Speaking of Cheese!
Kaaskar van restaurant Florent in Utrecht
Kaasmenu van restaurant Florent in Utrecht
Kaasmenu van restaurant Florent in Utrecht 
Cheese service at restaurant Steirereck, Vienna
Cheese service with name tags
Cheese at restaurant de Librije
A blog by our colleague Coen Pompe, about fun and inspiring ways to offer cheese. Even a few ideas that are easily applicable if you’re short-staffed.
Speaking of Cheese!
The well-known shortage of staff in the hospitality industry is a growing problem. Often, entrepreneurs solve this by cutting certain services, including the cheese service, which I personally find very regrettable! Especially because there are so many fun ways to present cheese with little effort for the staff.
Florent
At restaurant Florent in Utrecht, they have found an excellent way to offer guests a complete cheese experience. They have an extensive cheese menu, this way guests can read all about the cheeses before the cheese cart comes around. Once they have made their choices, the cheese cart comes by, and the serving staff cuts the desired cheeses live. Handy and a bit of a time-saver, definitely something to think about! Check out the photos above and below. And the enthusiasm about their cheese service radiates from their Instagram account! Be aware, you’ll leave their Instagram page hungry.
Cheese Cards
Another fun and time-saving way to inform your guests about cheese is cheese cards. When the kitchen staff prepares the cheese board, they include a card with the name of the cheese and a handwritten note explaining the flavour and origin of the cheese. Easy and handy, especially for the newest and youngest hospitality stars on the team.
KAASBAR AMSTERDAM
A unique way to serve cheese, on a conveyor belt. Known from sushi restaurants! This is what they do with cheese at KAASBAR AMSTERDAM. They created a special culinary ‘Dutch cheeses discovery tour’. The staff can tell you a lot about the cheeses and pair them with delicious wines. The culinary discovery tour is completed with a selection of charcuterie, all from Dutch soil. Great idea!
The Cheese Barge in London
The Cheese Barge is a double-decker ship permanently moored in the Grand Union Canal at Paddington Central in London. The boat has been there since early 2021 and features British cheeses prominently on its menu. Reading the article on Horecatrends.com, it’s hard to imagine that such a boat isn’t already cruising through the canals of Amsterdam!
Vegan cheese and getting creative with cheese
And for all your vegan guests, it might be an idea to add a few vegan cheeses to the menu. There are increasingly more vegan alternatives. Horecatrends.com wrote about the Blue Cheese from the Dutch vegan cheesemaker Max&Bien and about Vegan brie Petit Lorrain by Petit Veganne.
When I was looking for inspiration for this blog on Horecatrends.com, I also came across some cheese oddities: think of making a real ‘cheese head’; food pairing of cheese with chocolate and cookies; signature cheeses from chefs and for example ‘cheese shot glasses’, tasty with red wine or port? In short, plenty of inspiration for a little course in ‘creative with cheese’!
Coen Pompe, junior advisor at Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality – advice. If you wish to get in touch, you can do so by phone: 071 541 88 67, or via LinkedIn.
Van Spronsen & Partners is a hospitality consulting firm for the hospitality and leisure industry. The company has been active in this sector since 1987 and specializes in feasibility studies, concept development, profitability improvements, hospitality visions and policies, management support, and marketing & communication. Our colleagues from Rollema & Partners and Van Spronsen Salaris also offer hospitality administration and payroll administration specifically for the hospitality industry
