Best Cheese Plates In Chicago: Table, Donkey And Stick

By Erika Kubick in Food on Jul 7, 2015 8:30PM

Cheese Plate at Table Donkey and Stick, featuring Nuvola di Pecorino, Cantal Entre-Doux, Muffato, and Piper's Pyramid. Photo by Erika Kubick

There’s nothing quite like unwinding from a long workday with a platter of delicious cheese and outstanding charcuterie. Boasting an exquisite beverage program alongside imaginative dishes, Table, Donkey and Stick, in Logan Square, is quickly becoming one of our favorite spots to fulfill our craving for both cheese and cured meats.

The Logan Square restaurant specializes in the Alpine tradition of pairing rustic delicacies with brandy and crusty bread. The highlight of their menu is the Wanderteller, German for hiker’s plate, an assortment of fine, artisanal cheese and house made charcuterie. While their specific offerings change often, we’ve never been disappointed.

There are always four cheeses on the menu, each served with candied nuts and pollen-dusted honey. Our favorite on the current menu is Piper's Pyramid, a soft goat cheese with a downy rind and a thin layer of paprika in the middle. It smells of sandstone, grass and sweet grain. It's clean and dense with flavors of whipped butter and toasted marshmallow, yet still refreshing on the palate.

Our other favorite is Muffato, an herb-wrapped cow’s milk blue from Italy. The rich aromatics are sweet and juicy, a bit like rotting tea. It has a thick, chewy texture like a moist coconut macaroon with notes of milk chocolate and mint fudge. The menu also includes Nuvola di Pecorino, a mild beefy semi-firm sheep cheese with a zing of lemon, and Cantal Entre-Deux a classic, nutty cow milk cheese with notes of dry hay and intense cream. Every cheese is perfectly ripe, unique, and delicious, each offering their own unique qualities to the cheese plate as a whole.

The cheese on the menu at Table, Donkey and Stick are perfect for pairing with the restaurant’s renowned charcuterie. We tend to be skeptical of house made charcuterie, which is often an arduous task brought on imperfectly by trend-seeking restaurants. Luckily, Executive Chef Scott Manley has both the experience and the focus to offer a selection of perfected charcuterie items. “It’s kinda thing that kept following me,” he says of his rich background in curing meats. Manley has spent time honing his skills at both Perennial Virant and El Ideas.

The attention to detail is perhaps the most impressive aspect of Manley’s charcuterie; he pairs each of items with its own unique accoutrements. “I got sick of going into places and getting a charcuterie plate with a pâté, some liver, some rillettes and cornichons with parsley salad, whole grain mustard and bread. I love those things, but I don’t want to make them,” says Manley. He typically pairs each item with a preserve or a pickle of some sort, a fresh herb and a textural element. Our favorite is always the duck liver mousse, which is currently served with cocoa nibs, rhubarb and hyssop.

Table, Donkey and Stick also bakes their own bread, so be sure to order a fresh rye baguette or toothsome sunflower oat toast to pair with your platter. It’s worth mentioning that their Wanderteller menu is half-off after 10 p.m. at the bar.

Table, Donkey and Stick is located at 2728 W. Armitage Ave.