News

May 30, 2024

The beauty of charcuterie: Food and artistry

Reporter After graduating college, DeJa Robinson began working in the insurance industry. But she quickly felt something was missing. “I was using my degree, but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in my job,”

Reporter

After graduating college, DeJa Robinson began working in the insurance industry. But she quickly felt something was missing.

“I was using my degree, but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in my job,” Robinson said. “So, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to find something that I can do every day that I want to wake up to and get to share with other people.’”

That’s when she decided to create her own business from what she enjoyed doing: hosting.

“I’ve always loved hosting. I love having friends over or inviting neighbors over and just creating a full spread,” Robinson said. “I was like, ‘OK, I think I can make a business out of that.’”

Robinson pursued the idea, opening The Board Gatherings back in February. The Colorado Springs-based company offers luxury charcuterie boards and picnics, catering a range of events, from weddings to a girl’s night in.

“Now I just want to share the joy and community that’s shared around a meal,” she said.

This charcuterie board by The Board Gatherings displayed a spread of fruits, olives, honey, cheeses, crackers and nuts. Because the board would be sitting out through the event for a few hours, owner DeJa Robinson opted to leave out the meat for this arrangement.

Charcuterie boards, which is a spread of meats, cheeses, fruits and crackers, are continuing to rise in popularity among Americans. That’s according to Kroger’s 2023 Food Trends Report, which predicts that charcuterie boards will continue along a positive trend throughout the year.

“It’s a really elegant way to showcase food, and there’s so many different things that you can do with food,” Robinson said.

The variety of food offered by charcuterie boards is appealing, Robinson said, especially since boards can be tailored to an individual’s taste and dietary restrictions.

“Say, for a wedding, if you order a charcuterie or a graze table, there’s something on there for everyone, and I think that’s really important,” Robinson said. “Just making sure everyone has something that they like, available for them.”

This charcuterie board by The Board Gatherings was an advertisement for DeJa Robinson’s business as much as it was for the stylist the event was held for; Robinson created the board for free with the surplus from other recent projects to advertise her business.

Charcuterie can be made for a wide range of events. Robinson has catered bridal and baby showers, bachelorette parties, proposals, anniversaries, graduations, date nights and picnics. Her most popular option: the classic board.

“I think people really like the classic box just because it’s a traditional charcuterie box, but they get to customize it in the notes when they order,” she said. “They can tell me exactly what they like, what they don’t like.”

Robinson tries to release a new board monthly, most recently introducing a crudités board, which is a vegetable spread. That board, Robinson said, has become the second most popular item.

While customers tend to make requests for what’s on the board, Robinson often gets creative freedom for the design.

“Charcuterie gives me an outlet for design and artistry and I get to be creative,” she said.

Making a board starts with the food. Robinson will lay out the food she’s going to use, and design the board from there.

“I will look at different cuts that I think showcase the food in a more elegant way, and then I will lay everything out,” she said. “Sometimes it takes me three or four times moving things around if that’s not exactly how I want it.”

When designing a board, Robinson infuses practicality and visual appeal.

{p class=”custom-cursor-default-hover”}The Board Gatherings’ owner DeJa Robinson prepares cheese, fruit, crackers and nuts to build a charcuterie board for a stylist event at White House Black Market in Colorado Springs, Co., on Friday, July 28, 2023. She slices, washes and checks for imperfections at her rented station at the Hive Kitchen Market.{/p}

“I’ll just kind of try to lay everything out in a way that is first of all convenient, so it’s easy for people to snack on and enjoy,” she said. “It’s easy for people to snack on and then also just visually beautiful. So, I just tried to use cuts and different foods for meats and cheese that are more traditional, and sometimes I just like to play around with it and see if I can come up with a new way of styling something.”

But her main goal with each board is to make the event itself that much more special, Robinson said. “Most importantly, just focus on why they’re gathering in the first place. So the food should just be an addition to whatever you’re celebrating, a nice complement to the reason for your gathering.”

In addition to catering, Robinson has also hosted several workshops centered around charcuterie and crafts. She also teaches classes for those in the Springs interested in learning how to make their own charcuterie boards.

“We’ll do a charcuterie class so that people can come in and build their own boards and learn different traditional cuts for cheese, and different stylings of meat,” she said. “Also, we have pairings class so that we can talk a little bit more about wines and how the notes play off of different flavors in fruit and cheese and meat.”

As for the future of The Board Gatherings, Robinson hopes to continue to provide products that help people focus on spending time with those they’re gathering with.

“We’ve added brie take-and-bakes, just things to make hosting and having a gathering easier for whoever’s planning so that they can focus on who they’re gathering with and what they’re celebrating,” Robinson said.

The Board Gatherings is open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information, visit theboardgatherings.com or call 337-353-2070.

Have a sweet tooth? This list is for you.

Reporter

Comments are open to Gazette subscribers only