Mike Geno’s Cheese Art: An Invite

Back in February, I told you about Mike Geno, a Philadelphia food artist working on an all-cheese series for a gallery in Seattle. Since then, Mike has accompanied me on a few cheese-buying junkets and posted his paintings on Twitter as he completes them, much to the delight of the cheese community.

I wanted you to be able to see (and potentially purchase) these in person, so Mike and I are teaming up for a private studio visit on Saturday, May 7 from 3-6 p.m. It’s a chance for you, dear readers, to take in some cheese portraiture and nibble on wedges of what you see. Lo, a full body cheese experience.

This will be the only chance to nab Mike’s stunning work before it gets shipped off to Cakespy Gallery for the June show. A number of the cheeses are local – like Doe Run's Hummingbird, Amazing Acres' Sea Smoke, and Bobolink's Drumm – and most, if not all, are artisanal. In a way, it’s a tribute show to some of the most beautiful cheeses being produced today.

And a few that are no longer being produced, like Sally Jackson’s Renata. R.I.P.

Mike has asked me not to publish his address online, so please drop me a note (tenayadarlington@gmail.com) if you’d like to attend and I’ll email you an invite. All paintings will be for sale; some of his work is also listed on etsy. For a preview, check out the show on flickr.

Below are a few of my favorites.

Weybridge

Strathdon Blue

Pecorino Ginepro

Barely Buzzed

Ginepro: Cheese and...gin

As much as I like beer and wine, I am a cocktail person. I have a thing for fizzes and rickeys. Don’t hold it against me. If I had the choice between a gin’n tonic or a big smiley Cab, I’d go for the gin – there, now I’ve come clean. Can we move on?

Good, because I need to tell you about my Ginepro problem. I have some in the fridge, and I can’t stop sniffing it. It smells like, well, a gin’n tonic – faintly, of course, but it’s there. I have found a cheese that smells like my favorite cocktail, which means, in my head, summer has begun. To continue reading, please visit the Di Bruno Blog.

Full disclosure: This post is part of a paid series I write for Di Bruno Bros. every other Wednesday.