There are 800 Varieties, but French Cheese is the Foundation

One week before Christmas, Olga Dominguez, is working late. “Last night, I was here until 9 o’clock just trying to figure out the orders and what we need for next week.” For the manager of the Cheese Department of New York’s Zabar’s, the holiday season began in early October, when import orders for hundreds of cases of cheese where confirmed. To help things go smoothly, Dominguez looks back at notes made the year before, when orders of 10 cases of a certain variety should have been closer to 50 or 60, and 60 cases of another was too much. “Nothing goes perfectly,” she said. “We try to be proactive and think ahead, and then whatever happens, happens.”

This year, the Cheese Department seems immune to the slowing economy. Dominguez attributes it to the neighborhood, a New York location that never seems to slow down, and a store that takes the diverse culture of its surroundings into account with its products. “We are very lucky we are where we are. People are still eating cheese and that’s just great! At least they will be eating cheese for the holidays — we don’t know what’s going to happen next year.” Ordinarily, Zabar’s offers approximately 800 different kinds of cheese, and during the holidays, they try not to be out of any of them. When asked to estimate quantities sold, Dominguez characterizes the sum total as, “a lot of cheese.”

Zabar’s is a beloved institution of the Upper West Side, known for selling coffee, fish, deli meats, and cheeses. They have always made efforts to promote French Cheese in particular, and it’s what Dominguez sells the most of. “It’s the backbone,” she said. “It’s the beginning of everything.” Most French Cheese is aged and imported from Pascal Beillevaire, affineur of farmhouse cheeses from French and European farms, who selects them for the store based on an equation of need and timing. If a European supplier has something new, Dominguez says the first step is to see it and smell it first hand. If it seems like a good addition, she’ll put it out and get customer feedback.

“In the long run, it’s the customer that decides. If we have something and they like it and want it back, we get it back. The last word is the customer,” she said. Right now, she is particularly excited about a 36-month Comte from Beillevaire. “Everyone that tastes it buys it. It is just so balanced — the look, the taste, and the color.” (See this month’s article on Buying Comté.) Brie, always the most well known, is the biggest seller of the French Cheeses at the store, followed by Camembert, and a variety of goat cheeses, another perennial favorite. “Goat cheeses are so interesting with all the different shapes and different aging — the pyramids, the clochette and the onion shape...and all the different textures and tastes.” Dominguez suggests Chevrot, a distinctly flavorful goat’s milk cheese. Another frequent recommendation is Saint Agur, one of her favorite Bleus.

Dominguez began working at Zabar’s as a part time cashier when she was in high school. At the time, Zabar’s was a small deli in a large building that held a number of businesses, including a pharmacy and jewelry store. Over time, she went to college, married and had kids. She earned a business degree that she was ready to put to work in the corporate world. “My boss said if you want to be a manager, just manage the Cheese Department — the Cheese Department was just a little hole in the wall in the back of the deli,” she said. Despite the modest quarters, she agreed.

A few months later, in 1979, Zabar’s purchased the building, and designated the Cheese Department to an area the size of the original store. “I was shocked!” said Dominguez. “I said, ‘What am I going to put in there?’” But they soon began making contacts in Europe, and she brought in a variety of cheesemakers proffering older cheeses that they displayed in the middle of the floor of their new ample space. Soon, the area was abuzz with sampling, talking, and cheesemongers showing off their wares. The Cheese Department was on the rise.

Olga with French Cheese maker Didier Lincet and his wife

“It was a very exciting time for us. We started importing and we started tasting. A lot was not available here, so we didn’t know what the cheeses were. We would try them here and customers would ask for things,” Dominguez said. “The enthusiasm grew and has continued to grow. “It makes the food world so exciting. As the neighborhood changed, the different cultures and people have added to the excitement. People would travel and bring back names of cheeses that we would order and try, and we would travel and search ourselves.” Zabar’s is now almost a city block long and employs over 250 staff. Dominguez, who is a member of France’s exclusive Guildes des Fromages, travels, along with other members of the department, to areas of France, Switzerland and Holland to bring cheeses and ideas about how different cultures are using cheese back to her customers who are hungry for the information.

Olga’s Party Plate: 36 Month Comte, Saint Maure Caprifeuille, Aoc Fourme D’ Ambert, Agour Ossau Iraty, Camembert Calvados, Tomme De Savoie And Alsacian Muenster

The goal of Zabar’s is to sell the best cheeses for the best prices and explain them in what Dominguez calls an “abundant manner,” a task tailor-made for her. Many Zabar’s customers are very educated when it comes to food, and that knowledge extends to cheese. “They might not know all the cheeses, but their palate is very sophisticated. They will taste it, and right away say I like that or I don’t want that,” she said. They make an effort to educate the staff so they can in turn impart that information to the customer. Often, however, Dominguez said customers already have something in mind. “They have traveled, or they have seen it somewhere, and they are looking for it.”

While tasting may be a factor in planning future inventory, it’s a necessity for those who will walk away with cheeses to serve that evening. “We can say this goes with this, but I tell them, if they are giving the party, you should taste them and you should love them! No matter what your guests are going to say, if you like the cheeses then you are able to talk about them. If you hate it, don’t buy it because it’s popular, or because your guests are going to like it.”

Olga’s Champagne Plate: Brie de Meaux, Delice De Bourgone, Saint Agur and Langres

For those customers putting together a plate, Dominguez cuts each cheese type and arranges it on a platter. “It is important that they know what they are going to look like together. You don’t want to just get a bag of cheese and take it home and have no idea how to present them. And sometimes you know you are going to need four ounces, and you see four ounces it and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be enough. That’s why it’s important to see it.” She usually suggests a hard cheese, a soft cheese, and a semi-soft cheese. “Those are the basics,” she said. “Once you have that, then you are satisfying everyone, and from there you can move around.” She’ll then suggest a complementary cheese such as a goat, a bleu, or a sheep; the more sophisticated the palate, the more exotic the choices can be.

While some are looking for a specific cheese or a particular taste, Dominguez said it’s common for party planners to come to her with a wine they want to serve, and want a suggestion of the cheese to go with it. Any cheese customer is welcome, but for Dominguez, that’s going about things backward. “If you have a good piece of cheese, that’s the way to go,” she advises. “Get the cheese, and then worry about the wine.”