4 minute read
Chalk and Cheese the Delights of Karl Pagel
Chalk and Cheese the Delights of Karl Pagel
BY NATE BOOTS
The flowing golden hair, the workmanlike mustache, the gift of gab, the bawdy laugh: Karl Pagel tends to make an instant and dynamic impression on those he meets. This North Mankato resident is the preeminent cheese and charcuterie man of the Kato area, but he is more serious a character than one who might label his frivolities, fables, foibles, and fervor as simple "Karl-cuterie."
Nay.
Karl Pagel is a more than that. He is a deadly delightful fellow whose depth of creativity and wit comes through in the range of topics he's more than happy to discuss with anyone who is, like him, authentically curious about the finer things in life. The topics could be as different as chalk and cheese. Food, music, travel, sports, art, dreams, parenting, lawnmowing.... It doesn't matter. What matters to Karl is passion.
Born and raised in New Ulm, Karl grew up as the youngest of four siblings in a dedicated family. Says Karl, "My grandmother taught me the value of delicious, home-cooked food and my parents showed me the value of travelling and trying new things. My father always had a taste for the finer things in life.
Karl graduated high school there at the turn of the century. It was in New Ulm also where he met Molly, his cosmic match and the woman who would eventually become his wife. When, as teens, they began dating, their respective families headed up competitive automobile dealerships in New Ulm, namely Pagel Ford and Martinka Motors. As such, kinfolk on both sides had reservations about Karl and Molly joining forces. The bond the two formed, however, was tight and lasting. In 2007 they moved to an apartment in lower North Mankato, and in 2010, they bought a house on McKinley Avenue, one they'd walked by many times on neighborhood walks.
"As soon as we lived here, it felt like home," says Molly.
The birth of their daughter, Amelia, cemented their homespace in LoNo all the more, and the young family began to thrive in fits and starts. Karl first started working for Hy-Vee in 2002 as a night stockman, and this was followed by a long spell in produce. More recently, he was sent by the company to study cheese intimately through the Institut du Fromage. Karl excelled in classes and, with the support of Molly, who had been encouraging him for years to get in touch with his creative side, found a specialty that he could really embrace: cheese and charcuterie.
"He just kinda found himself there," says Molly, who learned a thing or two about fostering artistic creativity by studying studio art in college. "He didn't seek it out as a path, necessarily, but that's where he ended up, and it's been a good fit. He's really talented, but he doesn't think he is. Once he started doing charcuterie, he was like, 'I'm not creative— you're creative!' But once he bit into and went for it, he was like, 'Okay, I am creative, and I can do this. I can do my own thing and make this beautiful.'"
In addition to giving his wife props, Karl gives credit to a couple of others, namely former Hy-Vee store manager Dan Vondrak, who hired him and promoted him, and Chef Edi Cucurullo, a native Italian who works these days alongside Karl in the Seafood and Meats Department at Hilltop Hy-Vee. With Edi and Karl, it seems to be a case of creativity inspiring creativity. Karl says that Chef Edi's ingenuity, love of his roots, and zest for life are contagious.
And Karl shows a solemnity for his work that is admirable. "I am the last line between the farmer and the consumer," says Karl, "so I get to really play an integral part where I'm honoring the product and all the work that goes into making the cheese. Plus," he adds with a smile, "I cut the cheese for a living."
