Merry New Year...and stay tuned for 09 cheese shop excitement

I'm not particularly sentimental when it comes to the end of a calendar year, but I would feel remiss if I didn't pause to reflect on the completion of our big holiday rush. We feel like the little cheese shop that could right now. In the midst of a terrible, terrible recession we've seen a lot of our regular customers as well as many new face. Perhaps if our economy weren't so bleak we'd have seen double the amount of shoppers, but I prefer to focus on the great turnout we had.

Not only did folks come down, but they were eager to give us a chance to turn them on to some new cheeses, chocolates, or other fun stuff. The staff and I had a blast (truly) helping plan the parties of many an overwhelmed holiday shopper. My hope is that in some small way we were able to enhance the experience of those folks that came to us for help. This thought may seem a little contrived, but it is sincere nonetheless. Everyone here in our corner of southwest Minneapolis realizes we are in a service industry and we take that to heart.

So this is my long winded way (regular readers of the blog will have noticed the prevailing pattern of pontification by now) of saying thank you to everyone who has come down and supported us during our infancy.

2009 in the cheese shop is going to be great. We've actually decided to remove the cheese case and install a merry-go-round. It's actually about to be all the rage in New York City and we're tired of being behind on all the trends. We'll still have some incredible food products, but you'll have to do at least one revolution on the merry-go-round if you'd like to make a purchase. For the motion-sick challenged there will be a choice between stationary horses and ones that move up and down.

Oh, wait, I meant something entirely different. I know this space has been through a lot of changes and customers are constantly asking (kinda scared like) how things are and if we plan on keeping this format. Yes, yes, yes. We will be here selling cheese in 2009 but we are not resting on our laurels. We have some great events planned for this winter and some fun surprises in store (in the store). I'll be here and I expect to see all of you in 2009. Merry New Year!!!

(free bag of crostini to the first person to e-mail me with the movie reference in this blog post--opening myself up to contests is a little scary because it reveals how few people might actually be reading the blog)

Last Minute Gift Idea

Okay, it's down to the wire. You've procrastinated and you don't know what to buy for that special great-Aunt who you see once a year. Maybe you remember what she looks like, maybe you don't. But you seem to have a vague recollection of her smelling like something familiar, something kind of cheesy. Yup, that's it: cheese! Well, you're in luck, because we have the perfect gifts for the cheese lover out there. Starting with a book about cheese:

Steven Jenkins Cheese Primer--This is an indispensable book for anyone who is curious about the cheese we eat. It's the definitive book on cheese so don't bother googling for other ones.

Next, we have some great local ceramics which would make the perfect cheese plate. They're made by local artist Aaron Sober and they're beautiful plates with a great prairie motif. He also makes some great dipping bowls for the olive oil lovers out there.

Finally (just the last item I have time to blog about, we have lots more to offer in the shop), there is a Microplane. They grate the fluffiest Parmesan you've ever had and they are relatively knuckle scraping free....

Okay, gotta go sell cheese!

New Cheese (and it's still snowing)

Frank Sinatra is putting me in the holiday mood (Alvin and the Chipmunks are not) and I thought I'd mention that we have some new cheese in the shop that would be perfect for holiday entertaining. I'm sure maybe it seemed like we might be switching format again to a chocolate shop, but I assure you we're not. Though we have hired some oompah-loompahs for holiday help they're here merely because of there H1 Visa status.

We have a fantastic new cheese in from Pedrozo Dairy in California. It's called Black Butte Reserve. This is a big cheese--lots and lots of flavor in this one. Pasture-fed cows milk gives it a
big zip and it has a parmesan like saltiness to it. Great combination of texture and flavor.

A couple of cheeses have made a triumphant return to our case. These are cheeses which I have been missing the past couple of months and am thrilled to have back.

First is the Constant Bliss from Jasper Hill farm in Vermont. These are little Chaource style raw milk buttons that are a bit like Camembert but a creamier. A beautiful cheese and one of the youngest raw milk cheeses we sell. Earthy, mushroomy--not to be missed.

Then there is the venerable Big Ed from Saxon Creamery in Wisconsin. Another creamery using milk from pasture-fed cows, this is one of the all time favorites around the shop. We contacted the creamery directly and now they're shipping cheese straight to us. Beautiful golden wheels of creamy, buttery cheese. A cheese for every day snacking that everyone will enjoy.

Last new products of the year-More Chocolate and some other stuff

It's still snowing outside. Snow begets slow times in the cheese shop which begets pontificating blog posts.

Maybe the chocolate thing is becoming a little much. I think about chocolate a lot, but doesn't everyone? Especially when the temperature can't even make it above zero (when I left Brooklyn I could have moved anywhere, really, but I chose to come here--I don't mind the cold but I just wanted to let all the Minnesotans know that I'm up for the challenge) I start craving those deep, rich chocolates. In fact I'd like to think that cheese and chocolate are the perfect foils for each other.

When I've indulged in some creamy decadent cheese I'm often not in the mood for a terribly filling dessert. Bu thanks to my dear departed grandmother my sweet tooth always needs some attending to. There's always room for a small bite of chocolate. It is an immediate pleasure that is satisfying in ways that most other foods are not. Good chocolate is more than just flavor. It is a total sum of appearance, aroma, texture and flavor. Much like cheese. Would anyone eat Brie if it was gritty and purple? Probably not.

I'd like to think that I'm constantly expanding our chocolate selection not because I'm a chocolate trophy hunter, but because I enjoy chocolate diversity. Just like we don't have only a couple kinds of cheese or the wine shop doesn't only have a handful of wines. I'm trying to hard to justify this, aren't I? Okay, I'll stop. So here's what we have:

Mast Brothers

Our new shipment of this chocolate just came in this week. I've been snacking on their single origin Hispaniola bar while writing the blog post (for inspiration, you see). We've expanded our selection of their bars to:

Fleur de Sel
Nib Bar
Pistachio
Cranberry
Hispaniola
Almond and Sea Salt (Dark Milk Chocolate)
Salt and Pepper (Dark Milk Chocolate)

Black Mountain Chocolate

Brand new micro batch bean-to-bar chocolate maker from North Carolina. We'll be stocking their tasting drops. That would be tins of single-origin deliciousness. Different varieties, collect them all!!

Obsession Chocolates

Truffles from Wisconsin. They come in packs of four and are a perfect hostess gift (so I'm told, I don't actually know what a hostess gift is). I deliberated all weekend long about what flavors to pick and hopefully I've chosen wisely. These are handmade beauties made right in our midwestern backyard. We're also going to be stocking some of their chocolate bark. Very, very addictive.

Okay, now for the non-chocolate items. Er, item. But it's a good one, I promise:

Urban Oven Crackers

You may remember the Starr Ridge brand of crackers, lots of folks came in asking about them when the cheese shop reopened. Well, they went out of business. The good news is that the recipe has been resurrected by a former employee and we are happy to be stocking their crackers again.

New Product

This is where I write a really cryptic blog post.

We have great new honey in the shop. You need to come down to the shop at ask us about it. The password is "barf". I would love to write a long narrative telling you all about the product, but my lawyer conscience tells me I should do otherwise. Things are a little different here in the city of Minneapolis then they were in Brooklyn. I'm learning to play by the rules (a little bit better). Just check out the awesome pictures:

Cheese Catalog

Did you know that I used to be editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper? Yup, it's true.

Did you further know that we now have a cheese catalog where you can learn all sorts of things about the cheese shop and items we sell here? Yup, also true.

I'm not quite a desktop publishing whiz, but I try really hard.

Enjoy!

Kunik(ed)

50 beautiful rounds of cheese just arrived straight from the farm today. A handful are ripe and ready to be eaten this weekend so come on down.

Also our next shipment of Mast Brothers chocolate is coming in next week and we'll be adding a couple of varieties including a single-origin bar, a nib bar, and a almond sea salt.

And a couple of other new items worth a look:

Calabrian Fig Molasses--In a beautiful jar and delicious to boot. If you've been looking for the perfect gift (perhaps for your neighborhood cheesemonger) this might just be it.

Prunotto Porcini Pasta Sauce--Best pasta sauce ever. Fresh, fresh tomato flavor and rich earthy porcini mushrooms.