SAVORING EXCELLENCE
THE RIND Gourmet haven
redefines cheese
BY JULIA DE SIMONE
and wine delights
S ARA ARBABIAN, owner of The Rind in Sacramento, admits to sneaking food from the refrigerator as a child. When her parents found bite marks on the family’s stock of butter and cheese, she knew they were on to her.
A former human resources director with an impressive resume to boot, Arbabian says she was “feeling an itch to do something meaningful…and not just for someone else.” When a contract she was working on was nearing the end, it gave her that push to leap in a new direction. Enamored as a child of opening a candy shop, she toyed with the idea of a more grown-up concept. “I thought, ‘What is a candy bar to an adult?’ A wine bar, of course,” she chuckles. But after walking into a local cheese shop, fond memories of sneaking food from the refrigerator— especially the mozzarella—awakened her taste buds. “That’s what I wanted to do. Not just a shop, but an experience,” she says. Arbabian enlisted the help of a friend, who was also a cheese monger. “We bought a ton of cheese, sat on her patio, and drank and ate,” she says, recalling that, at that moment, she had an epiphany. “I clearly understood how complementing the cheese with the wine equated to an overall elevation because every pairing is unique.” Arbabian was sold and began to move forward in making her dream a reality. In 2013, she opened The Rind. Since then, the artisan cheese and wine bar has garnered attention from first-timers and a loyal following from long-time regulars. More than a restaurant “The Rind is really meant to be an experience to taste and explore the world,” says Arbabian. She has dedicated herself to promoting a relaxed environment
Arbabian, however, was one step ahead. To avoid getting caught again, she used a knife to lop
off decadent morsels of her favorite late-night
snacks, and then quickly wiped off any evidence of the remnants. Still wise to her ways, Arbabian’s parents didn’t reprimand “their
little mouse,” as they referred to her in Farsi. “In truth, I was kind of a picky eater,” she says. “They’d say, ‘Oh no, what are we going to feed her?’ So if I
ate butter and cheese at night, they’d realize that’s why I didn’t have much of an appetite during the day. I wasn’t getting in trouble; they were lovingly mocking me.” Taking the leap Although the first-generation Persian American is less of a selective eater these days, she admits to still reaching for the bread and butter—especially if “it’s good bread and butter.”
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 16 | 2024
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