Maplebrook Farm
North Bennington, Vermont · founded 2003
- Hand-made Italian-style fresh cheeses from the Green Mountains — mozzarella is the flagship.
- The burrata is made by Domenico Marchitelli, a master cheesemaker hired from Puglia, Italy — the home of burrata. They "imported the maker, not the product."
- All of the milk comes from a single family farm in Vermont; everything fresh is pasteurized (safe in pregnancy).
- The butter is Ploughgate — after 14 years making the best butter in the Northeast, they joined forces with Maplebrook in 2022.
- Burrata is best eaten ASAP and served at room temperature — tell people not to save it for a special occasion.
Markets
- SATMorningside Park · Larchmont · Bronxville · Hastings · Chappaqua
- SUNPark Slope · McGolrick · Irvington · Pelham · Scarsdale
The story
In 2003, Mike Scheps was making fresh mozzarella at his father's Italian market in Manchester, VT, the way his father and grandfather had made it before him. Johann Englert tasted it, said she hadn't had mozzarella like that outside of Italy, and the two went into business. Twenty-plus years later Maplebrook Farm employs around 65 people in North Bennington — including Johann's grandson Alex, now a co-owner — and still stretches mozzarella by hand.
When customers started asking for burrata, the company hired Domenico Marchitelli straight from Puglia, the Italian region where burrata was invented, to make it in Vermont.
All of the milk comes from a single family farm in Vermont. In 2022, after making the best butter in the Northeast for 14 years, Ploughgate joined forces with Maplebrook Farm — that's the butter at the stand. And the maple syrup comes from a friend of ours, a few towns up in Pawlet, Vermont.
What we sell
- Burrata — mozzarella shell filled with stracciatella (cream + mozzarella shreds)
- Mozzarella & ciliegine — hand-stretched; ciliegine are the little "cherry-size" balls
- Scamorza — mozzarella's firmer, aged cousin; great for melting
- Ricotta & smoked ricotta, feta & smoked feta, cheddar bites
- Ploughgate butters — salted, unsalted, maple, Espelette, seaweed
- Maple syrup — 8oz / 32oz / gallon, from a friend's sugarhouse in Pawlet, VT
Customer FAQ
What exactly is burrata?
A pouch of fresh mozzarella filled with stracciatella — shreds of mozzarella soaked in cream. Cut it open and the center spills out. Eat it simply: good bread, olive oil, tomatoes, salt.
Is it pasteurized? Safe during pregnancy?
Yes — fresh cheeses like mozzarella, burrata, and ricotta are made from pasteurized milk (US rules require it for any cheese aged under 60 days).
How long does burrata keep?
It's at its absolute best the day you buy it and within a few days after. Keep refrigerated, but let it sit out ~30 minutes before serving — cold mutes the flavor. Mozzarella likewise: soon is better, room temp to serve.
Is this from your own cows?
Maplebrook is a creamery, not a dairy herd — they make cheese by hand in North Bennington, and all of the milk comes from a single family farm in Vermont.
What's the story with the butter?
It's Ploughgate Creamery's — they spent 14 years making the best butter in the Northeast, then joined forces with Maplebrook in 2022. Cultured butter in salted, unsalted, maple, Espelette, and seaweed.
What's special about the maple syrup?
Even pure maple syrup sold in supermarkets takes shortcuts: they boil over a gas fire, and they use reverse osmosis to push extra water out of the sap so they don't have to boil it as long. That loses a lot of the minerality from the water, and the complexity.
This syrup is cooked over a wood fire — three logs a minute, for 13 hours straight.
Can I freeze it?
Fresh cheeses don't freeze well — the texture suffers. Scamorza and cheddar bites tolerate the fridge much longer; burrata and mozzarella are buy-it-eat-it cheeses.
Which ones melt best?
Scamorza is the melter — pizza, panini, baked dishes. Regular mozzarella works too (drier than the ball suggests once cooked). Burrata goes on after cooking, never in the oven.
Farm site: maplebrookvt.com · Stumped by a question? Text Peter.