‘CHEESE ODYSSEY’
If you weren’t already a turophile (that’s someone who really like cheese), you’re likely to become one by the end of this sojourn. Laura Downey and Chris Palumbo, the owners of Connecticut’s Fairfield and Greenwich Cheese Co., will co-host “A British Cheese Odyssey,” a weeklong trip to London, Somerset and Bath in early October that features an inside look at the world of British cheese, and sign-up to join is open now.
Downey and Palumbo are working with Anna Juhl, the founder of Cheese Journeys, which plans and hosts educational trips to cheesecentric regions of the world. Upcoming 2022 journeys include northern Italy, the Alpine regions of France and Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, and New York City to Vermont.
Downey first connected with Juhl as a guest educator on one of her first trips. “She does such an amazing job of curating these tours, that [I was] sold,” she said.
The tour, which begins in London on Oct. 2, features a walking tour of Borough Market and a private tour of Neal’s Yard Dairy, for an insider look at the “selecting, maturating and the global exporting of Britain’s best farmhouse cheese.” After a night’s stay at the London Bridge Hotel, the group travels to North Cadbury Court in Somerset for the rest of the week — a 21-bedroom English manor, the family home to world-renowned cheddar maker Jamie Montgomery.
British farmhouse cheddar is a cheese that people tend to overlook, she said, in part because the term “cheddar” does not have a protected designation of origin.
“People think they know cheddar, but I don’t think they actually know [it] until they try a really classic English [version],” she said. “They never protected cheddar as a name, so that’s why it’s made all over the world, and it has a lot of variation. And a really good farmhouse English cheddar is every bit as impressive and delicious as Comté from France, or Roquefort, or Camembert.”
The week is fully scheduled with cheese education, cheesemaking, cooking demonstrations, tasting events and special dinners with Montgomery, Downey and Palumbo, along with chefs and other special guests. It also features a day trip to Bath on Oct. 6, with the opportunity for a private walking food tour, a visit to the Jane Austen museum or a tour of the Roman Baths.
Though the trip naturally focuses on cheese, Downey said the tours have a wide appeal, and are great for anyone who loves “good food in general.”
“Britain has a really good food scene that I think people overlook. There’s been a huge return to sort of the farm-to-table movement there, as well,” Downey said. “The quality and level of the food is every bit as good as anywhere else in the world. I think sometimes people don’t realize that...they think it’s just pub food, or great Indian food, but there’s so much more to it.”
Even with a full slate of culinary activities, Downey said guests will have plenty of time for rest and relaxation. At North Cadbury Court, they’ll have the opportunity to swim, play tennis or golf or take walks through the countryside. The final full day of the trip features a spa day, followed by an English garden lunch and a ride on the Montgomery Cheddar hot air balloon.
Downey opened Fairfield Cheese Company with Palumbo in May 2009, and they expanded five years later to open Greenwich Cheese Company in Cos Cob. In 2017, they launched Cheesemonger Box, an e-commerce only website that brings the “cut to order cheese shop experience around the country.” They are also both American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professionals, and a few of their staff cheesemongers have earned the distinction as well.
There are about 25 to 30 spots open for the tour, and guests must be vaccinated and boosted, Downey said. Double occupancy is $5,700 per person; single occupancy is $6,400 per person. The package includes all costs except round-trip transportation to and from London, hotel accommodations before or after the tour, and any personal shopping during the walking tours of Borough Market.