Rainbow carrots, tender snap peas, watermelon radishes, wheels of goat brie, cave-aged blue cheese, honey-sweet fresh figs, applewood-smoked hard salami, and candied pecans are just some of the items you might want to “graze” on at your next event. That’s what New Rochelle resident Shari Ivler was thinking when she launched Graze New York in December, creating artfully constructed charcuterie, crudité, and dessert boards for cocktail parties and corporate events.
“The most important thing we look for is quality,” says Ivler, who sources fresh produce from local farmers’ markets and farm stands and cured meats from a nearby Italian meateria. “If something doesn’t look and taste 110 percent, it’s not making its way onto the board.” This past winter, boards featured seasonal produce, such as persimmons, pomegranates, and winter citrus, like Cara Cara and blood oranges. “Heading into spring and summer, we’re really excited to take advantage of strawberries, apricots, cherries, rhubarb, tomatoes, and more,” says Ivler.
Currently, Graze offers three options: a rainbow-hued vegetable board with various dips; a cheeseboard with ribbons of charcuterie, dried fruits, and jams; and a dessert board that combines fresh and dried fruits, nuts, artisan chocolates, and salted-caramel spread. (She’ll also launch a smoked-salmon breakfast board this spring.) Pricing runs from $75 for a small, which serves six to eight, to $125 for a large, which serves up to 20.
Customers seem to “love that it is a one-stop shop for entertaining,” says Ivler. “We have had quite a few repeat customers, which, of course, is the best feedback we can receive.”
