Mary Craven Photography
Cortney LaCorte didn’t set out to be Nashville’s most sought-after architect of cheese boards, but her passion for creating inviting experiences to entertain friends and family at home was instilled in her at a young age.
“My godmother, she’s the most fabulous entertainer and hostess, and she taught me a few things,” says LaCorte. “She said, ‘Cortney, you should always have a bottle of chilled Champagne in your fridge—just in case—and always have some mozzarella and grapes, crackers and nuts. She taught me how to arrange a little platter when I was only 15 years old.”
Now those childhood lessons have led her to her dream job as Cheese Gal (formerly Nashville Cheese Gal). The self-starting LaCorte conceived the operation while she and her husband (musician Chris LaCorte) were enjoying one of her boards at home.
“I said, ‘I feel like people might pay for this.’ Fast forward seven months from that and I was presented with my first opportunity to make an artist’s pre-show cheese and charcuterie board at the Ryman,” she told Nashville Lifestyles in 2019.
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At the time, LaCorte was making boards for friends, including influencer Shannon Ford.
“Shannon was like, ‘You need to start a business and we’re going to come up with a name,” she says. “So we sat at the bar at Tin Roof and wrote ideas for names on a paper napkin. Nashville Cheese Gal sounded fun and playful yet still chic.”
The opportunities for Nashville Cheese Gal kept coming and LaCorte has become Nashville’s go-to for all things cheese board and beyond. She’s built up a unique business beloved by celebrities, visiting bachelorettes, locals looking to impress, and in the interest of full disclosure, this writer, who enjoyed one of LaCorte’s boards while getting ready for my wedding. (And yes, it was as heavenly as you would imagine.)
For most of her uber-successful Nashville Cheese Gal career, LaCorte’s business has come from word of mouth and word of social media. She took all of her orders through Instagram direct messages until she launched her website this summer. From traditional cheese boards to brunch boards and more, the orders kept coming. Artists like Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, and Lauren Daigle have all ordered Nashville Cheese Gal boards. And with a professional musician for a husband, LaCorte isn’t one to get starstruck, but a recent order stopped her in her tracks.
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Board made for Kacey Musgraves
“I recently made some boards for Shania Twain, and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’” she says. “I grew up with her. She is the queen!”
Another famous face played a big role in LaCorte’s career path: Supermodel and Nashville resident Lily Aldridge.
“I did a video with Lily last fall that’s all about how to put together a really pretty platter,” she says. “I loved it for so many reasons—first of all, Lily is nice and just as genuine and kind as she is pretty. It was also my first chance to do a real tutorial [on camera]. I grew up wanting to be like Martha Stewart on TV. I would always pretend to have my own cooking shows and my parents have videos of me pretending to be her. So getting to channel a bit of that and teach—I loved tapping into that.”
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Cortney with Lily Aldridge
As her success grew, LaCorte knew it was time to make a change to her business and rebrand herself.
“In April I made the really tough decision to drop Nashville from the name,” she says. “My LLC has always been Cheese Gal, because I had always hoped to expand to opportunities outside of Nashville.”
The timing couldn’t have been better. In the summer of 2020—in the midst of a pandemic, no less—she got an opportunity that would change the trajectory of her business in a major way. At the end of June, LaCorte was contacted about opening a short-term pop-up at the Fairlane Hotel. Their coffee shop had closed, and they were finding creative ways to use the space. While touring the shop, she was asked if she would be interested in creating a more permanent home there. LaCorte couldn’t say yes fast enough.
“The more that we got to talking I could see that, yes, this was supposed to happen,” she says. “It literally just happened!”
Not only will her creations be available in the space—from full board pickups (it will be Cheese Gal’s first official pickup location) to grab and go boxes for those working and rushing around downtown—they will also be added to the hotel’s room service menu and as an appetizer at the in-house restaurant, Ellington’s. Partnerships at additional Fairlane Hotels around the country are also on the table.
“It’s a dream come true,” she says. “I could not be more excited.”
It’s a dream that she’s passing on her to own little Cheese Gal, her three-year-old daughter Charlotte.
“She loves putting together little cheeseboards,” LaCorte says. “We got her this little [toy] cheeseboard set, and she plays with that all the time.”
It’s a beautiful full circle moment for LaCorte, who credits that advice from her godmother for helping her find her passion.
“I love hosting and entertaining,” she says. “It’s all about human connection. I’m making this delicious food look pretty, but it’s really about the connection that we’re having with our loved ones over this beautiful platter. That’s my love language.”