Milk and Honey completes move from Tiverton to Portsmouth

Business offers fine cheese from all parts of the world

By Jim McGaw
Posted 3/22/19

PORTSMOUTH — The late author and radio and television personality Clifton Fadiman once said, “Cheese is milk's leap toward immortality.”

Too bad he never got to visit Milk …

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Milk and Honey completes move from Tiverton to Portsmouth

Business offers fine cheese from all parts of the world

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — The late author and radio and television personality Clifton Fadiman once said, “Cheese is milk's leap toward immortality.”

Too bad he never got to visit Milk and Honey, which recently opened shop in the Old Almy Village plaza after leaving its Tiverton home of 14 years last September.

The business’ owner for five years, Sheryl Callaghan — she and her husband also own Bellevue Wine and Spirits and Aquidneck Meat and Provisions — started looking for a place on Aquidneck Island after being “released” from her Tiverton lease, and found one next to Fieldstones Grille. Milk and Honey opened on Feb. 15.

“It’s a little bit smaller than the old one, but it’s a nice space,” said Nina Pease, store manager.

As in did in Tiverton, the store offers a wide variety of cheeses as well as specialty gourmet items and fresh bread on the weekend. Although the cheeses are priced higher than the more common variety shoppers find in grocery stores, the shop aims to serve a wide cliental, Ms. Pease said.

“Out in Tiverton we had a lot of people who came down for the weekend to their beach house and wanted to stock up,” she said. “Here, I think it will be a little bit different. We’ll probably have regulars who go to polo every weekend and just want a platter. But we do love the curious customer who just wanders in and says, ‘What’s your favorite?’ or ‘What can I sample?’ even if they only want a little piece to take home.”

The cheeses come from all different parts of the world. “In the case right now we have plenty from France, a bunch from Holland, quite a few domestic cheeses, as well as some from Ireland, England and Canada,” she said.

Cheese platters can be ordered a day in advance and the shop also offers gift baskets.

The shop also has some meats, although it’s “slim pickings” this time of year. “We usually have three pâtés, a couple of sausages, salamis and stuff like that,” said Ms. Pease. “We’re starting to bring in prepared foods from Aquidneck Meat and Provisions as well, so we’ll see how that goes. We’re trying to see what the customers here need and want, because it’s definitely a little bit of a different base than we had before.”

What’s popular?

So what kinds of cheeses have most people never heard of but enjoy once they’ve sampled them?

“This one right in the front,” she said, pointing to the shop’s glass case containing large wedges of different varieties. “It’s called Challerhocker. That’s by far our bestseller. It is an expensive one, but every single person who samples it says, ‘Yep, give me some of that.’”

Pronounced “holler hocker,” Challerhocker means "sitting in the cellar.” It’s a Swiss cheese that’s washed in brine and spices and then aged for at least 12 months. It sells for $32 per pound at Milk and Honey. 

Other cheeses that are cut from large wedges range from about $18 to $35 per pound. The shop also sells pre-packed cheeses, ranging in price from about $7 to $22.

“Another (popular) one would be this Vacherousse d’Argental, from France. It’s a little bit on the funkier side. Manchego (a raw sheep cheese from Spain) is another popular one. We have something for everyone,” she said.

As for her own favorite?

“That would be Harbison,” she said referring to a soft-ripened cheese from Vermont’s Jasper Hill Creamery that’s available in the pre-packaged section. “If you like funky, you’d probably really like that. It’s wrapped in spruce bark. You just lop off the top of it and leave it out for a half hour or an hour before you eat it.”

The shop provides cards that suggest a wine pairing with nearly every cheese in its case, and the staff is always available to answer questions, she said. Ms. Pease said Milk and Honey has no intentions of catering only to cheese snobs.

“We don’t want to come off as pretentious or only serving people who can afford it. We want people to come in and try new things and to just learn about it,” she said.

Milk and Honey, located at 1016 East Main Road, is currently open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday to Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. (Hours will expand as weather gets warmer.) For more information, call 401/624-1974 or visit www.milkandhoneyri.com.

Milk and Honey

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