An Event Recap by Daisy Chow
Last Tuesday, Local Mission Eatery and Sarah Dvorak of the upcoming Mission Cheese co-hosted a MEET THE CHEESEMAKERS lab—it’s what you get when a roomful of cheese lovers spend the evening communing with four new(ish) local cheesemakers, and noshing on some seriously delicious artisanal cheeses. Let’s just say there was a lot of applause. Not only were the cheeses fabulous, but I loved how the story of each cheesemaker’s journey was so heartfelt that it seemed like their passion, pluck, and hard work had become part of their cheese’s distinctive terroir.
We started with three milder cheeses, Bohemian Creamery’s creamy BoDacious (fresh goat milk), and Nicasio Valley Cheese’s semi-soft Formagella (bloomy rind cow milk) and buttery Alta Loma (aged, soft-ripened cow milk). Next, we tried a couple of hard cheeses: Barinaga Ranch’s Txiki (aged farmstead sheep milk), followed by Bleating Heart’s briny Heart’s Reserve (aged jersey cow milk) and 15-month-aged Mega Heart (extra-aged sheep milk). Finally, we circled back to Bohemian Creamery with their BoPoisse (washed-rind jersey cow milk)—definitely one for the stinky cheese fans. And of course we were served local wines and beers to taste with the cheeses. Our wines were Broadside chardonnay (Paso Robles), Lioco Indica (Mendocino), and Broc Cellars syrah (Bennet Valley), and the beers were Trumer Pilsner and Odonata Saison.
Keep your eyes peeled for future events on Local Mission Eatery’s website, like tonight’s two-part puff pastry class with Shauna of Knead Patisserie—just in time for holiday desserts!
