Say Cheese

With their growing selections of small-batch, hand-crafted cheese, Heather and Pete Holmes of Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse are putting smiles on Lowcountry faces.

by Susan Frampton

Heather and Pete in their element.

Wheels of cheesy goodness.

Chances are, you’ve never stood at the dairy case and pondered where cheese comes from. If you’re like most of us, it has just always been there; appearing cut, shrink-wrapped, and labeled as though dropped from the heavens. But once you’ve watched 80 gallons of milk begin the journey to its final destination of small batch, hand-whipped fromage frais, or watched rounds of brie hand-turned in their aging room, you may never be satisfied with anything less perfect and fresh.

The late Anthony Bourdain once opined of the art of cheesemaking, “You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.” All three of these elements are well-represented in the West Ashley operation that keeps owners Heather and Pete Holmes turning out an amazing line of cheese at Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse on Ashley River Road.

The two New York City transplants were no strangers to long hours and hard work when they left careers in retail in the Big Apple. Though it may have looked like the perfect life for a couple of movers and shakers, battling blizzards, dealing with corporate structure, and eating dinner at 11 PM didn’t leave them much time to enjoy with their son, Declan.

“We had toyed with opening a retail store of some kind on King Street in Charleston, but the numbers just didn’t add up,” says Heather of their growing dissatisfaction with city life. “A couple of years later, Declan said to us one night, ‘We don’t get to enjoy being a family much.’ That was it. We decided that very night that we were going to make a change, and called a broker the next day about selling our apartment.”

“We get one chance at doing this together. We get one shot at raising our son,” Pete remembers saying of their resolution to make a change. “I don’t want him to remember us just working all the time.”

With the decision to relocate made, they looked at various cities up and down the East Coast. Charleston offered everything they were looking for, and they also had friends in the Holy City. “We left two feet of snow on the ground the day the moving truck pulled out. Navigating through the snow, we knew we had made the right choice.”

It was a big leap from retail to cheese, but a conversation with their friends in Charleston revealed an opportunity to purchase the cheese store from its original owners. “We jumped right into it,” laughs Heather. “We arrived on a Saturday, and started learning to make cheese on Sunday.” The two initially partnered with their friends in the venture, but after two years decided to go it on their own, turning the endeavor from a hobby into a viable business.

Though cheese is a labor-intense product, for the Holmes family it satisfies their passion for growing something and seeing the fruits of their labor become a reality. “It doesn’t feel like work,” says Pete. “We get to work together, and our son gets to be a part of what we do. Quality of life—that’s really the reason we moved here. It’s exciting.”

The actual origins of cheese are lost in the shrouds of time, but it is thought that humans discovered the principles of cheesemaking over 7,000 years ago in the Middle East. When man began domesticating animals, it became inevitable and economically prudent for milk to evolve into a form that would preserve it for consumption.

“Cheese is milk’s leap toward immortality,” wrote American anthologist, Charles Fadiman, a description that isn’t far off the mark. Legend has it that in preparation for a journey, a nomad poured milk into his trendy, goat stomach-skin saddlebag before taking off on his camel. After a couple of days in the desert, slow stirring of the milk by the camel’s ponderous gait, and the heat of the baking sun, the enzymes from the goat-gut bag separated the curds from the whey, creating the product that became the first cheese.

Fortunately for those of us without camels, the process was refined over time. English dairy farmers brought the art of making cheese with them when they arrived in the new colonies in the early 17th Century. Hand-crafted cheeses had a good run, but over time, the conveniently packaged dairy products we find at the grocer came to bear little resemblance to the pure, full-bodied cheeses of simpler times.

Expertly blending ingredients.

The finished products, as unique in taste as they are in name.

“We were lucky to have arrived here right on the cusp of the Farm to Table movement in Charleston. The timing was right because people were starting to become much more interested in knowing where their food was coming from, and in buying local,” explains Heather. Having learned the basics of cheesemaking in their first two years in the business, the two now find themselves literally elbow-deep in the fine art of fromage.

Today, the Cheesehouse’s fromage frais, the fresh, unaged product we commonly call cream cheese—is on deck. The two artisans pour gallons of fresh, whole milk from Hickory Hill Farms in Edgefield into a giant stainless steel hopper, while Pete explains the process used to create what will be eventually become their signature fromage frais. When the milk reaches the proper temperature, microbial culture, or rennet is added to knit the proteins together, and it is left to sit for 13 hours. The resulting curds and whey are placed into bags to drain for 8 hours, after which they will be turned out of the bags and hand mixed. Flavored cream cheese options currently include Charleston Caviar Pimento Cheese and Roasted Garlic Herb.

When Heather and Pete say cheese, they say it not only with fromage frais, but also with dozens of rows of bloomy-rind cheese. The soft, delicious cheese that is a cross between brie cheese and farm cheese lines the aging room where controlled temperature and humidity and daily turning makes the magic happen. The outer part of the cheese is creamy, with a center that is still firm and a little crumbly. Battery Park Brie, the flagship of their brie line, has a mild bouquet. Aged for 3-4 weeks, it has a full range of flavor; sweet, grassy and with just enough salt. Wild Boar Black Truffle, Chardonnay Wash, and Dutch Chocolate are among the flavor options in this line.

When asked what is next on their cheese plate, Pete says of delving into new directions. “I hope in the next year or so to become a Certified Cheese Professional, which requires a lot of studying and testing.”

Their latest creation is Carolina Reaper Cheddar, a white cheddar cheese with a touch of South Carolina’s world-renowned hot pepper. Unintentionally, but fittingly introduced on Friday the 13th, the spicy cheese has just the right blend of flavors for those who like a little heat. “It was a big success at the launch,” Heather says with a grin. “Only one person screamed.”

With their ever-growing list of products, Charleston Artisan Cheesehouse has the Lowcountry saying cheese, and retail outlets and fine dining establishments like Husk, The Obstinate Daughter, EVO, and Slightly North of Broad breaking out in smiles. You’ll also find their products at farmer’s markets from Savannah to Summerville. Check out charlestonartisancheesehouse.com for a full description of their products and updated lists of outlets, and be on the lookout for the addition of a storefront to their kitchen at 2457 Ashley River Road, Suite 3 in the near future.