‘Grazing boards’ are the new party platter. Find them — and cheesy sandwiches — at new Sumner shop
The days of plain-old meat and cheese boards are done. Grazing boards have taken flight, and Pierce County now has a destination storefront for all your party-app needs.
Bomb Charcuterie opens Aug. 28 at 919 Kincaid Ave. in downtown Sumner, just steps from Main Street and with quick access to the bright-yellow chairs and tables at the recently renovated Reuben A. Knoblauch Heritage Park.
For owner Alicia Hall, the new storefront provides a dedicated catering kitchen for custom orders, the young company’s “bread and butter,” she said last week.
But it’s more than just a pickup-spot for her carefully layered creations: Bomb will double as a made-to-order, takeout-only sandwich shop.
On Boulart sub rolls and the occasional focaccia, combinations lean into a select cheese. They include burrata with mortadella, pesto and chopped pistachios; Boursin with turkey and a raspberry-habanero jam; and manchego with rosemary ham and fresh pears.
The shop will also stock grab-and-go charcuterie packs, perfect for a light lunch — grab a San Pellegrino from the cooler. Also on the shelf are pantry items like crackers, spreads and olives, with packaged meats and cheeses in the cooler to build-your-own board at home.
GRAZING BOARDS FOR PARTIES BIG AND SMALL
Bomb is part of a quietly blossoming subculture of “grazing board” businesses that caught a promising wave amid the pandemic. It was then, in the fall of 2020, that Hall and her teenage daughter took a virtual class with Seattle-based Grate Boards. Hall recalled photos of those early days and threw her head in her hands.
“These are so bad!” she said, laughing. But her girlfriends disagreed. They started enlisting her for parties at home (‘twas the season). She made some money and realized there was a market for artful appetizers.
Bomb Charcuterie became official in 2022, renting commercial kitchen space in Puyallup and undertaking the hustle of landing clients for everything from dinner party pickups to corporate gatherings, graduation parties, weddings and showers of all kinds.
“We don’t leave any surface blank,” said Hall as she meticulously layered chunks of aged English cheddar and slices of caraway havarti. Triangles of manchego are reversed in a line style that she calls a “zipper,” and meats are cut to bite-sized rounds or twirled into pretty fans. Crackers are served separately.
She and her small team also pay attention to minute details like snipping grapes into manageable clusters and filling in every little gap with smaller ingredients like nuts, olives, cornichons or blueberries.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “Sometimes I wish I could take that thing of blueberries and just dump it on the board! We’re looking at every single piece of fruit. All charcuterie businesses are. It’s so much more than plopping things on a plate.”
She views boards as “a luxurious item” and wants her customers to see and taste the value in them.
“It’s an art, it truly is,” she said. “I’m in the moment. I’m looking to see, what does this need? What colors are going to make it pop? Every board is different.”
Hall, who has worked in dental offices for more than two decades, modestly admitted she had never been in the food business, or necessarily saw entrepreneurship in her future. As her client list grew, she needed more space and a more accommodating pickup point. In the Sumner storefront, where her husband Aaron helped build custom shelves and a cool wood wall that separates the kitchen from the dish area, the idea expanded to sandwiches. She also anticipates hosting private events.
For now, she won’t sell wine or beer in part for that reason. Party hosts can acquire an inexpensive ($10), single-day banquet license through the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board.
Bomb’s most popular board is the medium, a 16-inch round that feeds up to 12 people as an appetizer ($165). They go as small as a “graze box” that serves a couple ($45) and as large as the XL, a wooden tray that’s good for 20 people ($315). The standard menu also includes boards of veggies, brunch-y stuff and just crackers. Custom orders — advised for parties of 25-plus, require a deposit and advance notice.
BOMB CHARCUTERIE
▪ 919 Kincaid Ave., Sumner, 253-447-8031, bombcharcuterie.com
▪ Store Hours: Wednesday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
▪ Details: charcuterie and grab-and-go sandwich shop, plus catering in downtown Sumner
▪ How to order: walk-in during open hours, or order online for quick turnaround; custom and large orders require advance notice and deposit
This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 5:00 AM.