simoneink -

Charlottesville’s historic Clifton Inn is situated in the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Executive Chef Tucker Yoder takes pride in creating his extraordinary tasting menu with ingredients that originate in the same exalted geography. His produce comes from within miles. The beef is custom raised. The herbs are brought in from the kitchen garden as needed. And now, the cheese plate -- long an important staple of the multi-course tasting meals for which The Clifton Inn is known and loved – has gone local, too.

“We’re going to be using only Virginia cheese from now on,” says Yoder, “not because they’re local, but because they’re that good.” Three Virginia dairies are supplying Clifton with their finest products. Everona Dairy, a sheep’s milk operation, is represented by its firm Piedmont and softer Skyline, one of the Commonwealth’s first blue cheeses. Meadow Creek Dairy, in the south western part of Virginia, offers up its fine, soft Grayson and semi-soft Appalachian, made from the milk of its Jersey herd. Caromount Farm, just outside Charlottesville, provides Clifton with Esmontonian [enhanced in the aging process with baths of local Chardonnay vinegar] and fromage frais.

This last cheese is a hard worker, starring not only on the cheese plate, but also at breakfast in an omelet with wild mushrooms and fresh herbs; as well as in the very popular ravioli, together with smoked Virginia ham, served with a mushroom purée and a purée of gelled red wine, star anise and honey, topped with crispy shiitakes.

The other cheeses, explains Yoder, are ‘too good to complicate with cooking. They are cheeses for cheese’s sake.” Another benefit of using local products is the people who make them. “Gail of Caromount is so close by that she’ll drop by from time to time and say, ‘Here, Tucker – try this. I’m not selling it to anyone else – you should put it on your cheese plate.’ Well, I can’t get that kind of care and interest from a national distributor.”

Yoder, by the way, knows a thing or two about the ins and outs of cheese-making: at Clifton, they make their own ricotta -- “for salads and things.”