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Big Cheese Rollout

The recent appearance of restaurant carts overflowing with cheese is a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it's a chance to try rarely seen, hard-to-get cheeses. But sampling too many cheeses in one sitting can be palate-deadening. And honestly, can 15 cheeses on a rolling trolley all be in superb condition at the same time?

"If it's titillation you're after, tasting four or five cheeses can be fun, just like doing a dessert tasting," said Randolph Hodgson, the owner of Neal's Yard Dairy in London. "But to really savor a cheese, I like a simple presentation, one cheese in great condition, cut in the kitchen and served just with bread and perhaps fruit."

New York restaurants have yet to scale down to such stark elegance. But at least two in San Francisco have mastered the Zen art of cheese. At Zuni Cafe, Judy Rogers offers a special cheese plate consisting of one perfect American or imported cheese, a complementary fruit and bread or biscotti. At Campton Place, the cart is limited to 10 cheeses, which are selected by Daphne Zehos, the cheese program director.

For home exploration, tasting several versions of a single type of cheese is an enlightening way to discover your own taste and, with wine and bread, a fine meal in itself. It's nice to serve a wine from the same region or country where the cheese was produced, but big, rich cheeses basically support big, tannic red wines. Milder, more delicate cheeses need quieter companions - lighter reds, full-bodied whites or, on occasion, sweet wines, like Sauternes with blue cheeses.

Always serve cheese at room temperature, removing it from the refrigerator about two hours ahead. As long as it is ripe, you can relax about trying to capture the exact moment of perfection. As Ms. Zephos said, "There is no one absolute point of maturity, but there are several great peaks in the life of a cheese."'

To keep cheese at its best, wrap it in waxed paper and store it in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. (Keeping it in plastic wrap or foil will create an overly damp environment and a sweaty cheese.) To store cheese for just a day or two, put it on a plate and cover it with a clean terra-cotta flowerpot (a standard one with a hole in the bottom) that has been soaked briefly in cold water. This tip comes from Beth Carlson, the cheese making assistant at Vermont Shepherd. It not only works, but also provides a definite and pleasant rustic ambiance to any urban kitchen.

SUZANNE HAMLIN