MAKING OF
California Homes Editor, Rosie D’Argenzio, get friendly with a few of the kids.
Always cool and collected, Nick Peyton relaxes in his beautiful restaurant.
On A Sunny Day In Healdsburg, Two Masters In Their Own Right Got Together To Celebrate One Very Simple Pleasure: Cheese
By Rosie D’Argenzio
Photography by Adam Bulger
Alan Richman, the food columnist for GQ, once wrote, “Taking an American to a restaurant with a cheese trolley is as frustrating as taking a Frenchman to a baseball game.”
Well, on this particular day, a French man and an American got together to talk shop about the art that each has perfected, which, when combined, culminated with the makings of the perfect cheese cart.
The two masters in which we refer are: Nick Peyton, Co-owner (with Chef Douglas Keane) and Mâitre d’ of the nationally acclaimed Cyrus restaurant in Healdsburg and famed artisanal cheese makers Pasqual Destandau and Eric Smith of Pug’s Leap Diary.
Here are a few behind the scenes images from Pug’s Leap goat farm, where we got our shirts nibbled by goats, watched them being milked and witnessed the hand made intricacies of each mold of cheese. In the end we became utterly smitten by Mr. Peyton’s charm, which has made him the man behind the scenes, of the most exquisite fine dining establishments in San Francisco.
FEATURES
Photographer, Adam Bulger, catches a strong pose from one of Pug’s Leap billie goats.
This operation is truly a simple one, a tea kettle is used to create the steam needed for the cheese making process.
The kids of Pug’s Leap like to stick together..
