Today we’d like to introduce you to Rajna Bulut.
Hi Rajna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always had a passion for food. My sister and I used to play “chefs” in the kitchen and use up scrap food to make our own recipes. It was the only time we were actually allowed to “play with our food.” Ha! I grew up watching both of my parents cook, each having their own style and their own favorite dishes to make. I am Serbian-born and my parents always made sure to cook Serbian cuisine as much as they could. My mom always emphasized the tradition of putting out finger foods for guests.
She would arrange these beautiful presentations of cheeses, cured meats, and freshly baked bread. My dad is in the restaurant business, so I grew up getting to shadow his work and saw the passion he had for creating and serving food. My respect for the food industry came from him. I eventually ended up working in a restaurant for a period of time and got to experience this for myself. Even after I had gotten out of the food industry, these traditions stuck with me. I have always enjoyed preparing food for others and have always put a lot of thought into the art of food presentation. A couple of years ago, I started putting together these arrangements of cheese, charcuterie, and fruit and brought them with me to dinner parties and small gatherings.
I noticed how much my friends enjoyed them and how it was always a conversation piece. So, I thought I would try my hand at offering it as a service. I coined the name “Cheese Queen” for myself because I simply just love cheese and I center my boards around artisan cheese. The cheese board business took off and I found myself falling more and more in love with it. I love the way food brings people joy and how it brings people together, no matter their background.
Today, I create cheese and charcuterie boards for small gatherings, weddings, showers, and all occasions. I am in the process of opening a cheese shop called “Pastiche” in downtown Bowling Green where I can continue to serve the BG community as well as surrounding areas. My goal is to share my love of food and introduce people to foods they may not have access to or try otherwise.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I initially started this business pre-pandemic at the very beginning of 2020. The national lockdown soon took place and I was at a standstill for a couple of months. I had very low hopes that I would ever be able to start back up. Eventually, it was Mother’s Day of 2020 and I had orders flowing in and it hasn’t stopped ever since.
I had to get creative with serving methods because people naturally still had concerns about sharing food with others in the middle of a pandemic. So, I created several single-serve options such as my charcuterie cones and mini picnic boxes. I always found a way to accommodate individual needs and special requests.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Cheese Queen is a cheese board and charcuterie board catering service. I curate and arrange these boards and deliver them to Bowling Green and surrounding areas. My cheese boards consist of artisan cheese, cured meats, fresh seasonal produce, crackers, honey, and other accouterments.
Each board is created especially for the individual client and varies from board to board. I think I’m most known for my grazing tables, which are several-foot-long spreads of the same ingredients that come on a cheese board that I build on-site at weddings, showers, and other large gatherings and special occasions. I put a lot of time into sourcing the best ingredients and showcasing what’s in season in order to keep products fresh and creative.
I’m really proud of the variety of products that I offer, whether it be a cheese board for a group of 4 or a grazing table for 100, or an individual cone as a snack for 1. I even make boards for kiddos! Those might be the most fun to play around with. I’m always looking for new ideas and I welcome special requests from clients.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I launched my business about a month before the Covid-19 lockdown hit. I was on a hiatus for about two months before I was able to start back up again.
I’ve definitely learned how to get creative with serving meat and cheese in individual portions for health safety while still making it look presentable. Also, I’ve learned everything looks cuter in mini form! Most importantly, I’ve learned to think outside of the box and I still do to this day.
Pricing:
- The “Date Night” Board- $70
- The “Get Together” Board- $100
- The “Soiree” Board- $175
- The “Shindig” Board- $250
- Grazing Table- $500+
Contact Info:
- Website: cheesequeenbg.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/cheesequeenbg
- Facebook: Facebook.com/cheesequeenbg
Image Credits
Loren Gifford of Photography by Loren
