How Cheesemakers Will Celebrate Father’s Day (And How You Can Too)

It should come as no surprise that at family-run creameries and cheese shops, cheese will be on the table for Father’s Day. We reached out to some of our favorite spots, coast-to-coast, to learn how sons and daughters plan to celebrate Father’s Day this year as well as some of their—pardon the pun—cheesy memories and recipes involving Dad.

Cedar Grove Cheese, Plain, Wisconsin, and Clock Shadow Creamery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Bob Wills (a Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker) and his son, Bo Wills, manage an urban and a rural creamery in the Dairy State. Clock Shadow Creamery, so named for the clock towering over Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, opened in 2012 with a mission to bring locals the freshest, squeakiest curds ever. The creamery also makes a hard-to-find cheese called quark, often likened to yogurt cheeses or cottage cheeses for its texture. Previously, curds were shuttled in from Cedar Grove Cheese, two hours away, and a ground-breaking creamery for its environmental efforts. In 1993, it became the country’s first cheesemaker with rBGH-free dairy products. Seven years later, it vowed to use only non-GMO ingredients.

“Father’s Day always falls around my father’s solstice birthday,” says Bob. “This year will be his 95th. I am hoping to get three Robert Wills together for at least one more round of Chees-E-Que, smoked meat, cucumber salad, potatoes au gratin and Kaesekuchen. Lately, I have had a sweet tooth. While I love Quark cheese for its versatility, using it for cheese cake satisfies my craving.”

Make a quark cheesecake for Father’s Day

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co., Point Reyes Station, California

Diana Giacomini Hagan, Lynn Giacomini Stray and Jill Giacomini Basch co-own this Northern California creamery that their father Bob Giacomini founded in 1960. They are committed to sourcing milk from sustainably run dairies and also harvests methane-powered renewable energy.

“Despite being raised on a dairy farm, Bob ‘The Big Cheese’ didn’t grow up eating a lot of cheese so it wasn’t something he craved,” Basch explains, “until he and his family started producing it themselves back in 2000. Bob still enjoys the company’s iconic Original Blue the most. The classic style, ultra-creamy, full-flavored blue cheese is what launched the brand, has been loved by chefs across the country and is the perfect blue in salads, on burgers, and as the stand-alone star of a cheese board.”

His favorite way to enjoy the cheese is “stuffed inside of olives in his vodka martini,” says Jill, “and if you know him, you’ve probably enjoyed one together!”

Try a blue cheese stuffed olive in a classic martini

Casa Della Mozzarella, New York City

Carlo Carciotto describes his family’s business along Arthur Avenue in the Bronx—which he runs with his father, Orazio Carciotto, an Italian immigrant—as “an Italian marketplace that specializes in mozzarella.” What this means is that you can not only pick up their house-made mozzarella but other Italian foods, too, such as jars and cans of tomatoes or bags of pasta, along with fresh, hearty sandwiches that fold in burrata and mozzarella and are sold through the deli.

“My father’s favorite cheese is mozzarella. He enjoys it in the simplest way: mozzarella with a slice of tomato, olive oil, and basil. Our family on Father’s Day, typically we either go to a Italian restaurant in Manhattan or my father makes us pasta al forno,” says Carlo, “which is baked ziti, Sicilian style.”

Make a Caprese Salad

Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, Theresa, Wisconsin

Joe’s grandfather founded and established this creamery (which makes brick, cheddar, and Colby cheeses) an hour northwest of downtown Milwaukee in 1922. Today Joe—a Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker—works with his son, Joey, to manage the 12,000-square-foot plant and retail shop, which locals shop at often.

They both plan to take Father’s Day off. “We usually golf in the morning on Father’s Day and then go out to a fine restaurant with my wife and daughter and then go home to open gifts,” says Joe. “My 91-year-old father-in-law will also join us.”

As for Joe’s favorite cheese, hands down it’s the Washed Rind Brick Cheese he makes. “I like to eat it on dark rye bread with a slice of raw red onion and mustard,” he says.