The Cheeseboard in Reno
Another day in Reno, another foodie find. I have driven by this place a number of times, the problem being it looked snooty and is only open for lunch. This time, I went in, thinking it might have something tasty.
The routine here, is, you get in line, read the menu and order at the register. I got in line, read the specials and read the menu. The shot below, is the view from the line. This means that everyone who stood in line, walked right by a cooler full of cool-as-hell cheeses. Yet, oddly enough, there were next to no cheese-centered items on the menu. The closest thing to it was a warm brie with apple and apple jam. Nonetheless, how weird was it that there were no cheese plates or other basic cheese options at a cheese shop?
Anyway, I get to the front of the line, willing to buy a sandwich if I have to, but hoping for a cheesapalooza. I asked the lady if they had such a thing as a cheese sampler plate and she said they could make one, but I had to go to the other register. So I did. A minute later, another lady came up and asked me when I wanted the cheese. Right now, please. She asked how much I wanted to spend and I said about $12-$15. Well, we discussed a bit and she said she'd get me a plate. It took about 8 minutes to get it from her. I am telling you this, because the restaurant is called the CHEESEBOARD. As such, I thought it odd that I had to jump through so many hoops to get CHEESE at the CHEESEBOARD. That was really my only complaint about the place.
So, I had a Diet Coke and a plate of cheese. I am not a connoisseur, so I don't remember the names of the cheeses exactly, but I had a cloth aged cheddar (quite hard), a semisoft port salut, some sort of a dry and hard goat cheese and some brie. The cheeses were accompanied by walnuts, dried apricots and dried cranberries on a bed of greens (?).
So, it looked wonderful. I mean it looks like I ate some glossy cheese ad for lunch. First, that was a butt-load of cheese. That was at least a pound. I did not quite finish it. I ate all the brie, all the port salut (bottom center), all the goat cheese (center right) and most of the cheddar (top center). I think I did pretty well, considering. But let's talk about the experience.
This lunch was 45 minutes of pure heaven. The weird thing was, I was in cheese shop, and I was the only person eating cheese. What were these people doing? Eating sandwiches and salads?
The brie was delicious. It was no surprise. It had a smooth texture with the expected flavor contrast in the rind. Good, but not unusual. The port salut, was delicious. It was soft, not very strong, but still had good flavor. It was certainly easy to eat, not entirely foreign, but not boring either. The cheddar was also very good and unexpected. It was a cheddar, but it was very hard. I did not expect a hard cheddar that wasn't super sharp. The rind was not tasty at all on this cheese.
But the star of the show, for me, was the goat cheese. I had never had a hard goat cheese. It was amazing. It was, earthy, rich and deep. I just loved it. The lady who sold me the cheese could tell I was enjoying it and wasn't surprised by my pick of favorite. I wonder what she thought of all the people who came into her cheese shop without eating cheese.
As I was floating around the ceiling of this establishment, eating cheese, I realized something about this lunch (and similar lunches). It was fun because I was eating elements of food. There were no sauces, no seasonings. This was milk, cultured and served with dried fruits and nuts. Arguably, the little crackers were not elemental, but they were at least from the simple bread family. After a while, I though, "I am eating Legos!" I was eating building blocks of other foods. In fact, I noticed that what I was doing was taking all the different things on my plate (different sized bricks) and assembling different things with them. Thus, I was eating possibilities and variations and creating a unique meal that I would never have exactly the same again. It was fun and delicious. In fact, I had the distinct pleasure of creating one of the best bites I have eaten in months! The goat cheese with walnuts and dried cranberries was simply transcendent. It was as if time would slow down a bit while I was eating this combination.
I had a good lunch at the Cheeseboard. In one way, I was the only one really having lunch at the Cheeseboard. Everyone else was having a lunch from somewhere else at the Cheeseboard.
The routine here, is, you get in line, read the menu and order at the register. I got in line, read the specials and read the menu. The shot below, is the view from the line. This means that everyone who stood in line, walked right by a cooler full of cool-as-hell cheeses. Yet, oddly enough, there were next to no cheese-centered items on the menu. The closest thing to it was a warm brie with apple and apple jam. Nonetheless, how weird was it that there were no cheese plates or other basic cheese options at a cheese shop?
Anyway, I get to the front of the line, willing to buy a sandwich if I have to, but hoping for a cheesapalooza. I asked the lady if they had such a thing as a cheese sampler plate and she said they could make one, but I had to go to the other register. So I did. A minute later, another lady came up and asked me when I wanted the cheese. Right now, please. She asked how much I wanted to spend and I said about $12-$15. Well, we discussed a bit and she said she'd get me a plate. It took about 8 minutes to get it from her. I am telling you this, because the restaurant is called the CHEESEBOARD. As such, I thought it odd that I had to jump through so many hoops to get CHEESE at the CHEESEBOARD. That was really my only complaint about the place.
So, I had a Diet Coke and a plate of cheese. I am not a connoisseur, so I don't remember the names of the cheeses exactly, but I had a cloth aged cheddar (quite hard), a semisoft port salut, some sort of a dry and hard goat cheese and some brie. The cheeses were accompanied by walnuts, dried apricots and dried cranberries on a bed of greens (?).
So, it looked wonderful. I mean it looks like I ate some glossy cheese ad for lunch. First, that was a butt-load of cheese. That was at least a pound. I did not quite finish it. I ate all the brie, all the port salut (bottom center), all the goat cheese (center right) and most of the cheddar (top center). I think I did pretty well, considering. But let's talk about the experience.
This lunch was 45 minutes of pure heaven. The weird thing was, I was in cheese shop, and I was the only person eating cheese. What were these people doing? Eating sandwiches and salads?
The brie was delicious. It was no surprise. It had a smooth texture with the expected flavor contrast in the rind. Good, but not unusual. The port salut, was delicious. It was soft, not very strong, but still had good flavor. It was certainly easy to eat, not entirely foreign, but not boring either. The cheddar was also very good and unexpected. It was a cheddar, but it was very hard. I did not expect a hard cheddar that wasn't super sharp. The rind was not tasty at all on this cheese.
But the star of the show, for me, was the goat cheese. I had never had a hard goat cheese. It was amazing. It was, earthy, rich and deep. I just loved it. The lady who sold me the cheese could tell I was enjoying it and wasn't surprised by my pick of favorite. I wonder what she thought of all the people who came into her cheese shop without eating cheese.
As I was floating around the ceiling of this establishment, eating cheese, I realized something about this lunch (and similar lunches). It was fun because I was eating elements of food. There were no sauces, no seasonings. This was milk, cultured and served with dried fruits and nuts. Arguably, the little crackers were not elemental, but they were at least from the simple bread family. After a while, I though, "I am eating Legos!" I was eating building blocks of other foods. In fact, I noticed that what I was doing was taking all the different things on my plate (different sized bricks) and assembling different things with them. Thus, I was eating possibilities and variations and creating a unique meal that I would never have exactly the same again. It was fun and delicious. In fact, I had the distinct pleasure of creating one of the best bites I have eaten in months! The goat cheese with walnuts and dried cranberries was simply transcendent. It was as if time would slow down a bit while I was eating this combination.
I had a good lunch at the Cheeseboard. In one way, I was the only one really having lunch at the Cheeseboard. Everyone else was having a lunch from somewhere else at the Cheeseboard.
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