always love a Parm Reg but I was open to recommendations so deferred to Stephanie’s suggestions. Wise choice, I fell in love with what we landed on!
Stephanie took my initial list of what I like and was looking for, then walked me through tasting almost everything on my list plus a new cheese alternative to what I already liked. Talk about fabulous customer service and someone who knows their cheeses. She was brilliant. We ended up with an assortment of all new cheeses, except my oldie but goodie Truffle Tremor. The assortment shown below included: Goats: Cypress Grove’s Truffle Tremor Hard Grade: Piave Oro Del Tempo Brie: Jaspar Hill Farms (this was the favorite which was devoured in the first 5 minutes) Blue: Jaspar Hill Farms (yes a second it was that good!) Soft Ripened: Adante’s Dairy Nocturne Cheese (thrown in compliments of Stephanie as she said we’d absolutely love this and it would add an extra element to the assortment).
I couldn’t have been more excited and proud to serve this amazing Cheese spread. A special THANK YOU to Stephanie for all of your help, passion and awesomeness. I have since been back to visit and will now defer to Stephanie for all future Cheese needs.
Beyond proud of my cheese plate. I am all about presentation so I served on a rectangular slate cheese board with a pop of red from the Le Creuset small bowls
The hostess with the mostess Ms. Karen passing out delicious grilled meats
The delicious cocktail created by mixologist Chris Jordan from St. George Spirits.
Beyond amazing eggplant with a rich humus spread created by fabulous Sous-Chef Oscar of The Coachman,
A delicious Soup. I love the presentation!
Petit Pot’s delicious Chocolate Pot do Creme. Beyond rich, fluffy and delicious!
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