About Us
own and operate First Street Draught House, a small restaurant/bar in Winston-Salem, NC. Although First Street is most widely known for its extensive selection of craft and microbrewed beers on tap, they also serve delicious, fresh food. Customers often order the pimento Cheese sandwich, and they will comment on how different it is from most pimento cheeses on the market today. They will even go as far as to call Lance before a beach trip or a tailgate and order several pounds of pimento cheese to enjoy with their guests. Ultimately, Lance realized that this product was special, and that if he perfected the recipe and created several other unique flavors of pimento cheese, it would be a huge success in the retail market.
Thus Red Clay Gourmet was born.
Lance built the line of four, distinct pimento cheeses from the basic recipe of their flagship flavor - Classic Sharp Cheddar. The use of an aged, extra sharp white cheddar distinguishes their pimento cheese from most other brands. The firm texture and bright flavor of the cheddar allows them to use very little mayonnaise, which is a huge selling point for most of their customers. Once the Classic recipe was dialed-in, Lance began to experiment with other ingredients and flavor profiles until he developed three new delicious flavors - Hickory Smoked Cheddar, Flame Roasted Jalapeño, and Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato (with roasted banana pepper). They were determined to create cheeses that were entirely unique to the existing pimento cheese market because they feel strongly that consumers deserve more flavor and less filler.
There are a few things in life that connect everyone - music, art and food are a few of them. They can be shared and admired by all people, no matter what language you speak, how much money you have or where you come from. Lance and Michele grew up cooking with their parents in homes where food was more than just a meal. Making food from scratch led them further away from processed products and closer to food that was made by hand with passion. That passion is important - whether it is out of necessity to feed yourself and others or to show your loved ones how much you care...whether it is huge, over-the-top flavors or the simplest of comfort foods. Red Clay Gourmet's mission is to offer you some of the foods that we all love and look forward to, made with the freshest and highest quality ingredients and packaged in a reusable, environmentally-friendly way. Their passion for pimento cheese is unmistakable; give them a chance, and they will surely become your first choice for pimento cheese!