"It's a cheese shop like any other. It's just that our specialty is vegan."
That's how Michaela Grob elevator-pitches Riverdel, her all-vegan specialty shop in Prospect Heights. Since opening in mid-November, Grob has been doing brisk business selling, yes, vegan cheese. And while she's well aware that her signature product is often the bane of food critics, chefs, and internet commenters, she's completely undeterred. "It's just good food and that's what we want to convey," Grob said. "You don't need to imitate cheeses—you can just make good food."
Let me assure you: the vegan cheese Riverdel makes in-house is, in fact, good food. On a recent trip I sampled their "Billy," which blends paprika and cayenne pepper into a cashew-based spread that's just the right amount of creaminess; it could pass for a spicy chevre. Even better is the shop's "Heinrich," a fermented semi-soft that's made with Allagash White beer and caraway seeds. It packs a punch. Riverdel also stocks wedges of all-almond spread (slightly truffle-ish with hints of lemon) from Brooklyn vegan cheesemongers Thousand Leaves, plus goods from Miyoko's, Treeline, and multiple varieties of dairy-free cheese from Williamsburg purveyor Dr. Cow.
Ingredients for the cheeses at Riverdel vary from cashew to hazelnut to hemp. A dairy case stocks almond milk and coconut yogurt. Grob stocks Faux Gras all-lentil pate and shelves along one of the walls are packed with crackers, local beer, and cookies that hit the trifecta: all organic, vegan, and gluten-free. Sandwiches that feature the shop's vegan cheese stock are made to order, and there's brewed coffee for sale as well.
(Scott Heins/Gothamist)
(Scott Heins/Gothamist)
Riverdel's selections are meant to stand on their own as cheeses too good to cook with, crumble atop salads, or grate over pasta. "What we focus on is a cheese that you would put on a plate, with crackers or a glass of wine," Grob said.
But there's still the central question: what, exactly, is this stuff? Can you honestly call these spreads cheese, serve them as cheese, eat them as cheese, and then go home and sleep at night like you've done nothing wrong? Is the very notion of "vegan cheese" a culinary crime against humanity? Or is it a thoughtful life-raft for lactose abstainers everywhere?
"What would you call it—'cultured nut product?' I mean that's the best alternative," she said. Grob firmly believes that a cheese needn't come from an any kind of animal. "There's cow cheese, there's goat cheese, and there's nut cheese," she said. "All that really matters is the fermentation."
Riverdel // 820 Washington Ave in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn // Open Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., closed Monday
