Hassle-Free Holiday Hosting - Get Your Board Game On!
Webster’s defines charcuterie as a deli that specializes in “dressed meats and meat dishes” or “the products sold in such a shop.” But these days the word is often attached to board, and restaurants offer it as an appetizer or a bar snack. And increasingly, cheese shops or caterers prepare charcuterie and cheese boards for special occasions (or any occasion), either from their own designs or by customer choice, with an array of cheeses, meats, fruits and veggies, with accents of nuts, dips, jams or honey. Angie DiMeo, co-owner of East Side Cheese & Provisions in Providence, advises, “To make a great cheese board, you need a few elevated, crowd-pleasing cheeses that offer a variety of styles, milk types, textures, shapes and colors. Trust your local cheese shop to make recommendations and don’t overthink it—delicious always goes with delicious!”
What could be more special than the festive holidays coming on? And what could take away hassles and replace them with fun more than an artistically arranged display of edibles that is either delivered, picked up or created by carefully tasting some of the ingredients?
“There are so many amazing cheeses and so many amazing meats,” says co-owner/chef Kevin Momenee of The Gathering Table in Wakefield, “that you can bring a little bit of every part of the world onto the board … and at the same time bring together friends and family.”
Here’s a list of 10 locations around the state where you can get your board game on for the holidays!
• Bellevue Boards, Newport. BellevueBoards.com
• The Cheese Corner, Westerly. TheCheeseCorner.com
• The Cheese Wheel, Tiverton. TheCheeseWheelRI.com
• East Side Cheese & Provisions, Providence. EastSideCheese.com
• Edgewood Cheese Shop, Cranston. EdgewoodCheeseShop.com
• Fig & Fromage, Wakefield. FigFromageCharcuterie.com
• The Gathering Table, Wakefield. TheGatheringTableRI.com/cheese
• Graze on Main, East Greenwich. GrazeOnMainEG.com
• Rind, Barrington. RindCheeseShop.com
• Wedge, Warren. WedgeRI.com
