CHEESE FOCUS
Coordinating shipments from so many suppliers also chews
up time. Currently, a Vermont trucking company picks up product
from several farms and delivers to the store. Saxelby hopes to find
more consolidation points for her purchases, especially as she steps
up her Wisconsin buying.
With no inexpensive cheeses for cooking, no Tuscan pecorinos
or Camembert, Saxelby knows she loses out on some business. "A lot
of chefs want something simple and cheap that they can cook with
or put on a cheese plate, and they can't work with us," she explains.
"Sometimes we lose a sale because a chef has something on the menu
and we run out of it. It takes a certain kind of customer to be ready
for the what-ifs."
Staying loyal to her concept means resisting some cheeses she
loves, like the washed-rind Langres from France. Only one imported cheese crosses the store's threshold: predictably, Parmigiano
Reggiano. "It's the only exception, and I've sold it since I opened,"
she admits. "I just feel it's indispensable. If somebody could nail a
domestic parmesan and get it down to $20 a pound, they'd make
a killing."
The year-old store offers roughly
300
imported cheeses, 90 percent of them
French. Francophile customers say, "We
don't come here to buy local."
Gourmet & More: A Complete French Table
Bucking the locavore tide, Laurent and Josiane Recollon operate a
San Francisco store with an unmistakable French accent. The yearold Gourmet & More offers roughly 300 imported cheeses, 90 percent of them French. Laurent Recollon says he has carried California
cheeses but couldn't sell them. His Francophile customers tell him,
"We don't come here to buy local," he says.
The couple's primary business is wholesale distribution, with
a large line of mostly imported foods for restaurants and caterers.
They opened the retail shop on a whim, in a low-rent location,
thinking that—worst-case scenario—it could function as a show(continued on p. 96)
John Wm. Macy's CheeseSticks
is putting a fresh new face on its gourmet snacks!
Coming in June.
Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 1452
28 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com