DAN'S PAPERS, July 4, 2008 Page 139 www.danshamptons.com
Dining and Nightlife (continued from previous page)
Alison Caporimo
Yorker magazine that adorn the yellow paneled walls. Catherine Bodziner has a passion for cheese and started out selling cheese at farmers markets. She found in business partner Lucy Kazickas a common goal to introduce high quality artisanal cheeses to cheese-lovers throughout the country. In the short time I visited, customers (who already appear to be regulars) came by for their favorites, one of which was Fiscalini cheddar, an award winning raw milk cheese, nutty with a slightly smoky note, from Modesto, California. Some other delicious tastings during my visit included Midnight Moon, a sweet and
A sampling from Village Cheese, Southampton. nutty goat milk cheese from California, Ewes Blue sheep’s milk cheese from Old Chatham in Chatham, Vermont and Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a mild but nutty cow’s milk cheese from Wisconsin. Customers were also lured to the basket of crusty rosemary baguettes that arrive daily from Tom Cat bakery in Long Island City. Shelves in the shop are lined with a multitude of fine oils, vinegars, chutneys, olives and dipping sauces out of respect from the proprietor’s value for quality,
non-processed foods. Catherine was asked to be on the planning board of Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett and the Peconic Land Trust. She is delighted with this association, having long supported the premise of local farms and vineyards. Lucy’s Whey donated their 18month-old bandage wrapped Fiscalini cheese for the farm’s annual dinner. Tucked a little back from Division Street in Sag Harbor is Cavaniola’s. On a recent visit customers were lined up to the front door as Michael, his wife and two assistants provided tastings as they busily wrapped purchases. Some of the more popular requests were a flavorful Swiss Alps, raw aged cow’s milk, fresh chevre goat cheese from Westfield, Massachusetts, a raw milk unpasteurized Reblochon – Cavaniola’s is the only cheese store on the East Coast to carry this brie-like sweet nutty cheese – and Abbay De Bellocq, a delicious cheese with a milky finish made at a Benedictine monastery. Try it with fresh figs. When I asked Michael about fat content in cheese he suggested their Tomme de Savoie with only 25% butterfat but a mild and savory flavor. The shop’s focus is on hard to find artisan cheese from small producers all over the world. This idea flowed over to their brand new wine shop next door to the cheese shop where you will find limited production esoteric wines from Long Island as well as the Old World. There is great synergy of wine and cheese and the Cavaniolas plan to have tastings on weekends S. Galardi
Cheese
working with a small group of importers who share their passion for unique artisanal wines. Wherever I went retailers praised Art Ludlow’s Atlantic Mist, a raw milk camembert-style packaged in the round, as well as Shawondasee, a semi-hard cheese with a protective natural rind and subtle flavors that pair nicely with fruit, and Mecox Sunrise, a washed rind semi-hard cheese aged 2-4 months that was awarded second place in its category in a 2004 American Cheese Society competition. From the earliest times cheese has been made in stock-rearing countries to use up surplus milk. This is exactly what turned Art Ludlow into a professional cheese maker. Since 2003, Art, his wife Stacy and sons, Peter and John, have produced farmstead artisan cheeses from their small herd of Jersey cows at their Mecox Bay Dairy in Bridgehampton. It all began with Stacey’s lone cow that produced more milk than the family could drink. “Besides being a great tasting product, cheese is a good way to store the nutrients of milk,” said Art. In 2007 Cheddar – and Sigit (in honor of his mother’s nickname) were added to their roster of cheeses. Cheddar is made in the British style yet a bit sweeter, and Sigit in the Emmental style is aged about 18 months, has lots of character and a flavor reminiscent of butterscotch. Mecox Bay Dairy’s artisanal cheeses are sold at local markets and Fairview, the farmstand next to the dairy. (continued on page 145)
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