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Not just anyone can be a Cheese Snob. Here's the history of my glorious and fun-filled path to the pinnacle of the cheese mountain. It's pretty detailed, so if you are looking for something more brief and résumé-like, check out my résumé. Alternately, if you are looking for something more like a story, please read "What Makes a Cheesemonger," about my life in cheese. In the beginning...September 1995-December 2002 Cheesemonger Brattleboro Food Co-Op Cheese Department; Brattleboro, Vermont.
I worked at a retail cheese counter that sold over 300 cheeses. I guess everyone has to start somewhere. My manager was the late Henry "The Cheeseman" Tewksbury. My responsibilities included: • retail inventory management of cheeses • cutting and wrapping cheese for the self-service case • quality control • assisting customers with selections • cutting cheese to order • receiving cheese deliveries • training and supervising new employees and member-labor. Special Stuff:
Related stories: "Few Degrees of Separation,"about my mentor, Henry Tewksbury. November 2000 - July 2001 Inside Sales Representative Provisions, International; White River Junction, Vermont. Worked in the wholesale distribution end of specialty food sales; I sold nearly every ingredient and food item necessary to stock a high-end restaurant or retail food store. I worked closely with Dondi Ahearn, who taught me the importance of small-scale production, and artisan-made cheeses and other foods. Aside from cheese, I had little specialty food knowledge when I started there. I had to learn quickly, because I was dealing with the top chefs and buyers in the area. Every day at Provisions was a little different, and everyone there was responsible for every aspect of running a wholesale food business, except for keeping the books and driving the trucks. My responsibilities included:
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July 2001 - April 2002 Manager, Cheese Department. Specialty Food Buyer, Grocery Department. Putney Consumer's Co-Op; Putney, Vermont. Expanded the grocery department's specialty food selection. My responsibilities included:
Planned, designed, and rebuilt the store's failing cheese department. My responsibilities included:
Oh, and did I mention I had the budget for absolutely no staff except for myself? Nonetheless, within three months of taking over the department, I increased sales 30%. During the weekly managers' meetings, our General Manager, Mark Harris, would distribute a copy of the store's weekly sales report to each department manager, with a hand-written note expressing disappointment, encouragement, praise, etc. Mine always said something like "WOW," or more commonly, "Waka-waka!" Special Stuff:
August 2002 - December 2002 Co-Owner and Madame Fromage Twilight Tea Lounge; Brattleboro, Vermont Developed cheese service for a collectively-owned café. My responsibilities included:
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December 2002 - May 2003 Consultant, Cheese Department; Cashier; Produce Stocker Upper Valley Food Co-Op; White River Junction, Vermont What was supposed to have been a very simple part-time job as a cashier and produce stocker for a very sweet and friendly co-op store turned into another opportunity to flex my cheese muscles. The store was moving its cheese department to facilitate its expansion; and knowing my experience, the General Manager had me develop the department. My responsibilities included:
July 2003 - November 2003 Cheesemonger Murray's Cheese Shop; New York City, New York Although my responsibilities were fewer at Murray's than they were at the Brattleboro Food Co-Op, this was one of the most challenging cheese jobs I've ever had. My job was deceptively simple: sell cheese (and some other foods, including deli meats, pâté, and a small selection of specialty food staples) from behind the counter of a tiny cheese shop, barely bigger than Brattleboro's cold-storage walk-in. However, Murray's is one of the busiest and most popular cheese shops in the city, if not the country. Maybe the world. Customers included old Italian people who'd lived in the neighborhood for 60+ years, food writers, lots of tourists, and chefs from some of the hottest restaurants in town, in addition to many rank-and-file cheese lovers. Murray's sold about one-hundred fewer cheeses than the Brattleboro Food Co-Op's cheese department, but at least 65% of Murray's inventory consisted of cheeses of which I'd never heard. What a humbling experience. I had no choice but to just get back there and perform, even though most days I felt completely overwhelmed. I'm thankful for this experience, because it added immeasurable depth and breadth to my arsenal of cheese knowledge. I worked with good people who were very helpful. Special Stuff:
July 2004 - October 2004 Consultant Restaurants Coast and Shore; New York City, New York Worked closely with owner and Executive Chef to develop selection of cheese plates for small family of high-end restaurants. My responsibilities included:
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December 2004 - January 2006 Head Copywriter/Cheesemonger Murray's Cheese Shop; New York City, New York In addition to occasional retail cheesemonger duties (assisting customers with selections from Murray's full-service cheese counter), my primary duties were to write anything that needed to be written. My responsibilities included:
The Director of P.R. at the time referred to me as "the voice of Murray's." Special Stuff:
January 2006 - July 2006 Cheesemonger/Writer/Marketing, Cheese Department Zabar's; New York City, New York Upon arriving at Zabar's cheese department, I knew little about its history. What I quickly learned was that Olga Dominguez, the manager of the department, is truly a cheese pioneer. Back in the late-1970s, when very few cheeses were being imported into the United States and Swiss cheese seemed exotic, Olga took a tiny cheese department, and by increasing its square footage and developing an extensive import business at Zabar's, she created a benevolent monster of a cheese department. In her quiet way, she's directly or indirectly influenced nearly every cheese shop or department of note in New York City. Considering New York City's food habits are repeated throughout most of the rest of the country, Olga could accurately be called The God-Mother of Cheese. At Zabar's, other than writing descriptions of cheeses, my tasks were very self-determined. I would identify a need in the department - whether it be a display, marketing, or training issue - and bring it to Olga, a woman equally as capable and talented as she is insanely busy. If Olga agreed with my assessment, she'd give me a great deal of latitude to develop and implement solutions for the cheese department. My job felt more like a freelance/consulting gig than it did a regular job, and I was happy and excited that Olga valued my input as much as she did. My accomplishments:
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At both Murray's and at Zabar's, I wrote descriptions of every item in the store; and other than the occasional new product, there wasn't enough of the work I wanted to do to justify continuing my full-time employment. Sure, there was other stuff to do at both places, but nothing that would have made good use of my skills and talents. Having literally written myself out of my last two jobs, I decided to stop working full-time at Zabar's and go freelance. I told Olga I wanted to take my act on the road. But she and I still had some work to do together...
Consultant: Cheese Expert Zabar's; New York City, New York My responsibilities include: • advising buyer on new product acquisitions • writing descriptions of new products for in-store signage and Zabar's on-line cheese store • maintaining product database • developing and implementing marketing and promotional strategies • creating new employee handbook and training manual • continuing development and execution of employee training seminars Present - ?? Consultant: Cheese Expert Various Points Around The World And what can I do for you?
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