Entries associated with the tag "The Cheese Stands Alone":

Last night someone on LTHForum broke the bad news that Lincoln Square's The Cheese Stands Alone is closing this weekend. Today TCSA cheesemonger Matt Parker confirms it, telling me that after a busy summer, the last six months have been deadly slow, and the lease is up.

"The Cheese Stands alone--if it is to go on--cannot go on at this space," he says.

TCSA was there at the beginning of Lincoln Square's restaurant renaissance, and despite its awkward location was the model for a great neighborhood cheese shop--lots of variety, cheeses cut to order and available for tasting by a dedicated cheese lover. Every neighborhood deserves one like it. Parker dangled some hope that he might return, saying he's been looking for a new space for the last half year, but has yet to find something appropriate. "I"m gonna look for a job and look for a space, and whichever one seems to be more promising I'm gonna probably have to go with."

For all you cheese vultures out there, he's going to see how much inventory he can unload by Sunday, and if there's enough left over he may open Monday for an at-cost-or-lower clearance.

And he promises to let us know where he ends up working--"probably in beer or cheese"--if he can't find a new spot.

My follow-up story today about the falling out between Charles Foulkes of Crust for Bread and Michael Altenberg of Crust Eat Real is not a happy one. If anything it just goes to show that organics ain't all bouncing, blissed-out, free-range lambs, and can be just as full of rancor, regret, and bad mojo as any other business. Lost in the shuffle, though, was one point of interest. So, in a small attempt to restore the balance of the cosmos with some positivity I offer this: 

In the course of my reporting, I needed to call Earthbound Farms in Carmel Valley, California, to fact-check whether organic empress Myra Goodman really was a regular customer of Foulkes--he'd credited Altenberg with the introduction. I had no reason to doubt it, just doing my job, ma'am. Well, not only is she a regular but her assistant e-mailed back Goodman's ringing endorsement: 

"I adore Charles’s bread. I discovered it at an event on my book tour in Chicago in January, and I always say just finding his bread would have been worth the 2 ½ years I spent writing the book! I have him Fed-X overnight about eight loaves at a time, and get an order every few weeks. I freeze all but one or two loaves, and it defrosts perfectly to use when I’m ready. Once defrosted, I store it according to his instructions: wrapped in the brown paper, cut side down. Its good for a week. My very favorite is the Laughing Crow Five Seed. My whole family is addicted, even the kids. I love that its not only incredibly delicious and unique, but its organic, high protein, and incredibly healthy!" 

So there you go. My bread budget has only allowed me to try Foulkes' stuff once, back when it was still for sale at The Cheese Stands Alone, so I'll take her word for it.