Chat with Colin at the Market

The Farmer's Market on Sat. at the Embarcadero, behind the Ferry Building, is a beautiful, wonderful thing!
There are food stalls from a variety of local restaurants and food companies. My two favorites include Hayes Street Grill, which featurest crab cake samwiches and oyster Poboys and Rose Pistola, which has delicious brioche french toast and a tender pulled pork samwich.

There is produce!

There is CHEESE. There are half a dozen to a dozen stalls selling local artisan cheeses. My personal favorite at this moment is the Redwood Hill Farm stall, since I am a huge fan of their cheese, specifically the CAMELLIA, and because I just visitted their farm!

Colin, who works the cheese stall at the market for Redwood Hill Farm is actually the nephew of Jennifer's, who runs the creamery!, husband. Thus, cheese is in his BLOOD. He grew up with cheesemakers and sellers in his family. His first job out of college was at Cowgirl Creamery! He then worked for a cheese company in London! His career in cheese selling has been booming ever sicne!

Unlike any of the other cheese sellers, buyers, and restauranteurs I have spoken to so far, Colin HAS had experience with cheese on a production level. he has seen cheese made and knows a great deal about the process. In general, he says, you learn about cheese by working with it and being around it for a while and then boom! you know what there is to know. Unlike with wine, in which you can actually get a master's degree after 2 years of reigorous wine studies, cheese has not become much of an academic study, besides a purely scientific one. No, one learns about cheese through practice and action.

Colin think that working with cheese, and speficially selling cheese, is like no other thing in the world. He says this is because there's such a variety, because of the fact that cheese is made ALL YEAR ROUND and that there are constantly changes made to its production during different seasons. The redwood hill farm cheeses, for example, are quit different in the winter than they are in the spring or summer.

Colink LIKES cheese, his job is fun and it is in his family. He even ships redwood hill farm cheese to his grandparents, on the other side of the country, for them to sell at their local farmer's markets.