Alyssa Gilbert likes the taste of a funky cheese. As the executive director of the California Artisan Cheese Guild and the owner of Ollie\u2019s American Cheese and Provisions, Gilbert recommends Tulip Tree Creamery\u2019s double-cream cow\u2019s milk Foxglove. \u201cIt will give you that orange-color rind,\u201d Gilbert told me. \u201cIt\u2019s sticky and it\u2019s smelly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert describes washed-rind cheeses as the hamburgers of the cheese world. She eats them unadorned, but for those reluctant to try them she recommends pairing these stinky cheeses with hamburger condiments. \u201cPickles, onion jam or mustard,\u201d she suggested. \u201cReally anything that complements it and will tone it way, way down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ollie\u2019s makes a sandwich of the week, curates a cheese-of-the-month club, and holds events and workshops. At the cheese-pairing classes, Gilbert said she always pairs a washed-rind cheese with mustard and a cornichon. \u201cNinety nine percent of the time, one person in each class will say, \u2018This tastes like a picnic,\u2019 because the combinations really help each other out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Even though cheeses are perpetually stocked on supermarket shelves, they are actually a seasonal product. \u201cThe milk type essentially is going to be the biggest indicator of seasonality,\u201d Gilbert said. Cows produce milk year round. But small batch artisan goat\u2019s and sheep\u2019s milk cheeses are made in late February and early March. \u201cWe have what\u2019s called \u2018kidding season,\u2019 which is when all the baby sheep and baby goats are born,\u201d Gilbert said. Thus spring is the best season to buy those fresh, high-quality cheeses.<\/p>\n
Goat\u2019s milk, Gilbert said, is bright white. \u201cCow\u2019s milk cheese, that\u2019s when you\u2019re going to get a bit of yellowing,\u201d she said. Goats don\u2019t process beta carotene in the same way cows do, which accounts for the difference in color. Taste-wise, goat\u2019s milk is more lactic, \u201cfresh-milk tasting,\u201d with bright, lemony notes. \u201cSometimes the aged goat\u2019s cheeses are going to be on the chalkier side, in terms of mouthfeel,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cWhere cow\u2019s milk cheeses are more buttery, nutty, grassy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert\u2019s grandfather was a farmer by trade. She grew up with \u201cthe love of the land and food and where it comes from\u201d\u2014but cheese has always been her favorite food. When she decided to leave her full-time job in 2019, she designed a catering concept to highlight the many varieties of American cheese. In January 2020 she quit her job and began operating out of a commercial kitchen. The timing coincided with the pandemic.<\/p>\n
What started as a scary transition as a new business owner turned into Ollie\u2019s silver lining. \u201cWe ended up tailoring the offerings to that new way of life,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cWe did a lot of virtual cheeseboard and cheese-tasting workshops.\u201d Ollie\u2019s shipped its products across the country to corporate office teams with corporate budgets. Customers ordered cheeseboards to have them delivered to their houses or as gifts for friends and family.<\/p>\n
With the catering business established, Gilbert pursued finding a brick-and-mortar. \u201cI always had this romantic idea of owning a cheese shop,\u201d she said. She found a former coffee shop in downtown Oakland with a kitchen and a retail space. This dual-purpose business model meant she could continue catering while also selling provisions\u2014cheese, sandwiches, cookbooks, condiments and coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing off of the pandemic, I knew that based on our location foot traffic was really, really low and I didn\u2019t anticipate it picking up anytime soon,\u201d Gilbert said. She came up with a lunch menu to encourage people downtown to come in. \u201cA really simple lunch menu and coffee program seemed like the right way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n