Italian Cheese & Wine Class: Tuesday, April 17, 2012
By
“Cheese is controlled rot.”
That was how Julia kicked off the staff cheese training for the soon-to-be opened Secco Wine Bar roughly two years ago. The opening statement alone had me beaming until long after the last smears of Taleggio were scraped from my paper plate. Having, until then, only a passing familiarity with artisanal cheese, and a palate groomed on reduced-fat Kraft Singles and Polly-O, it was amazing to consider cheese-making as the continuation of a craft that predates recorded history, and cheese itself as the end product of a choreographed exchange between mammals and microbes, science and intuition, creation and, well, controlled rot. But what made this class every bit as entertaining as it was enlightening, was the hilarious interplay between our two hostesses, Julia and Sara. The latter all smiles, good vibes and cuddly goat stories; the former all snark and sass–mercilessly mocking our country’s fear of raw milk and likening the aroma of a recent shipment of Munster d’Alsace to a “diaper on fire.” My only regret about the whole experience was that it was for employees only and not open to a larger audience. Until…
On Tuesday, April 17th, 6-8pm, Richmond’s two favorite curd nerds will host an all Italian Cheese & Wine Class at Secco Wine Bar. Finally you, dear people of the general populace, can experience the tales of Italian terrior, the alchemy of affinage, and the all-too-accurate descriptions of fermentation and funk that will ruin you for bland, plastic-y, industrial “cheese” for all time. Tickets are $55 per person ALL-INCLUSIVE. Six Cheeses. Six Wines. Two Wild-n-Crazy Italian-American gals! Seating is limited and going fast so don’t dally…
To reserve your ticket, email us at info@seccowinebar.com with your name & phone number. We’ll call back to get a credit card to guarantee. Or stop in during business hours (noon to midnight daily) and purchase your ticket in person at Secco.
-Matt