Food: Free Antonelli's Cheese Plates This Week

In honor of Antonelli’s Cheese Shop’s second anniversary, various restaurants throughout Austin will be offering free cheese plates all week at the dates and times listed below. To prepare for this cheese extravaganza, we checked in with Kendall from Antonelli's to learn more about how to pair cheeses with wine or beer.

Restaurants offering free cheese plates:

• Monday, Feb. 6: Snack Bar (5pm), Haddington's (5pm)
• Tuesday, Feb. 7: 24 Diner (5pm), FINO (5pm), Hopfields (5pm)
• Wednesday, Feb. 8: Fion Wine Pub (5pm), House Pizzeria (5pm), Bartlett's (5pm)
• Thursday, Feb. 9: Max's Wine Dive (5pm), Chez-Zee (5pm), Steeping Room (5pm)
• Friday, Feb. 10: Coal Vines (5pm), The Seedling Truck (6pm)

Wondering what beverages to order with your cheese plate? Here are Antonelli's Cheese Shop's general guidelines for cheese pairings:

• Pair mild, fresh cheeses like mozzarella and feta with light, crisp white wine or lambic beer.
• Pair creamy, soft-ripened cheeses like Brie and Brillat-Savarin with sparkling wine or hefeweizen beer.
• Pair creamy cheeses with washed rinds like Taleggio and Epoisses with rosé or pale ale.
• Pair semi-soft cheeses like Crayeuse and Ossau-Iraty with unoaked white wine or American blonde ale.
• Pair grassy and nutty firm cheeses like cheddar and Tarentaise with light to medium-bodied red wine, oaky white wine, German pilsner, or tripel.
• Pair nutty and salty hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Dry Jack with full-bodied red wine, bock, or strong ale.
• Pair acidic, peppery blue cheeses like Roquefort and Stilton with port, sherry, ice wine, porter, stout, or brown ale.