Just across Newton Creek from Murray’s Cheese headquarters is the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint. The neighborhood dates back to the mid-1600s, when it was called Cherry Point. Drawing its inspiration (and its name) from the area’s rustic roots is one of our very restaurants in the area, Julian Calcott’s Cherry Point.

Julian is an alum of the West Village’s legendary Spotted Pig, and he opened his own restaurant back in 2016. It’s quickly gained acclaim for its seasonally-inspired menu and warm atmosphere. Here, for example, is the Michelin Guide:

“This charming Greenpoint restaurant…houses a buzzing open kitchen, great music, and jumbo windows that look out over the neighborhood, offering prime people-watching. Most importantly, though, Cherry Point is home to some luscious cooking compliments of Chef Julian Calcott.”

And here’s Zagat:

“Inside a refurbished 1930s butcher shop, this woodsy Greenpoint eatery by an alum of The Spotted Pig focuses on housemade charcuterie, American bistro dishes and seasonal sides and salads.”

And here’s us:

“Cherry Point. Oh, we really like Cherry Point. It is very, very good. So good is it that we want our customers all over the country to get a little taste. Perhaps we should collaborate with Cherry Point on a set of recipes for Great Taste at Murray’s. Hey, yes, that’s exactly what we should do. Okay. Let’s do it.”

Reader, done it we have. We are excited to share with you a three course menu that Chef Julian designed specifically for our Great Taste program, featuring a salad, a main dish, and a dessert. Best of all, they each have a cheesy element incorporated in an unexpected way. Let’s show you what we mean.

The first dish is the Spring Radish Salad with Goat Cheese. It looks like this:

The primary ingredients here are radishes (duh), basil, and greens. Chef Julian used pea shoots, but he notes, “You can use any greens you want. I would recommend something a little sturdier than arugula, though you can use arugula if you want.” He cited baby kale as an example of a green that would work well.

Here’s where things get unexpected: You knead the ingredients with your hands. “You’re making your own vinaigrette,” Chef Julian explains, “using the cheese as an emulsifier.” As you work the ingredients together, the salad dresses itself. This is a salad that’s quite literally handmade.

Here’s how to make the Cherry Point Spring Radish Salad with Goat Cheese.

Next up, the main dish. This plate is quite a beauty—crispy, juicy chicken over a bed of risotto-style peas. Check it out:

That’s the kind of plate you can expect to find in an acclaimed restaurant. Indeed, it was invented in one. But you can make it at home quite easily. The cheesy surprise here: the peas get their creamy, risotto-y consistency from a shaving of Pecorino Calabrese and a dollop of mascarpone.

And bringing it all home is one of the most astounding tarts you will ever have. It’s made with Gjetost and preserved walnuts. Seriously, this stuff is straight up nuts. It tastes somewhere between flan and pumpkin pie, yet somehow even better than both.

This has already become our go-to dessert for wowing guests, not least because the filling contains only five ingredients and is a super cinch to make. Here’s how you go about doing it.

If you’re looking to bring some restaurant-level results to your cooking game, we cannot recommend these recipes more enthusiastically. Really, it’s as easy as, well…tart.

Bob Dylan famously proclaimed, “Mama, you’ve been on my mind,” and that’s precisely how we’re feeling with Mother’s Day approaching. As a lyricist, Dylan is notoriously dense, but we’ve consulted with a few great literary minds, and we think we’ve figured out what the Nobel Laureate was getting at in the subtext of that song.

“Clearly, Dylan’s point was that he feels the best way to show affection to his mother—and indeed, to mother’s all over—is to send the gift of cheese,” said Curd Vonnegut.

“Curd is exactly right,” confirmed Ayn Rind. “Dylan makes the irrefutable point that cheese is a perfect—nay, the perfect—gift for Mother’s Day.”

Far be it from us to disagree with the experts, so we’re not even going to try. Instead, we’re going to share with you our guide for Mother’s Day gifting. Presenting, the gourmet way to make mom say cheese:

UBRIACO PINOT ROSE

Moms know it: wine and cheese is a classic pairing. The Italians know it too, to the point that they decided to combine the two items into one. This aged cow’s milk cheese is a rose-rinded wheel that’s aged in a tub of sparkling wine. You heard that right. That long, boozy bath delivers a fruity aroma and the flavor profile of a sweet white vintage—something between a buttery Chardonnay, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc, and syrupy Gewurztraminer.

WHITE WINE LOVER’S COLLECTION

But perhaps mother would prefer her wine and cheese as individual entities. We’ve got you covered. Here’s a collection that we put together specifically to pair with white wine. It has four different cheeses, a tablet of dark chocolate, buttery oat cakes, and whipped maple cream. Just pick up a bottle or two of white and this incredible collection is complete.

PORTA ROCCA

Porta Rocca is made by the legendairy Italian creamery Quattro Portoni. Buffalo produce the richest of milks, and this wheel is creamy and mild, with the slightest tang of thick, fresh yogurt. Pair it with some grapes, nuts, and blossom honey to make a Mother’s Day cheese board for the ages.

BURRATA LOVER’S COLLECTION

Burrata is the It cheese: It’s delicious. It’s eminently photogenic. It goes well with everything. And here, it brings a luscious, ribbony texture to a trinity of Italian classics. Laid out alongside buttery, vibrantly green Castelvetrano olives and silky sheets of ruby-red Prosciutto di Parma, it serves as the anchor of a brilliant trio. Mama has just gotta burrata. Like, a lotta. Could she keep from smiling at this collection? We think notta.

BE HOME BLACK & WHITE MARBLE CHEVRON BOARD

Your mother deserves to be treated like royalty, so this artful board is the ideal centerpiece for her Mother’s Day spread. With its black and white chevrons, it looks like it would be at home in a French court. It also looks like it would make for the coolest backgammon board ever. No games here, though—this board is as sturdy and reliable as it is aesthetically elegant.

BE HOME NESTING BOWLS

Made of vibrant, hammered copper, these serving dishes are as perfect for holding dips like hummus and chutney as they are for snacks like nuts, pretzels, and dried fruits. An added bonus: you can easily measure how much you’re serving, as they nest from a quarter cup at the smallest to a whole cup at the largest.

And there’s even more where that came from. Take a peek at the complete Murray’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide.

Recently, we were approached with the suggestion of a type of cheese we’d never heard of before: Night Cheese. No, it doesn’t come from an obscure Vermont farm where the goats are only milked at beneath the moonlight, nor is it cheese that’s black as the midnight sky (although we do sell such cheeses, like this and this). No, as far as we know, Night Cheese comes from everyone’s favorite mid-to-late 2000’s NBC show, 30 Rock. “Working on my Night Cheese!” Liz Lemon sings, alone, to herself, in what looks like a Snuggy™ (did we mention this was the late 2000’s?). We’d link to the clip, but the GIF below basically sums it up:

Why such a long-winded discussion of a 2 second moment from a show that hasn’t been on TV in years? Like most people, we don’t think about Night Cheese often, if at all, but then we were approached by Carey Polis, the Digital Director at the food publication/juggernaut Bon Appetit, who wanted to do a class about Night Cheese.

The obvious question we had for her was just what the hell Night Cheese was. The answer was surprisingly simple: Night Cheese is that cheese you pull out at the end of a long day to pair with Netflix and your favorite beverage. No fuss, all deliciousness. We were sold, and set up a class to explore the deepest reaches of what Night Cheese is and what it can be. Here is just some of what we enjoyed that night. The photos are sized for a phone screen, as they came from our popular Cheese 101 Instagram Stories (if you haven’t already, throw us a follow!) :

First up was Murray’s La Tur, a creamy, luscious cheese that is so delicious, it’s easy to lose track of how much you’re enjoying. Luckily it’s nighttime, you’re alone(ish), and judgment over amount of cheese consumed means absolutely nothing. The caption says it all—this is cheese meant to be eaten far past its serving size.

Later on, we tried the cornerstone of the Night Cheese pantheon: Boursin. Because we’re human beings, we love Boursin in all its herby, garlicky, spreadable glory. However, we don’t sell it. Our executive chef, David Elkins, whipped up this homemade Boursin just for the class and it was even better than the original. We aren’t selling his creation, but we DO sell a spreadable cheese that hits all those Bourin-y flavors you’re looking for, and it happens to be one of our favorite snacking cheeses (read: Night Cheeses) right now: Meredith Dairy’s Marinated Feta.

In addition to cheese nicely laid out on our boards for tasting, we also had a wheel of Jasper Hill’s Harbison on each table accompanied by potato chips, because you can’t talk lovable cheeses without Harbison, which literally comes in its own bowl, and can be warmed up to make a single serving fondue (we know, it’s a life-changing move).

Night Cheese is now a permanent part of our lives, thanks to Carey, and we’re proud to have devoted a night to it. If you want to drink and eat delicious cheese, or love the idea of learning about cheese, check out our upcoming class schedule here, and be sure to follow us on Instagram for more glimpses into future classes!