No whey! Beecher's scores again

Kurt Dammeier, owner of Beecher's Handmade Cheese, at his store in Pike Place Market. (THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES)

The accolades keep rolling in with each new wheel of Beecher's Handmade Cheese (1600 Pike Place, Seattle, 206-956-1964). The artisan cheesemakers at Beecher's already took home first place earlier this year for cheddar aged 12 to 24 months at the prestigious American Cheese Society awards, and a gold medal for their Marco Polo cheese at the World Cheese Awards. Last week their Beecher's Flagship (a creamy combination of cheddar and gruyere) took first place in the best semihard cow's milk cheese category during a blind taste test at the inaugural American Cheesemaker Awards in Newport Beach, Calif.

Croissants cross over the bridge

Bakery Nouveau's (4737 California Ave S.W., Seattle, 206-923-0534) award-winning croissants no longer are confined to West Seattle. Metropolitan Market is selling a variety of Nouveau's baked treats (plain, chocolate, cherry-almond and turkey-Swiss croissants plus sugar and chocolate chip brioche, raspberry-apple Danish and pain au raisin) at its Queen Anne, Uptown, Sand Point and Admiral stores. Met Market spokeswoman Ilga Westberg says the grocery chain likely will add Nouveau's breads early next year.

Other morsels

Coming attractions: PCC Natural Markets has announced it's opening a ninth location in Edmonds in the middle of next year, in the vacant building once home to an Albertsons supermarket at the busy intersection of 100th Ave. W. and Edmonds Way. PCC will occupy the lion's share of the space, which it will share with three smaller tenants.

One Good Turn ... : Local Chef Lisa Dupar gives thanks each Thanksgiving by sharing her cooking with a different group of busy families. This year, the owner of Lisa Dupar Catering and Pomegranate Bistro (18005 N.E. 68th St. Redmond, 425-556-5972) and her catering team will deliver pre-made meals (roast turkey, pie and all) to about 45 families spending the holiday with their newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Seattle's Swedish Medical Center.

... Deserves Another: Fellow restaurateurs John and James Schmidt are helping the hungry this holiday season by donating half the proceeds of all food and drinks purchased Dec. 5 from their three restaurants — The Greenlake Bar & Grill, Eastlake Bar & Grill and Southlake Grill — to the University District Food Bank. Order the three-course prix-fixe meal and they'll up the donation to 66 percent of proceeds.

Karen Gaudette, Seattle Times staff reporter