Graze & Co. is a cheese and charcuterie catering business that creates edible works of art for weddings, corporate events and private parties of all sizes. Spearheaded by Haley Keane, grazing tables, cheese and charcuterie boards, individual boxes and more offer customers a variety of ways to "eat more art."
In January of 2019, Haley started Connecticut’s first standalone cheese and charcuterie board business in an effort to "bring something new to the catering scene." The ethos of Graze & Co. is to bring people together in an effortless way over edible art, Haley explains. "This is so important to me as an artist," she states. "My parents, who are both artists, raised me to prioritize creative expression and to examine how that can bring people together."
The largest part of her business right now is wedding catering, where the team offers bespoke grazing tables for cocktail hours or even as a full dinner. "It is such a fun and interactive way to welcome your guests and have a real, show-stopping centerpiece," Haley says.
The Graze & Co. team obtains many of its products locally, staying true to their ethical ethos of composting food scraps with local farms, using reusable and/or biodegradable products. They work with local purveyors "whenever possible" including Wonderland Jam, Qui Charcuterie and Red Bee Honey, also sourcing top quality products from all over the country and internationally to bring their curated selection of meats and cheeses to beloved clients. Some of their favorite cheeses of the moment are from Capriole Goat Cheese, Cowgirl Creamery and Arethusa Farm & Dairy.
In addition to creating unique cheese boards and wedding catering, the thoughtful business also offers workshops for large and small groups who are interested in designing grazing boards or learning more about cheese pairing.
"Attendees can expect to learn from our board designers about how we select ingredients—including fun accoutrements like cloudberries, kiwi berries or sweets drop peppers—how to assemble the board in an artful way, and tricks of the trade they can use when making their own boards," Haley explains. The team also offers special pairing classes taught by their in-house cheesemonger that will be a "more specialized experience" concerning cheese and meats which can be personalized based on whether the class is taught in partnership with a winery, brewery, kombucha brewery or other. "Workshops can be so much fun to host as a work retreat, bridal or baby shower, birthday party or a fun and interactive holiday party," Haley notes. I'm getting excited (and hungry) just thinking about it.
WEBSITE: grazeandco.com
INSTAGRAM: @grazeandcoct