Nate Heinz, along with his brother Dean, are opening The Welsh Rabbit in downtown Fort Collins.
Nate will also be teaching two new classes at The Cupboard.

I wanted to get to know a little more about our newest instructor.

Last February Dean and I were skiing up at Winter Park with our folks and Dean’s family.  We were sitting around catching up after the kids had gone to bed brainstorming about where I would go next (I had recently left my job).  Dean’s wife Nancy suddenly decided that I should open a cheese shop in Fort Collins.  The idea was intriguing.  Both of them began reminiscing about a cheese shop in Denver that they visit when they can and the idea of getting out of the culinary world and spending my days being surrounded by cheese began to appeal to me.

We extended my plane ticket by a few days and spent the time roaming Fort Collins, chatting about the idea and doing some basic “due diligence”.  Somewhere between the first conversation and the time I left it had turned from the term “you could” to the statement “we should”.  I flew home and three weeks later showed up on my brother’s door step.  We have been running ever since.

Wow!  What a story.  Tell us a little bit about your background…

Shortly after graduating from culinary school I was one of the unbelievably lucky few that actually landed a job as Executive Chef without spending years slaving away on the line.  Then, I spent a few years as a “chef for hire”, wandering in and out of peoples’ kitchens creating meals for those who wanted to impress family and friends.  Eventually the appeal of regular hours drew me in and I spent the next few years kind of meandering through a few jobs where my concern was more of what I did rather than the ego building title I had been looking for right out of school.  I spent a short time as Restaurant Manager at an admittedly bad Italian restaurant, then, working as “The Pastry Guy” at a hotel, and finally winding up as a line cook at a cool little bistro in Ohio.  You could almost say I worked my way down the line instead of up it.

Sounds like perfect training to open a great cheese shop in Fort Collins!  I just have a few more questions….

First memory I have of loving cheese…I was an odd child.  I did not like cheese.  It was not till I was in my teens that I started enjoying it.  It has been more of a slow building friendship than a torrid love affair.

The last book I read was…How I wish I could say it was one of my many cook books but honestly it was “The Old Man and The Boy” by Robert Ruark.

Favorite item I would revive from the 70s…The song “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas. This is still one of my go to songs while cooking for large groups.

Favorite cheese for fondue…Right now it is all about the cheddar, the cheese of choice for dish Welsh Rabbit (or rarebit if you would like to start a lively discussion)…

I am counting down the days until…We can get the doors open on the shop.

Greatest gift of opening your own store… Connecting with my brother and his family.  It has been an unexpected bonus.

Greatest challenge of opening your own store…Letting go of the expectation of getting to open by certain dates.

Wish for 2012… Is wishing for the ability to magically develop the power to remember people’s names easily a realistic wish?

Thank you Nate!  I wish you great success in your endeavors at The Welsh Rabbit and in easily remembering peoples names.  If you figure out the secret, please let me know.

Cupboard fans, please take advantage of this great opportunity to learn about fondues and cheeses with Nate.  A chance not to be missed!  And we all look forward to the opening of the Welsh Rabbit.

Sure, everyone loves cupcakes.  My favorite is a classic yellow cupcake with chocolate butter cream frosting.  Recently cupcakes have been elevated to a whole new level, with cupcake shops popping up all over the country.  Karen Tack and Alan Richardson are at the forefront of this cupcake trend.  Authors of Hello Cupcake!, What’s New Cupcake?, and now Cupcakes, Cookies and Pies, Oh My!, they can create almost anything imaginable from a cupcake.  Dragons, flower pots, sheep, and shoes are just a few of the myriad shapes to emerge out of their cupcake creations.  The Cupboard has the honor of hosting Karen and Alan in our kitchen on Saturday February 11th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  They will be making two different cupcake creations.  Feel free to stop by and stay for as little or as long as you like and learn from the masters how to make unbelievably fun cupcakes.  And as a teaser, check out this video of their Chrysanthemum cupcake.  Yellow cake, chocolate frosting…I still like you, but you’ve been out-done.

In this digital age, you would think publishers would be printing less and less cookbooks.  In fact, this year’s crop of cookbooks is as strong as any year I’ve seen since I became the cookbook buyer in 2000.  I find that amazing, considering the growing strength of the Kindle and the Nook, cookbook apps, online recipe sites, and such.  But the cookbook, as a publishing category, is as strong as ever, due in part to the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.  [Read more...]