Cheddar, Swiss and Munster, with maybe an occasional blue cheese for the daring. These cheeses have names like Vacherin Mont d'Or, Taleggio and Cabrales, as well as fine Camembert and Brie. A year, year and a half ago, people would hesitate to order a cheese course. But now, they're really into cheeses. But successful cheese menuing requires re-education of operators, servers and consumers.
Cheese courses can be tough on profit margins while still providing rewards.
FUN Whereas Union Pacific lists its cheeses on the menu, with the waitperson bringing the selections to the diner, New York's Gramercy Tavern restaurant features a cheese board with 12 to 15 cheeses that is wheeled to the table after entree dishes have been cleared. Similarly, the cheese board presented to the table is one of the signature courses at Picholine, a small restaurant on New York's West Side. Cheese is such a great product. Having said that, what we try to do is take this luxury course and make it fun. Sometimes it means pairing a French or Italian version with its domestic descendent so diners can compare.