5 Outstanding Composed Cheese Plates

Composed cheese plate photo credit Amy Sherman

I used to work in fine dining, frequently as the driver of a cheese trolley, where I chauffeured a gorgeous display of American artisanal cheeses from table to table to cut a selection for those the trolley was designed to tempt. (In short: everyone.) But the real cheese diva at The Modern in NYC, where I first earned my cheese chauffeur license, wasn’t the trolley, glorious and rare as she was. Rather, it was something rarer still: the lesser spotted, composed cheese course. A single cheese, upgraded to the equivalent of first class.

Not printed as a menu item, but likely to be seen emerging from the kitchen several times a night during a VIP multi-course tasting menu, a single cheese was rightfully made the star of its own plate. Consisting of perfect rosettes of Tête de Moine with thoughtful accompaniments such as a mini frangipane tart with pluots and a dusting of black Burgundy truffles, now here was a cheese plate in the truest sense. Not a plate of multiple cheeses — which we still love of course, though those are not that hard to come by — but a composed plate putting a singular cheese on a rightful pedestal.

 

In Defense of a Composed Cheese Course

“While a traditional cheeseboard certainly has its place, focusing on a single cheese in a dedicated dish really allows it to shine,” says Callum Leslie, Executive Chef of England’s The Black Swan at Oldstead, whose tasting menu frequently features variations on the composed cheese course theme. “It gives guests a clearer sense of its character and quality, and really emphasises just how special that cheese can be.”

“Cheese is far too complex and nuanced to be relegated to a generic slot on a menu,” agrees Evan Dannells, Chef and Owner of Madison’s Cadre. “A cheese deserves to be served with items that are seasonal, that highlight the cheese's characteristics, and that cleanse the palate so you can savor the cheese longer.”

Of course one may argue that you can easily find single cheese hero dishes at a variety of restaurants: halloumi fries, burrata salad, or baked camembert, for example. To be clear, my heart sings when I see those cheese champions on menus. But a composed cheese course, that with a more challenging cheese than the aforementioned crowd pleasers, with artful accoutrements that are entirely in service to the particular cheese in question, those are the real unicorns. So much so that spotting these creatures in the wild remains a challenging pursuit, even for those that would actively seek them out. Many exist only in the realm of multi-course dining, where your composed cheese plate comes free along with the purchase of a half-dozen or more other dishes, but occasionally an à la carte option arises as an opportunity for the consumer to state definitively, “I want that.”

 

Hebden Cow at The Black Swan at Oldstead, Olstead, England

Hebden Cow credit The Black Swan at Oldstead

The cheese course at The Black Swan is ever-changing, but always consistent in character and intention. “We prefer to highlight one cheese at a time,” says Leslie, “ensuring we’re always working with the very best, perfectly in-season product.”

A rare phenomenon such as a composed cheese course deserves a rare cheese. Consider Hebden Cow, made by The Courtyard Dairy, which is an organic, raw milk, bloomy rind cheese that’s handmade in a historical “York soft” style from a herd of only 20 cows. Layered on a black apple loaf glazed with sourdough miso treacle, bitter chicory leaves, fresh honeycomb, and elderberry balsamic, the dish straddles a line we didn’t previously know existed: that between salad and s’more.

 

Blakesville Creamery Linedeline credit Evan Dannells

“Like any good Wisconsinite, I choose to use cheese almost everywhere I can on our menu,” says Dannells. “It's a big part of the culture here and we try to celebrate it in as many ways as possible.” Indeed, as of this writing, Cadre’s inventive, seasonal menu includes three different dishes with a sole cheese hero: a chèvre cheese curds dish, a cheddar danish on the dessert menu, and a rotating selection under the heading of “fromage.”

“We choose some cheeses that fit the season and its produce,” Dannells explains. “We choose some cheeses because they're fresh and only occasionally available,” he says. “Mostly we choose cheeses that just sound good at the time.”

Consider the “sound good”-ability of his current selection: Blakesville Creamery’s Linedeline, an ash-ripened, goat’s milk cheese whose relatively large format allows for a showstopping slab, accompanied by pickled blueberries, seeded brittle, and Madison Sourdough Miche.

 

Ossau-Iraty at Amaru, Melbourne

Ossau Iraty credit Amaru

Ossau-Iraty is perhaps no stranger to being featured as a composed cheese course. Around French Basque country, where it calls home, you are more likely to be presented with a slice of the sweet/savory sheep’s milk cheese, accompanied by black cherry jam, than with a dessert menu at all. This humble but undeniably pleasurable combo is known locally as a “farmer’s dessert.”

At Melbourne’s Amaru, an intimate, fine dining restaurant offering an elevated tasting experience, you may find a presentation of Ossau-Iraty among the 12 to 18 other courses that comprise either its Sensory or Insight menus. While Amaru typically highlights all that Australia’s local and regional fare, Ossau-Iraty nonetheless matches the vibe; the provenance and handling of sheep are as important to Basque country as they are to Australia’s food culture.

Befitting the setting, Ossau-Iraty is transformed beyond its humble cheese-and-jam roots into something truly showstopping: seen here whipped into a sweet/savory mousse and adorned with local, seasonal accompaniments such as pink lady apple and blood lime jam.

 

Tete de Moine care of The Modern

Coming full circle, because you can’t keep a good cheese down, I am pleased to report that Tête de Moine lives on as the star of its own show at The Modern, with apricots and shaved fennel among its new companions.

No longer a secret, you’ll actually find Tête de Moine among the dessert options during a prix fixe lunch. I daresay it probably still makes a furtive appearance at dinner, but it’s nice to see there’s also an opportunity to declare your intention to have it.

 

Harbison cheese photo credit Jasper Hill

Hawksmoor is an award-winning steakhouse concept from the United Kingdom that opened in New York City in 2021. Consider its dessert menu, which begins with such British classics such as Banoffee Pudding and Sticky Toffee Pudding. Now, “pudding” in the British vernacular is frequently used to simply mean “dessert,” but it is fitting that further down the dessert menu one finds a cheese whose very nature can be best summarized as “pudding” in the American sense. 

Jasper Hill Harbison, a spruce-wrapped, bloomy rind cheese, takes its rightful place among Hawksmoor New York’s other puddings, its unctuous, umami custard adorned with grilled sourdough, whipped quince paste, and warm, local sourwood honey. It would be tempting to categorize this as a pedestrian “baked brie,” but its inclusion among the after-dinner offerings suggests otherwise. This is a composed cheese course that demands singular attention and to be slowly savored, not something to merely litter the table with during the opening graze along with appetizers.

RestaurantsPamela Vachon