Friday, June 3, 2011

3 clever cheeseboards


It's good to see restaurants getting more adventurous about the way they serve cheese, forgoing the lumbering cheese trolley (a pet hate) for stylish plates or boards. Here are three I've come across recently.

First, an individual cheeseboard (above) at the London members club Blacks. I was deep in conversation so forgot to ask what they were but think I spot a Tallegio and some kind of alpine cheese. (Likely to be Italian anyway as the owners come from Italy).

Next a cheese board at Marcus Wareing's new restaurant The Gilbert Scott (below). I like the matching chutneys - fresh pear with the blue cheese, apple with the goats' cheese (unusual but good) and a really intriguing savoury orange conserve with what I think was a cheddar though could have been a Lincolnshire Poacher.


And finally a lovely cheese plate that was served at a natural wine dinner at the South London wine bar Artisan & Vine, again with an Italian cheese, Fiore Secano, British Barkham Blue, some tiny cubes of candied peel, a scattering of roasted nuts and a drizzle of ... not sure but it was delicious. If I find out I'll let you know. Oh and a piece of Sardinian flatbread.

6 comments:

James B said...

Wow - I would love to try all three of those!

Fiona Beckett said...

Well you could. The idea of the post is to encourage people to recreate that kind of cheeseboard/plate at home!

Not bored in Bordeaux! said...

Cheese is often a more difficult wine match than people think. I think the late harvest wines of jurancon and madiran (pacherenc) made form manseng grapes are prefect with many cheeses. They are sweet but not cloying and enhance the cheeses beautifully. Monbazillacs (semillon/sav blanc affected by botyrtis) are also very good and more towards a sauternes in style without the dry/sulphur finish. Fiona what would you choose?

Fiona Beckett said...

I'd probably go for a blue cheese with that kind of wine with that kind of wine - maybe something like a Barkham Blue.

Penn Mac said...

I'm just glad many restaurants are actively moving forward in their cheese presentations. It helps to kind of have an example lay out for cheese boards for upcoming parties. So Thanks Fiona!

Fiona Beckett said...

Not at all - glad it's useful :)