Going Green The Local Way: Robie Farm Cheeese

Even before playing host to their stranded guests on that fateful rainy night in 1865 when our history began, Mountain View’s founders, William and Maryjane Dodge, ran a productive working farm on the property, sustaining their family and neighbors with an abundance of heirloom produce, dairy products and timber. In our efforts to revitalize this farm’s heritage, Mountain View has begun to reclaim our vintage pasturelands and garden spaces, enabling our culinary staff to create menus truly grounded in our farm-to-table commitment to fresh foods.

In addition to our own on-site gardens and egg-producing chickens, we have established strong relationships with many local and regional farmers and food producers, allowing us to create the freshest regionally inspired dishes we possibly can. 

One of the major tenets of today’s environmental sustainability efforts is the local food movement, a commitment that Mountain View has embraced. We use as many local food and beverage suppliers as we can, one of the newest being the Robie Farm, who supply us with their amazing Piermont cheese, a delicate yet tangy semi-soft variety aged for two to three months, as well as Toma, a traditional Italian Alpine-style table cheese with a gentle nutty flavor, which is aged three to five months. 

Robie Farm is a small family-run dairy farm located on the banks of the Connecticut River in Piermont, N.H.  Their 150-acre spread is classic, fertile bottom land. Six generations of Robies have farmed this property since 1870. They run a small retail store, which sells eggs, ice cream, raw milk yogurt, breakfast sausage, baked goods, beef and pork, and, of course, their delicious cheese. 

Truly a family farm, Lee and Betty Sue Robie run the dairy operation. Lee’s brother, Todd, is the barn man while their oldest son, Freeman, is the field man and the youngest son, Mark, is the artisan cheese maker. Sons Tim and Neil help out, too.The Robies are members of the New Hampshire Cheesemakers Guild and the Holstein Association US..A.. 

“We find that the balanced flavor of Robie Farm cheese lends itself to many menu applications,” says Mountain View Executive Chef Brian Aspell.. “It can be enjoyed by itself or as a finishing item on our grilled pheasant breast or on many of our other locally sourced selections.”