Chef opens connoisseur charcuterie, cheese small business in New Milford

She lately opened a connoisseur charcuterie and cheese business enterprise in city named Bleu on Bank. The store is geared toward people who are entertaining.

“My solid suit was often supper functions,” explained DeFeo, a mother of two who opened the 1,800-square-foot organization on 50 Bank Street with her spouse John DeFeo, 52, a landscape architect for Shoreline Swimming pools in Stamford.

The initially portion of the shop is a showroom built like a residing place and dining space. It is loaded with platters, reducing boards, cocktail napkins, glasses, plates, and chef knives.

All things are for sale.

The next part of the store carries the food items for the charcuterie, such as caviar, dried fruit and nuts, mustard, jam, honey, crab cakes, cheese and pate, as perfectly as curry, kale salad, bacon wrapped dates and truffle ricotta unfold.

There are also olives, capers, bread, crackers, halvah, dark chocolate, quiches, salads and soups.

“We’re going to do a French onion soup grilled cheese,” DeFeo reported. “You do a saute of the onions like you would for a French onion soup. We will accompany that with a roasted basil and tomato bisque.”

She also provides platters that are Italian, Moroccan, Indian and Spanish inspired. She said she has traveled thoroughly and has figured out worldwide cooking.

The shop sources from community farms for its cheeses, create and veggies.

Bleu on Lender staff can both get ready charcuterie boards for buyers or consumers can acquire the products that go on the boards for preparation at property.

Buyers can order platters that will be out there on the same working day. They can also buy stuffed baskets to deliver when invited to other’s homes.

Prior to opening the company, DeFeo received a facade enhancement grant of $1,400 from the New Milford Economic Development Company.

The grants are available to New Milford corporations and industrial residence house owners found in the Village Centre for façade advancements to corporations,. Advancements can consist of new doorways, repainting, fix of partitions and windows, and other types of improvements that will beautify the village.

Bleu on Lender is in the site of Ruby Bridal Boutique, which has permanently closed.

“We gutted and completely redid the total keep,” DeFeo said.

Moving up

Prior to starting to be a chef, DeFeo was a wardrobe stylist for garments commercials, print get the job done and videos in Manhattan and Los Angeles.

“I married the two,” stated DeFeo, when referring to the two parts of her store.

In 1997, she graduated from the Institute of Culinary Training in Manhattan with a specialist culinary degree. Following working at a cafe for the duration of her internship for 1 calendar year, she went ideal into getting a non-public chef for superstars — and catering.

She options to carry on doing work as a particular chef on a freelance basis.

When functioning for celebrity shoppers, she explained she’s usually questioned to make precise meals on “on a whim.”

She has accommodated persons with exclusive diets, such as uncooked, gluten-totally free and vegan, and all those with unique blood kinds, with heart sickness, and diabetic issues.

“I would have their nutritionist get hold of me instantly and then I’d cook dinner inside my parameters,” she stated.

DeFeo moved to New Milford three yrs in the past and mentioned she fell in love with the town.

“It’s very charming and quintessential New England,” she said.

She said the time was right to open up the store, and she was ready to try out a new enterprise. She mentioned due to the fact she lives far from New York Town, the Hamptons and Greenwich in which her consumers are, she selected to open up a enterprise near to household.

“It’s some thing that I’ve usually desired to do,” DeFeo claimed. “I preferred to have some thing which is my possess.”

Bleu on Financial institution, on 50 Bank St., can be reached at 860-799-7696.