With the main attraction of the night being cheese, the Biola Honorable Cheese Society hosted the university’s first semi-annual Cheese Gala last Wednesday, Nov. 28.
Tickets for the gala were sold out, and around 80 guests attended the event. The doors of the Café Banquet room opened at 6 p.m., and the guests were greeted with live jazz music played by Professor Starcher of the Intercultural Studies department, chaplain’s assistant Andrew Braine and juniors Dave Martina and Alexandra Geffel. An assortment of light cheeses such as Porter cheese, drunken goat cheese and Stilton with apricot and cranberries were available as snacks.
The guests were later served either a tomato doux de montange soup or a cherry Gorgonzola salad for the first course, and a choice between steaks with smoked cheddar spread and baked penne with artichoke, mushrooms and mozzarella for the main course. Brie with fig paste and almonds were served for dessert.
“I think the menu was well thought out and very appropriate,” freshman Zachary Heinrichs said. “I really enjoyed the courses that were provided and was glad to see that everyone else seemed to enjoy them as well.”
During the night, the club president Ben Chernikoff read from one of G.K Chesterton’s essays titled “Cheese.” Chesterton’s writings have become a traditional during the club’s biweekly meetings.
Established in the fall of 2006, the cheese club average of 30 to 40 people during its meetings. The idea for the event came up at the start of the club, but it finally came together with the help of a pubic relations group and a budget provided by Associated Students (AS). The goal of this event was to provide students with a time to relax, have fun before finals and to enjoy a variety of cheese and courses made with cheese.
“We mostly stay in Stewart, but we got to know other people from all over campus,” said Jonah Nagashima, vice president of the club. “We also got to show people that cheese can be more than Kraft singles.”
While setting up the event, Chernikoff and Nagashima faced a few complications. Chernikoff purchased tablecloths that did not fit the tables, and after they set up the food in an adjacent room of the Café banquet room, they were informed that the room was available only for Bon Appetit catering.
“It was hectic,” said Dave Ellis, a waiter for the event and an active member of the club. “Everything only fell into place last-minute.”
The Café eventually provided tablecloths, and the food setup was moved into the Café banquet room.
“I noticed they were very busy, but they seemed like they had everything under control,” said sophomore Jennifer Roman. “It was cool to see people in the club serving us and sharing their passion.”
Club members were pleased and encouraged by the results of the event.
“We learned so much from this event from what went wrong and how we could fix it,” said Chernikoff. “As a result of this, future events will be better.”
For the following semester, the club plans to host another gala, have more meetings, and learn to make a variety of cheeses.
