Love of cheese inspires restaurant

Emilio Queroga opened Morthan Cheese at the Plant Street Market on Wednesday, March 14.

By Eric Gutierrez
| 4:16 p.m. April 4, 2018

Emilio Queroga is the owner of Morthan Cheese at the Plant Street Market in Winter Garden.

West Orange Times & Observer
News

Emilio Queroga is building his new business on one thing — his love of cheese.

Queroga opened his new shop, Morthan Cheese, Wednesday, March 14, at the Plant Street Market. There, Queroga serves a variety of dishes — each topped off with a slathering of melted raclette cheese. The concept behind the restaurant is modeled after a traditional method of eating raclette cheese, Queroga said.

“It’s an Alpine-region concept,” Queroga said. “They melted the cheese … and scraped the cheese on top of bread to eat. This is the original way of (eating) raclette.”

Each dish at Morthan Cheese is topped off with a slathering of melted raclette cheese.

The menu features four items. Simply Chips and Cheese is a dish raclette over sea-salted pita chips and is served with or without salsa. Over My Potatoes is a dish of small baked potatoes topped with raclette. Southern Charm consists of Brussels sprouts, potatoes, sweet baby onions, tiny pickles and raclette. European Tradition — Queroga’s favorite — consists of prosciutto, artichokes, potatoes, cornichon pickles, pepper, arugula and, of course, raclette. Each dish costs $12.

Prior to opening, Queroga said he had been looking for a space at the Plant Street Market for a long time. The idea and name for Morthan Cheese was inspired by a conversation he had with the owners of Crooked Can Brewing Company during which they discussed the need for cheese at the Plant Street Market.

“We always thought — from the inception of the market — that a cheese spot would kind of help round out the options in here,” Crooked Can General Manager Ryan Gossett said. “There’s so many different things that you can pair with beer, so having another thing in here is just going to help enhance that experience for everybody.”

Queroga, 53, is a Brazilian immigrant with a background as a business consultant for start-up companies. He moved to the United States about six years ago.

“I say it’s the country of opportunities,” Queroga said. “If you’re a hard worker, if you have consistency in your business, if you’re a persistent person, the United States is the place (for you).”