High Tea Gets a Cheesy (and Boozy) Spin With the Studd Siblings

Ellie and Sam Studd, aka the Studd Siblings , are Melbourne’s pre-eminent cheese duo. The children of cheese expert Will Studd , Ellie and Sam have made it their mission to bring a sense of play back to the curd world. “Sometimes it gets smeared with a brush of snobbery,” they told Broadsheet via email. “Cheese should be fun and tell a story.”

For Dine Out , Broadsheet ’s winter food festival, the duo will stop by Allegro, the Westin Hotel’s restaurant, for High Cheese. The event, on Thursday August 7 at 6pm, is an extra cheesy spin on traditional high tea with three tiers of sweet and savoury dishes dreamed up by Allegro executive chef Apoorva Kunte and made using cheese selected by the siblings.

In place of tea, there’ll be wines from Yarra Glen’s Zonzo Estate. Winemaker Caroline Mooney will be there to walk you through the selection, and the Studd siblings will be on hand to answer any and all cheese-related questions.

We caught up with Ellie and Sam in the meantime to find out more about High Cheese.

For the uninitiated, what is High Cheese?
Sam: It’s a wild cheese-soaked take on high tea. Imagine Alice in Wonderland , but with more dairy and a little less decorum. It’s indulgent, a bit cheeky, sometimes even mind-bending. The whole idea is to flip the script on traditional tea service and put seasonal baked, whipped, brûléed and smoked cheeses front and centre.

Ellie: We suggest you don’t eat beforehand.

What are some of your favourite cheeses making an appearance?
Sam: Tough question. It’s like picking a favourite child. Everyone has one, but no one wants to admit it. Locally, the chevre from Dreaming Goat Dairy in Monegeetta in the Macedon Ranges is stunning. Delicate, bright and beautifully seasonal.

Then there’s Aphrodite Galotyri. It’s made by the Sarakatsani in Greece using a mix of ewe’s and goat’s milk. It’s one of the oldest cheeses in the world and was traditionally used by shepherds to help with digestion. Think bright acidity that pops in your mouth with lactic notes. Salty, creamy, complex.

Ellie : I’m with Sammy, the Aphrodite Galotyri is my favourite. An ancient sheep and goat shepherd’s cheese known in Greece as “shepherd’s gold”. It’s a cheese that many people have never heard about or tried.

Who is High Cheese for?
Both: It serves everyone from the curd nerd to the cheese curious. High cheese is about celebrating the magic and versatility of cheese in a way that’s bold, playful and genuinely enjoyable. If you leave full, intrigued and smiling, we’ve done our job.

High Cheese is on Thursday August 7 at 6pm at Allegro. Tickets are $150 per person.