Cheesy stuff to do in the news

There are two interesting tidbits in the New York Times's Food Calendar:

1.Hudson Valley Sampler

Cheeses, wines and other products from the Hudson Valley will be served at a tasting to benefit Columbia County Bounty, an organization that supports farmers, on Feb. 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Deffebach Gallery, 125 Warren Street, Hudson, N.Y., $40 from www.hudsonvalleycheesefestival.com.

2.Cheese and Beer

A class in pairing cheeses with Belgian beers will be held on Feb. 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Artisanal Cheese Center, 500 West 37th Street. The fee is $85: www.artisanalcheese.com.

I was particularly interested in the former because work is beginning to pick up on my graduate thesis project, which is related to the locavore movement and supporting farmers directly.

As for the latter, I've been to Artisanal twice (I even organized a client event there!) and had the cheese flights, which are amazing! It's a wonderful restaurant and a classy bar, so it's a great place to stop for an after work nibble of cheese and sip of wine even if you can't commit to an entire flight of cheese.

Alas, Jesse and I are hoping to be in Boston the weekend of these events so we probably won't be able to attend. But we are aiming to be at:

3. Single Malts, Free

A free tasting of single-malt Scotches will be offered on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. at D.B.A. Brooklyn, 113 North Seventh Street (Berry Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (718) 218-6006.

Of course there are lots other things on the calendar listed so you should check it out, especially the free chocolate tastings at La Maison du Chocolat, and the champagne tasting led by expert from Chrisities! New York Magazine also has a good guide to Valentines Day weekend if you're looking for some ideas.

Dubbel word score

Cheddar: Cahill's Porter, Irish cheddar marbled with Cahill's farm-made Irish Porter
Istara: French semi-firm sheep's milk
Belgian beer: Affligem Dubbel & Affligem Tripel

Jesse (my boyfriend) and I headed out to Nate and Natalia's (friends of ours) place in Park Slope on Saturday for some adult board games. Nothing kinky, just Scrabble with beer instead of Kool-Aid. Jesse had actually never played Scrabble before and (in my opinion) was suffering from a small bout of vocabulary inadequacy beforehand. Thankfully we had picked up two bottles of Belgian beer, which quickly made us all feel very relaxed.

Jesse and I had spent the day hanging out at Red Horse Cafe (soon to be the subject of another post about the alchemy of espresso and foam) working on a case study about Google China (me) and studying for the LEED Accreditation (Jesse), so it was just a short walk over to Bierkraft. We fell in love with Bierkraft last year when Jesse was living in Park Slope. They're known mostly for their beer selection (900 kinds), but they also have an excellent selection of cheeses (250 kinds), chocolates, ice cream (particularly Shameless Ice Cream Sandwiches), and gourmet acctrouements. Browsing can be overwhelming (in a good way), so we often just flag down the nearest helpful employee and put ourselves into her capable hands. On Saturday, a helpful woman behind the cheese counter reccomened two excellent cheeses for snacking: a Cahill's Porter (photo above) and an Istara. I've been on a Belgian beer kick for the last year, so we also picked up a bottle of Affligem Dubbel and a bottle of Affligem Tripel - and a baguette - to go with the cheeses.

Natalia had also picked up a Port-Salut cheese, Manchego cheese, Serrano ham, and Carr's Crackers (the best), so we had quite the feast. The Cahill's Porter was the hit all around with a close-second tie between the Port-Salut and the Istara; my preference was for the Port-Salut.

We also drank two bottles of wine, so the by time Jesse and I left to catch the subway back to Manhattan we were full of cheese and booze.

And Jesse kicked ass at Scrabble, so a good time was had by all.

Bierkraft
Hours: Open 7 Days a Week
Mon - Thurs 11:30 am - 8:30 pm
Fri 11:30 am - 9 pm
Sun 11 am - 8 pm

191 Fifth Avenue
(718) 230-7600
Map