Sully the Cheesemonger Hired as New Poco Chef

Considered among many to be Seattle's premiere cheese expert, Sully McGinnis is taking his talents to Poco Wine + Spirits, where he plans to be until this summer, when he'll take on the Kitchen Sink Project full-time. KSP is his pet project that allows him to teach people about the food they eat, the farming process that produced it, and introduce new foods they may have never heard of. McGinnis says he wants to cultivate a strong cheese and charcuterie program for Poco before he leaves.

"Where Poco is situated, it's between a lot of really great well-known restaurants, like Spinasse and Anchovies & Olives. We're much too small to do entrees well, so I'm bringing the focus to small bites and tapas. My focus is utilizing our space as a meet up spot for a quick glass of wine and a couple of bites while waiting for your reservation at one of the other neighborhood spots."

As for formulating the new Poco menu, McGinnis says he's taking a close look at the neighborhood's melting pot of flavors, or what he calls the "essence of Capitol Hill," and using that as inspiration and influence.

"I want people to come in and get a taste of what they might find elsewhere in the rest of the neighborhood....but just a taste. We'll let everybody else do what they do best. If they like what they taste then they can head off to Spinasse, Momiji, Quinn's or even over to the Unicorn for a more specialized experience. We're the begining and ending chapters of a full night on Capitol Hill and a quiet spot to bring a date when you want to get out of the chaos."

McGinnis has used his talents to source cheese at places like Bottlehouse and most recently, Vessel. He's got a pretty sleek video if you'd like to learn more about him and what it means to be a cheesemonger.

· Kitchen Sink Project [Facebook]

Sully McGinnis [Photo: KSP/Facebook]