If “dream job” had a dictionary definition, we’re pretty sure it would show you a picture of cheesemonger in action (sorry to the lactose-intolerant out there).
Caroline Hesse, of C. Hesse Cheese, has such a job. The Long Island native has spent the past few years amassing a steady local following with a wholesale operation based in East Williamsburg. Once a month, she opens her warehouse to the public for a one-day-only sale. You can catch the next one on May 30, but move fast, as RSVP spots will go quickly!
We had to know—just how does someone end up with this kind of a job? We spoke to Hesse about all that and more for our latest ‘Greenpoint at Work’ profile.
Tell us about you, and how you ended up in this field.
I grew up on Long Island, New York. And I always grew up around food—my dad was a chef in Manhattan and Long Island, as well. It’s funny, we actually grew up across the street from a cheesemonger at Ideal Cheese. He used to come over and do cheese tastings with my dad when I was a little girl, and I’d always sit in on them, and they looked like so much fun and I was, like, wow, this is so civilized, I don’t know why everybody doesn’t do this? And then I kind of forgot about it for most of my life until I graduated college.
After college, I knew I wanted to keep working in food. I got this idea that it would be great to learn about how cheese was made because I had no idea how cheese was made, and it was always just, like, a layover; it was never going to be the destination, it was always just, like, I’m going to do this until I figure out what my plans are for grad school and all this other stuff.
I had a cheese making apprenticeship in 2014. I was supposed to be there for a year, but ended up only being there for about six weeks because I realized that I’m not a farmer. I need way too much stimulation, so ended up moving back to New York, got a job at a cheese shop, still kind of thought it was a layover until then it just wasn’t!
Curiosity kind of led me here, and finding a real passion kind of kept me.
What does a typical day look like?
The week goes in a cycle for me, so the start of the week—Mondays, Tuesdays—are a lot of order fulfillment, especially with direct-to-consumer and stuff that goes through the mail and wholesale customers that aren’t based within my local delivery range. They all get serviced via FedEx or UPS and insulation and a ton of ice packs and a lot of prayers.
So, I like to get those out as soon in the week as I can, because we don’t want anything to get stuck in transit over the weekend. Then Wednesdays are kind of an admin day. Usually I’ll drive to this big cross dock facility in Long Island City called Larkin Cold Storage. It’s a massive cold warehouse that does consolidation, and I have a lot of my cheese makers who will go through there, so I’ll pick stuff up at that consolidation point, I’ll bring it in. Thursdays, more product kind of lands, and I’m packing up my second local delivery truck and then Fridays are usually the days I reserve for going on tastings.
Or if I’m working on a Saturday, Thursdays are usually like my hooky days, I’ll do my laundry and work from home and stuff like that.
When did you start opening the doors to people on weekends, and how has that response been?
It’s funny because I moved in November of 2022 and then by January of 2023 I was, like, completely out of money.
I didn’t start the business with any investors and I didn’t take on any big business loans. All of my startup capital was through Kickstarter it was all crowdsourced
That well dried out real quick! So in January I realized that I needed to get more cash flow. And if that’s when I did the first warehouse sale, and then I’ve been doing them every month since. I’ve truly been doing them for years.
And it used to be that if 30 or 40 people showed up, that was a really good day. And then starting in probably September was when we started seeing much bigger numbers of, like, a hundred people coming and then the last one we did was, I think, 260 people here.
It’s funny, I’ve been doing it for years and just recently has it kind of become what it is now.
What is your favorite part of the job?
I love being around cheese. I started this business because I was running wholesale for a cheese distribution business. And then the owners of that business retired so the company closed. I told myself as I was looking for new jobs [that] if you’re gonna stay in this industry, you have to have your hands on the product. You will not take a job where you’re just at a desk not around the product that you’re selling. Because if that’s the case, then you should be moving into a sector that has higher margins and isn’t perishable, you know? So I would say just like getting to be able to be around the cheese, and being able to share it with people is my absolute favorite thing. I can’t believe I get to do that as a job, it’s crazy.
What are some of your favorite local spots?
There’s this little Taiwanese spot on Grand [Street] that’s around the corner from the warehouse called A-Pou’s Taste (963 Grand St.) By all accounts, I consider the woman that runs it my mother because she kept me alive for the first, like, two years that I was opening the business. I was eating there constantly. The food is so good, it’s so affordably priced. That is a 10 out of 10 restaurant for me. I think it’s the best pork chop in New York City.
For Greenpoint spots, I have to shout out Lise and Vito (126A Nassau Ave.) I love that bar.
What do you do when you’re not working?
When am I not working? [laughs]
I’ve gotten really into painting. So I’ve been doing a lot of just little paintings and crafts about the house. Now that the weather is nice, I’m a big fan of the beach. Being from Long Island in the summer, just kind of hopping right on the railroad and going out to my parents house for the weekend is so nice, it’s my favorite.
What cheese would you bring to a beach day friend hang situation?
Okay, so I would probably bring something that will be okay if it sweats a little bit. There are certain cheeses that once they heat up all of the butter fat just kind of leaks out of them. And I wouldn’t want to bring something too pungent. So I feel like my option would have to be either baby Gouda from Jake’s because that stays good. Or I would have to say probably the Mt. Alice from von Trapp Farmstead in Vermont. Those both cheeses are kind of crowd pleasers that can handle some sun, that can handle some sand.
Also, cheese is a great way in the summer to not have to turn on the stove at all.