Cheese Whiz Norman couple bringing some of the world's best cheeses and imported foods to Oklahomans hungry for more exotic tastes
By Sharon Dowell
Published: October 18, 2006
NORMAN — A decade ago, Suzy Thompson set out to pursue a career making historical documentary films. After living in New York and Los Angeles, she's back in Oklahoma and keeping Oklahomans supplied with 200 of the world's finest cheeses and quality imported and American foods.
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Switching from a career in filmmaking to marketing fine cheeses has been an interesting path for the Enid native. She moved to New York City a year after earning a history degree from the University of Oklahoma. When her film studies left her with free time, she whiled away the hours watching the Food Network.
Her roommate suggested she apply for an internship at the Food Network instead of just watching its programming.
"I did, and I loved the Food Network," Thompson recalled recently while sitting on a makeshift bench in the back room of Forward Foods, the upscale grocery shop open barely a month.
"The internship lasted six weeks, and then it turned into a full-time job."
She moved on to Los Angeles, where her future husband, Norman native Steve Reynolds, was living at the time. Thompson was still in the film industry but missed the food connection so much, she sought out a second job working in a cookbook shop. "That was the funnest job I will ever have. I love cookbooks!" she giggled. Thompson and Reynolds moved back to New York in 2000, and she secured a job with Martha Stewart Living.
"I was an editorial assistant," she said. "My desk was in the test kitchen. I did the resource guide, and it was so relevant to what I'm doing now because I would call specialty food shops all over the country to see if they had ingredients. I resourced all their cookware and ingredients. I really got to know sources. There are vendors I am using now that I learned about through that job."
When family obligations brought the couple back to Oklahoma in 2001, it was a year before they were ready to open Opolis, a small coffeehouse by day and a music venue at night, situated on a side street in the downtown area. "We had a portable kitchen on wheels," Thompson recalled. "It was crazy! I didn't see it lasting for a long time. It was basically a launching pad for this business."
What also developed at Opolis was a cult following of sorts. A University of Oklahoma professor, representing a number of colleagues, asked Thompson and Reynolds if they'd consider offering some cheeses not readily available in Oklahoma. The couple agreed and eventually held six, weekend-long cheese sales at Opolis, relying on an e-mail list that started with 20 names and quickly grew to well over 400 people.
For the first sale, they ordered $800 worth of cheeses and hoped someone, anyone, would show up. "We had people standing outside in an ice storm, in the rain, to be the first in line to buy cheese," Thompson recalled. "And then I'd pretty much double how much cheese I would order for the next sale — and then we'd sell out again.
"I only knew cheese as a consumer, so the first time I ordered just 20 different cheeses, then 35, then 40, then 90. Each time I ordered what I'd gotten before and more. I got to know all about the cheeses, and we were always open to suggestions from our customers.
"That was absolutely the best test market opportunity we could have hoped for, because I learned that a lot of people here really love cheese."
With the opening of Forward Foods, Thompson and Reynolds, who handles the shop's new Web site and financial end of the business, are now ordering from three main sources as well as working directly with some cheesemakers so small they don't have representatives.
The couple make multiple trips weekly to Will Rogers World Airport to pick up air freight shipments of delicate cheeses from as far away as Tasmania, Greece, Bulgaria and Portugal.
The cheeses — more than 200 in stock at present — are some of the best selections from Spain, Italy, France, Ireland, England and Switzerland. They're all sizes and shapes, some pungent and others with more mild aromas, some wrapped in delicate leaves or seeds. There are aged cheeses, and raw milk cheeses that are surprisingly popular locally.
The inventory includes some award-winning American artisanal cheeses, too, such as Red Hawk and Mount Tam from the wildly popular Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station, Calif.; Hudson Valley camembert from Old Chatham Shepherding Co., Old Chatham, N.Y.; and Bermuda Triangle and Humboldt Fog cheeses from Cypress Grove Chevre, Arcata, Calif.
Cheeses range in price from a $6-per-pound Italian Ricotta Salata, a table cheese that's similar to feta, to the unusual $30-per pound Katy's White Lavender, a creamy white English cheese made with sheep's milk that's coated in lavender leaves. It's taste is delicate, definitely lavender and with just a hint of lemon.
For Oklahoma food lovers, this shop is long overdue. For Thompson, it's the realization of a dream she's worked hard to achieve.
Tin pails filled with colorful fresh flowers greet guests stepping into Forward Foods. Racks of food books — cheese guides, Martha Stewart volumes and other new titles — line a portion of one wall in the front of the shop. Refrigerated cases stocked with bottled juices and waters are displayed near the checkout area. Fresh-baked loaves of Farrell Family breads from Tulsa line one display area, next to some organic produce, while imported creme fraiche and Oklahoma's Wagon Creek Creamery yogurt cheese and high-end butters dot another refrigerated display case. It's very much an Oklahoma take on a European market.
Open boxes of bulk artisanal Italian pasta, all sizes and shapes, line a display area down the center aisle of the shop, along with similar containers of such heirloom beans as rattlesnake, marrow and peruana next to exotic-looking rices such as the Himalayan red, green bamboo and a purple sticky rice. Bulk displays allow guests to buy as much or as little as desired, Thompson said.
Patrons can fill 8-ounce Forward Foods bottles with fine imported balsamic vinegars and olive oils, also from bulk dispensers. An outer wall lined with restaurant-style shelving includes sea salts, honey, 1-ounce portions of many different spices, crackers and other imported foods.
Thompson is already working to develop a cheese menu for Benvenutis Restaurante, also a new business along Main Street, and hopes to team with a local wine shop to eventually offer cheese and wine tastings.
Party trays with the cheeses, imported olives and other foods are in the works as the holiday season nears.
"People have walked in and told us, ‘Thank you. Finally we have something of this caliber right here,'" Thompson said. "We just love this. It's not grueling work, it's our passion."
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