Who knew cheese could look this good? Fine Grazing’s cheese towers belong on your grazing table or dessert station!

Each season there are new vendors I discover that excite me and after 30+ weddings a year, I’m in awe of the creativity of the vendors in our industry. Fine Grazing is one of my picks for this season and I know these cheese towers will get your guests talking and elevate their experience on your wedding day!

I hope you enjoy this Q&A with Helen of Fine Grazing as much as I did.

Lei x

FINE GRAZING

“Say Cheese” takes on a new meaning with Fine Grazing, tell us a bit about what you create for your clients?

It was important for Fine Grazing cheese towers to be a curated cheese experience and more than just cheese stacked on top of one another.

Our clients wanted a unique product, that looks good, tastes good, impresses their friends, and catches lots of attention on their socials. They also happen to be a lot of fun to eat and a great conversation starter!

The Fine Grazing cheese tower collection ranges in sizes (diameters of 3”, 5”, 6”, 8”) feeding as little as 5 to as many as 200 people.

They’ve been designed to look like a cake, so they style well with other desserts and cakes, and also stand proud as the wedding cake itself!

Tell us a bit about how you became the creative that you are today?

Before there was cheese, there was fashion…

I studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and during my time there I learnt the art of shoe making. One day I came across this amazing blue glittery leather in Manhattan’s fashion district and from it I made these high heeled ankle boots. They sparkled at every step and gained quite a bit of attention. These boots travelled their way back to Melbourne to have an exhibition named after them, called ‘The Blue Shoes’.

More than a decade later ‘The Blue’ name re-emerged, this time in the form of cheese and the sparkle now coming from the glistening honeycomb that crowned her! This was the name of my first cheese tower and unbeknownst to me at the time, a reoccurring name in my designs. I’ve always been drawn to colour, textures (and a bit of sparkle) and my two worlds of fashion and food I notice often intertwine.

What ultimately lead me to cheese was the ‘cheese and wine’ event my husband and I would host at our home, each year, just before Christmas. My imagination would run wild with tablescapes and mood boards, with me acquiring all sorts of styling accessories months in advance!

This soon led me to being asked to create grazing tables for other peoples’ events. Here I was given the chance to create new, fun and unique ideas for the first time. These wild ideas soon evolved into the collection of cheese towers I offer today.

Your cheese towers are the perfect intersection between food & art. Where do you get your inspiration?

Cheese is a work of art in itself and my design process begins with a cheese that resonates with me. I’m often looking for palette (colours, shades) and palate (taste, textures).

My father and I created the machinery that enables me to cut cheese in the way I do. Seeing cheese in this cylindrical form deeply satisfied my creative tilt.

It’s also meant we achieved a beautiful combination of visual balance and interest, and even enhanced the eating experience.

What are 3 flavour combinations that make the perfect morsel?

‘Creamy + Sweet + Salty’ is the consistent formula in our entire cheese tower range….and make sure to add some texture too!

For example, THE CREME cheese tower;

• Creamy: Délice triple-cream

• Sweet: Manuka honeycomb (liquid gold) and quince jelly

• Salty: House-made sesame lavosh (here for its crispy texture too!)

Or, THE DOLCE cheese tower;

• Creamy: Shropshire Blue and a Jersey milk cheddar

• Sweet: Burnt honey, dried fig and hazelnut Turkish delight

• Salty: House-made sesame lavosh (salty and crispy)

• Textures: Lavosh, black grapes and hazelnuts from the delight

Thanks Helen!

Lei x

FINE GRAZING

IG:@finegrazing

www.finegrazing.com

To see more of Event Den’s event, check out my Ripponlea Estate Shoot.