Ihsan and Valerie own and run the Formaggio Kitchen family of stores. As is true of any folks passionate about their jobs, work intertwines throughout all aspects of their lives. Their travels – frequent and far-flung – are largely dictated by the food producers they want to meet or to revisit, by rumors of new and exciting foodstuffs and/or food conferences such as “Cheese,” the biennial Slow Food festival held in Bra, Italy. Their larder and wine cellar are stocked with favorite items they have imported or new items they are testing out. Even when on holiday, they are in direct communication with all three stores, coordinating deliveries from Europe and generally checking to make sure everything is on track. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘robiola’
Introducing Ihsan and Valerie: Owners of Formaggio Kitchen
Posted in About Us, Cheese, Christmas, Gift Giving, Gifts & Wares, Grains, Rice, Flours & Beans, Hanukkah, Herbs, Spices, Salts & Peppers, Holiday, Jams & Preserves, Meats & Charcuterie, Olive Oil & Specialty Oils, Pasta, Staff Profiles, Wine, tagged Arraya, Bleu des Basques, Comté, food, food gifts, gift ideas, Ihsan Gurdal, rillettes, robiola, Sainte-Maure Belgique, Saveur du Maquis, Vacherin Mont d'Or, Valerie Gurdal on December 12, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Just In: Robiole from Eros Buratti
Posted in Cheese, Italy, Producer Profile, tagged Cheese, Eros Buratti, Italy, leaf-wrapped, robiola on February 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When two people from a small village in Piedmont came into our shop to buy some cheese, we quickly realized that they lived in the same town as one of our favorite stagionature: Eros Buratti. Talking with them brought back visions of my visit with Eros and reminded me how special our relationship with the Buratti family is.
Eros and his family run a shop even smaller than Formaggio Kitchen in Intra, a small town in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. In the very, very beginning his father had a store front displaying freshly killed poultry. Now, 50 years later, it remains an entirely family-run operation with a focus on collecting, aging and retailing regional cheeses. On my last visit, I was introduced to their entire organization: Eros, his mom (Carla), his cousin Jair, Jair’s wife, and 3 other employees from the town. (more…)





