Tag: ZINGERMAN’S CREAMERY
After nine months of renovations, Zingerman’s Creamery is set to open a new retail space, the Cream Top Shop. We are so excited, and we’re looking forward to welcoming you to our new digs at our all-day Grand Opening party on Saturday, April 29 from 10 am to 6 pm. There will be tours, tastings, and even prizes! It’s so close, but we cannot wait. We hope you’ll stop in!
In the meantime, we wanted to give you a sneak peek of what we’ve been up to.
We’ve been testing recipes, like our grilled sandwiches—the one above is pimento cheese on Zingerman’s Bakehouse Rustic Italian bread. We’ll have a full menu of sandwiches featuring Zingerman’s Creamery cheese, and we’ll also be serving Munchables, our name for our customized snack trays that we fill up with cheese, bread or crackers, and your choice of other delicious things, like nuts, dried fruit, and cornichons to name a few.
“Make the Cream Top Shop, home of Zingerman’s Creamery your new lunch destination!” says Aubrey Thomason, Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Creamery.
In addition to our own award-winning cheese, we’ll also be selling our favorites from other (almost) exclusively American artisan producers like us. Here’s Tessie enjoying a whiff of a freshly cut half wheel of Flory’s Truckle Cheddar from Milton Creamery!
We’re pretty excited about our new look, too. The cows were created by hand by our in-house illustrator Ryan Stiner and will be proudly displayed in the shop very soon, and how about those red stools? They’ll be available for guests who’d like to eat in (along with seating in our brand new tasting room), and they look right into our new production space—we’ll keep the lights on during the day, so you can see us in action.
Speaking of production, our equipment is shiny and ready to go. We’re already making our fantastic cheese and gelato. All that’s missing is you, and we’re counting the days. See you at the Grand Opening!
Last month, we celebrated Women’s History Month by asking the women partners of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses to give us their best advice. We posted their responses on our Zingerman’s Community Instagram and thought it’d be fun to recap their wise words here. Here’s what they had to say:
Amy Emberling, Co-Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Bakehouse
“During my first experiences in the food world in the late 1980s, it was clear that in some restaurants gender bias lived strong, as is the case today. I thought it was bizarre. I just ignored it and forged ahead. I recommend this as a strategy. Don’t engage with it except if necessary to call it out. Don’t embody it!”
Ji Hye Kim, Managing Partner of Miss Kim
“I am not a native speaker. I am not a native. I’ve been a woman all my life, and I’ve been an immigrant ever since the age of 13. I had fancied myself as a fighter, with this idea that I have to go after what I want, because no one ever is going to hand it to me. In much of my personal experience, this has been true. But I know that with the right people and community like Zingerman’s, I can tune out all the noise, even internal ones calling me to be a fighter. I can just focus on being a leader and building something wonderful and delicious together.”
Aubrey Thomason, Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Creamery
“Do not be afraid, do not back down. If they tell you that you are loud, direct, abrasive, and competitive, you are probably doing it right! There are times to be soft and times to be hard, and over time you will learn to balance those things. But first you need to know what you are talking about, be fearless and direct, command attention.”
Grace Singleton, Co-Managing Partner at Zingerman’s Deli
“If I was going to give advice to any woman trying to move up the ranks or own their own business, I’d say believe in yourself first and foremost—you can do anything you set your mind to. Work hard. Nothing great comes easy, don’t lose sight of your goals—it’s easy to get sidetracked—and don’t be afraid to ask for help from others by sharing your vision of success.”
Toni Morell, Co-Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Mail Order
“Never let anyone tell you what is and is not possible. You can be confident and kind, strong and humble. You only learn from your mistakes—you will make them, so get ready to learn. Don’t be afraid to say what you think. You don’t have to know all the answers, but be willing to admit when you don’t. Let your passions guide you. You set the organization’s tone, so be careful you are setting the right one.”
Maggie Bayless, Managing Partner of ZingTrain
“I grew up in an academic family and for years thought there was something a little sleazy about being in business—that corporations were out to take advantage of people. As I found myself in a variety of different jobs, however, I began to see that there were good businesses as well as bad businesses….Now, 23 years after starting ZingTrain, I have the opportunity to meet entrepreneurs and business leaders from around the world, and I’m completely convinced that small businesses can be an incredible catalyst for positive social change.”
The Grand Opening for the Cream Top Shop is April 29th. New name, new look, same great location and tastes.
Zingerman’s Creamery has been in business since 2001. Started by John Loomis in Manchester, Michigan as the fifth business to open under the Zingerman’s banner, the Creamery has resided on the Southside next to Zingerman’s Bakehouse since 2005. Aubrey Thomason, the Creamery’s current Managing Partner, came to Zingerman’s in 2002 at the age of 17 when she started at the Deli, taking sandwich orders. By 2007, she had managed to garner an education in sustainable agriculture and production—she raised pigs and worked for Slow Food in Italy, worked behind the counters at our brother business Neal’s Yard Dairy in London and worked on a vegetable farm in Michigan, among other adventures. A love for the hard work of making food by hand was born. Aubrey began working at the Creamery in 2007 as a production assistant. She immediately showed a talent for cheesemaking and has been improving the cheeses day by day and week by week ever since.
In 2010 she shared her first long term vision for the Creamery with Ari and Paul, and asked to pursue the Path to Partnership. She became a partner in 2012. A key piece of her vision included a modern production facility. The Creamery has been closed since July 2016 and with a lot of hard work and hope for success, they will reopen in April 2017.
What will the new shop look like? Smell like? Feel like?
AT: The Cream Top Shop (as we have decided to call it) will welcome you with a view of production, and the cheese will be there with open arms. We have aimed for a modern farmhouse look and feel. The walls will have beadboard up to 5 feet, slate gray walls above that, highlights of wood, metal, and red. Production looks pretty stark and sterile through the window as it is all stainless steel, white, and grey (of course with happy, shining cheese and gelato makers inside). You can sit at a counter and eat your gelato, sandwich, or munchable as you look through the window at the gelato being made, and cheese draining. The shop will be populated with beautiful graphics created by our award-winning marketing department. The shop is there as an edible and visual showcase for what the Creamery makes, but it has it’s own identity. We want you to come and stay awhile!
What kinds of products will be sold in the shop?
AT: We will continue to sell cheese and gelato made by Zingerman’s Creamery. We will highlight a variety of ages of our cheeses, as people like them at different stages in their flavor development. We will also be featuring simple sandwiches with our cheeses on them, as well as what we call “munchables.” You will be able to build your own munchable with cheese, nuts, pickles, vegetables, olives, dried fruits, sliced meat…Gelato will expand to include shakes, malts, gelato sandwiches, housemade waffle cones, and sundaes. We will also feature more goods from Zingerman’s Bakehouse that can be eaten with cheese or gelato. Our emphasis will be on selling only what we are serving, so you can buy it on a cheese tray or you can take it home by the pound. You can eat it on a sundae here, or you can take it home to make your own.
Will you have space for classes?
AT: We will have our own public tasting room, which is super exciting! We will continue to teach classes on cheese and cheese styles, as well as classes on pairing outstanding beers and wines with our cheeses and other great American cheeses. We may do public cheese-making classes at some point in the future, but first we need to see how the space works.
What are the top 3 improvements in the new Creamery you are most excited about?
AT: Top on the list is environmental control. The production space will have segregated, conditioned HEPA filtered air, meaning the cheese and gelato can be kept at a consistent temperature throughout the process. Second is a dedicated maturing room, with a fancy air handling system that monitors humidity and keeps the conditions constant while the cheese is aging. We will be able to make our already excellent cheeses world class and do so consistently. Third, I am really stoked to have our own public tasting space!
What’s the biggest thing you learned undergoing the construction process?
AT: This process has taken almost 5 years to complete. I have learned a tremendous amount about sanitary design, architecture, and construction. We thoroughly vetted every version of this project that could happen. Throughout the process I’ve built so many business cases, and dug into every number concerning our business. This process has given me much more awareness about what is necessary and important, and what can wait.
What role has food safety played in the design of the new space?
AT: The production facility is built around sanitary design principles. Mainly this means that processes are segregated (Raw Milk Receiving, Processing, and Packaging). The design also maximizes flow so that milk moves in one direction. Looking to the future, we had to build a facility that could pass a third party food safety audit. We already make excellent products, and now we will be able to have them distributed coast to coast. We will have a lot more control over a lot of factors in our facility, which will give us peace of mind in producing a safe product.
What has been most challenging?
AT: I have been working on getting this project off the ground for about 5 years. It took a long time to get to the right size project, that would cover our needs, and that we could pay back. The iterative process was the most challenging. Also, I have been telling my staff and everyone at Zingerman’s for 5 years that “this is going to be the year we get a new Creamery”. The years where it did not happen for one reason or another, it was hard.
What surprised you?
AT: I have learned so much about my business. I have really gotten a chance to reinvent the Creamery brand. Because I was not the founding partner, it was what it was when I got there. Going through this process gave me the chance to go through the opening of a business, so now I feel like the Creamery truly belongs to us who are there now. We have written new long-term visions together, we have picked out fixtures and flooring, brainstormed the name for the shop, and shared dreams about what this space means to us.
The Creamery’s Cream Top Shop will be opening very soon! Keep checking back for updates and follow Zingerman’s Creamery on Facebook to keep up with construction.
Sure, we think the cheese and gelato that we make at Zingerman’s Creamery is top notch, but to our Wholesale Representative Tom Dutton, it’s pure poetry. New to the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB), Tom has come up with a creative way to woo customers and, of course, sell more of our great products: he writes them poems.
Here’s a sampling:
We have cheese for your taste buds to please
Some are smooth and some are bolder
The fresh ones are new
The aged ones are older
If you think you might need any cheese
Get in touch with me please.
Our Gelato is great
In a bowl but not on a plate
If Gelato is what you seek
We can get you some this very week
By phone or email
I’ll be here without fail.
Tom originally got the idea during “Art of Giving Great Service in Writing”, one of the training classes offered to ZCoBbers. The trainer told a story about a customer who had written a complaint in poem form and a staff member followed suit with the reply. “I told him it seems kind of risky to me, but he said if you pick your spots and be careful, it could be okay,” says Tom.
Inspired, he decided to give it a try for a promotion—the result was very positive, and as he puts it, “the phenomenon began.” Not long after, he found himself in a rhyming “duel” with one of the Creamery’s customers, Ellie Mullins from Local, a fantastic shop in New Buffalo, Michigan that specializes in sustainable foods and cured meats:
Ellie to Tom:
Sorry for the delay.
The holidays have me in such array!
What days next week could we receive some fresh cheese?
Thinking of some mozzarella and pimento please!
A ten pound tub and a case should suffice.
You should barely have to pack them with ice.
It’s frigid out there!
Be sure to take care!
Tom to Ellie:
Evidently you’re on a roll
you know impeccable service is my main goal
Any day you’d like it’s a normal week
I’m so happy our cheese is what you seek
You need ten pounds of pimento
I’ll have an order uno momento
You said you might need Mozzarella too
how much exactly can I get for you?
When we asked Ellie why she enjoys corresponding this way with Tom, she answered in rhyme. “Most orders are mundane, day to day can be a pain/It’s fun to think out of the box and write with a friend a poem that rocks/It brings a little joy to a task that gives everyone a little laugh,” she wrote.
Tom agrees and says he thinks taking this unconventional route has helped him strike up friendships with customers and move beyond being “your average salesperson.” “The reaction has been tremendous throughout the ZCoB and with the customers. I have customers that actually request them! A lot of them say they look forward to them every week,” says Tom. “I think when you get busy with your day-to-day, and something amusing or funny comes by with the normal work you’re already doing, it can be surprising, amusing or even good for a laugh.”
Tom has been writing poems since he was a kid. He was first recognized for his skills in elementary school, and he’s never stopped. Rap was his medium in high school, and when he met his wife, she became an inspiration. These days, he’s using his rhyming talents to collaborate with his songwriting partner Chuck Swanagon. Performing under the name Chuck & Tom, they have a large catalogue of songs and have plans to release an album soon.
Want to order some cheese or gelato for you restaurant, cafe, or retail shop? Write to [email protected].
Have you met the Manchesters? Our Manchester family of cheeses that is. They’re a great bunch, and they have one thing in common—they all start as a rich, cow’s milk round. Then we use different aging and finishing techniques to bring out a variety of flavors: cabbage wrapping, beer washing, and crock conditioning.
If you’ve never tried one, now’s the time. All our Manchesters are on sale the entire month of December at the Deli. Just in time for the holidays! Which will you pick for your cheese board?
Manchester: Savory and earthy, the Manchester is delicious at many different ages. At one week, it has a rich mousse-like texture with a soft yogurt flavor. By week three, the cheese becomes denser with soft creaming around the edges, and the farm flavors become more pronounced.
Serving suggestion: When it’s soft, pair it with a baguette. As it ages, it can be served with oatcakes or crackers. It’s always great with chutney and can also be baked in a puff pastry.
Was $15, now it’s 12.99
Pere Marquette: This beauty is an homage to the classic French St. Marcellin. We start with the best Jersey cow’s milk we can source, since the high fat and protein of that particular milk will create a superior finished cheese. Conditioning this cheese inside a terracotta crock develops a luscious texture that continues to develop over time, eventually becoming almost completely liquid and ridiculously rich.
Serving suggestion: There are plenty of things you can do with this cheese, but our favorite is to put in on a table with some baguette, dust its top with a little bit of table sugar, hit it with a brûlée torch, and then just let nature take its course.
Was $15, now $7.99
Washtenaw: We start off with a super-rich, super-dense jersey cow’s milk round. Right after the cheese has developed the slightest bit of rind, we begin to regularly (and gently) brush it with a saison by hand, creating all sorts of awesome flavors on the surface of the cheese. This one tends to break down pretty quickly, and it’s absolutely dynamite at a couple of weeks old. Calling to mind the very best aspects of washed-rind cheeses, this one has a wonderful balance and works well as a cheese to appeal to those who don’t think they like washed rind cheeses (yet!)
Serving suggestion: This cheese sports a very strong aroma, but the paste inside is subtle enough to work in a variety of situations. Use it in your favorite dishes to add a bit of an umami kick, or serve it with crackers and beer for a decadent snack.
Was $20, now $15.99
Manistique: We’ve taken to wrapping our signature jersey cow’s milk cheese in cabbage leaves. Now why would we want to go and do a thing like that? Aside from the obvious visual appeal (they really are quite stunning to look at), the leaf wrapping alters the flavor and texture of our Manchester as it ages, enhancing the earthy and complex notes of the super rich Jersey milk we use to make it while helping to break down its luscious, dense paste. The end result is a ridiculously creamy, full-flavored cheese that will still the spotlight.
Serving suggestion: The Manistique is an excellent table cheese, and we love it on a fresh baguette with just a drizzle of olive oil (and maybe a crack or two of pepper).
Was $20, now $15.99
Creamery Cheese Shop Manager and American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional (read more about that coveted designation here) Tessie Ives-Wilson is sharing tips to help you create the perfect cheese plate for any holiday party. If you’re in the area, and you’d like to take your cheese smarts to the next level, join us for Pairing 101-Holiday Edition on November 17 from 6-8 pm.
One of the most common requests for help I’ve gotten in the last 8 years behind a cheese counter comes from folks who are entertaining friends and family and want to put together a cheese plate. When faced with a well-stocked cheese counter, the options can seem overwhelming, but a few simple guidelines will help narrow the field and let you pick the perfect cheeses for any crowd!
1. Know your audience!
Are your friends and family food adventurers or do they prefer the classics? Will this be an adults-only gathering or one filled with the giggles and joy of many generations? These questions can help you decide on the intensity of flavors that make up your cheese plate. A funky, washed rind soft cheese might be perfect for an adults-only cocktail hour, but rejected by more conservative pallets as “too stinky”! When in doubt, I suggest having at least 1 or 2 cheeses in the mix that are easily recognized and have accessible flavors; a middle-aged gouda or cheddar will usually do the trick.
2. Know where and how the cheese will be served!
Is the cheese plate going to be the star of a course or part of a larger spread of food? Appetizer or dessert course? This set of questions can help narrow down how many cheeses to choose and how much cheese to get. Generally, if the cheese plate is going to be set out with lots of other dishes, I recommend keeping the number of cheese smaller, maybe 2-3, but with slightly larger portions that can be presented as full wedges, and your guests can serve themselves. However, if you are serving a plated cheese course, you might choose a few more cheeses, as many as 6 or 7, with slightly smaller portions, so that you can showcase a variety of flavors and textures.
3. Know your cheesemonger!
Whether it is at one of the Zingerman’s cheese counters, or another cheese shop, chances are, the people behind the counter spend much of their time tasting, talking about, and thinking about the cheeses that they serve. If you come to the counter armed with the information from tips 1 and 2, they can be your guide through the selection of cheeses they have to offer. They should also offer you tastes of the cheeses that you are interested in. If they don’t, it’s time to find a new cheese shop! Real, artisan cheeses will change with seasons, batches, and cheesemakers, so even if the cheese is one you have had before, it’s always good to taste to make sure that what is being offered is up to your standards.
Don’t have a great, local cheese shop? Still want more guidance? I’m hosting Pairing 101 on November 17th, which is all about the science of creating a great cheese plate and picking the perfect beer and wine pairings to go alongside.