Meadow Stone Farm

MMmmm, Cat Cheese
Meadow Stone Farm, Brooklyn

June 9, 2012

2014 Update: This innocuous little page, which has very little useful information on it, has become one of the stranger places on CTMQ. Much of it is hidden to you readers, but if you look at the comments, they provide some clues. I have deleted many of them and have received several strange emails as a result of this little page.

I’ll sum it up: This place used to be great. The cheese-making was handled by a woman named Anne-Marie. I think she was married to or somehow involved with the Kris guy mentioned in the story. This ended poorly and she ended up in New Zealand somewhere. How she ended up there and where she is there is story I’ve tried to keep out of the comments.

What’s interesting is the comments keep coming. I don’t know any of these people at all. I just ate some average goat cheese from a weird farm in Brooklyn, CT.

………………..

mfdCat cheese? Okay, that’s not fair. And I’ll be honest: This review of my visit is probably unfair altogether. Why? Because as I was told, my visit came at the end of a day of some big fair or something where Meadow Stone sold a lot of their wares.

On top of that, the cheese maker and proprietor wasn’t in the shop during my visit either, as she was over at that fair thing.

So even though I arrived during the posted open hours, I can sort of understand why the woman who helped me didn’t really know how to help me and why, one hopes, multiple cats were roaming around the joint.

mfaI can verify that their website notes many more cheese choices than I was offered, so there’s one clear sign that my visit was not at the best time.

I stopped by on a Saturday afternoon and even though I knew the cheese shop was in the middle of something called the Architectural Stained Glass Studio, which is what all the signage referenced – at least in 2012.

In fact, the inside of the place is far more suited for making stained glass art than making cheese. Hey man, when you set out to sample cheese from every CT cheese maker, you find yourself in some really random places.

Art stuff aside, Meadow Stone has a very real and very agricultural history:

mf“Meadow Stone Farm, a multi-generational farm, began with poultry – but the farm has gone through dramatic changes over the years! In 1981 Bob and Denise established the original Meadow Stone Farm. The farm, which started with 15,000 free-range chickens, was worked by the entire family including Denise‘s Dad-Roland. In 2002, Bob and Denise gave their youngest son, Kris, the working portion of the property. He then started over & revived the farm — this renovation involved gutting & reworking the old farm building, which was two stories and 200 feet long. With the help of Bob, a bottling/milking/feed and state of the art cheese making rooms were built. A good deal of the materials left from the original building were recycled into the new facility. The end result is now a full functioning cheese plant producing the area’s finest artisinal cheeses and goat milk soaps and lotions.”

I suppose I should revisit someday to check that out, but we’ve all seen plenty of cheese making barns in our day.

mfbuild
It’s a house and an art studio… and a cheese shop

The woman who helped me was as helpful as she could be, considering the circumstances. I was offered a few different types of goat cheese chevre. Dill & Tomato, wasabi and – a few others.

The Meadow Stone website lists some other cheeses available:

Our “White Knight” is available now. This camembert has a soft, creamy texture with a delicate honey-like flavor. The curd is hand-ladled into delightful mini wheels.

“White Bliss” will be the new standard in brie. A rich and luscious white mould cheese. Its delicate creamy flavor delivers a full-mouth feel with an aroma that hints of mushroom and nuts. It is extra smooth and luxurious on the palate due to its high cream content.

We have two “Blue” cheeses that are still a bit young. The first of the wheels, Blue Knight”, is ready to sample. What we can tell you is that Kris outdid himself on these recipes. We GUARANTEE these will be unlike any other blue you have tasted! We GUARANTEE these will be unlike any other blue you have tasted!

mfbig

Unfortunately, I never saw any blue or camembert or brie – three cheese I like much more than chèvre. But this wasabi stuff was pretty good, even if it contained no heat or wasabi flavor at all.

Regardless, Check out Hoang in the mirror in the picture above which I took in the bathroom while she was giving Calvin a bath. I have no recollection why I did that, but I’m glad I did.

Maybe next time we’ll pick up some of their other cheeses.

Meadow Stone Farm
Back to CTMQ’s Cheese Trail page

8 responses to “Meadow Stone Farm”

  1. elizabeth durstin says:

    My daughter, Annemarie Prause started the farm with Kris Noiseaux. She ran the cheese shop, took care of the goats, made all the soap while Kris worked his other job as engineer, designing. This allowed him the time to learn the cheese making industry and thus take the job he now has in New Zealand with Fontera. She moved with Kris to New Zealand. Funny, there is no mention of her because she was a very big part of the farm, handling most of the PR.

  2. Joan says:

    place has gone to the dogs…..or cats…hee-hee. It was a cool place before the original owners (KRis and AnnMarie) left in 2009. But then as was said in above comment, the history left out the life force the farm, and SHE is one of the biggest reasons why WE came to the farm with our kids….to see the goats and the girl behind the magic that talked to the goats giving us that gorgeous raw milk.

  3. Dorothy Malm says:

    I visited this place twice while Annemarie was there. The first visit I got to sample some cheese. It was incredible.
    It was such an amazing place.

    WTH happened to it after she left?

  4. rose says:

    Ann Marie left? Oh what a shame as I have purchased the most delicious hand made soaps from her. Any one know where I can contact her?

  5. al & gabriela says:

    It’s been shocking watching Meadow Stone Farm’s new site and history and finding absolutely noyhing about Annemarie Prouse. She’s been main part of the business.
    From our own experience of over five years, she was always in the Shoppe with customers and/or taking care of the farm during weekdays. We used to go over the farm once/twice a week for organic raw goat milk, cheese and sometimes chicken meet, soap, cosmetics.
    Meeting and talking to her was an excellent business, professional and human experience.
    Why in the world would someone just “eliminate” her from the farm’s history?
    Talking about Meadow Stone Farm in the period we visited the farm, namely 2004-2009
    means talking about Annemarie Prouse first and Kris Noiseaux.
    Al & Gabriela

  6. elizabeth durstin says:

    Thanks for all your nice compliments. Annemarie put her heart and soul into Meadowstone Farm.

  7. elizabeth durstin says:

    You can also reach Annemarie on LinkedIn.com

  8. bob knightly says:

    I have the priviledge of working with annemarire at present. Of course the place you talk of has crashed without her magic, and incredible enthusiasm, it was bound to happen. In the time i have known her i find it astounding that no one has questioned this Kris as to why he would take someone he seems to have cared little for accross the world, and then abandon them. My only hope is that the person you seem to have very promptly formed a new relationship with looks at your past, and when you seem to be getting bored and want to move, towns, cities, or countries. She sees the same careless untrust worthy patterns appearing. Unfortunately i know it will happen.

Leave a Comment

The Out Campaign: Scarlet Letter of Atheism