Board + Brie in Roanoke offers charcuterie setups for every occasion

The art of creating a charcuterie board should not only be limited to special and grand occasions such as weddings and parties, according to Lane Tunstall, who was prompted by this idea to open Board + Brie.

Board + Brie was started in Tunstall’s home in September 2019 as a side hustle as she was preparing to return to the corporate workforce. In just six months, Tunstall said she saw her home-based charcuterie board business take off—despite the pandemic putting a damper on many events and slowing down demand.

“That’s when I realized it really had kind of turned into like a gift-giving business and then also just a fancy treat for people to have for date night,” Tunstall said.

Alongside her boards, Tunstall also offers both virtual and in-person classes on how to create your own charcuterie board, which she said have been popular for corporate and team-building events. Her work ended up drawing the attention of major companies, including Netflix and Nickelodeon. She was hired to create boards and teach a virtual class at each company’s event.

“I think a lot of it had just been word of mouth, like somebody who works [for] Netflix knows somebody who works in another company ... and then people just kind of reach out to us,” she said.

Although most of her boards are made to order, there are also grab-and-go options on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Charcuterie is a French word used to describe prepared and cured meats.

However, Tunstall said charcuterie boards in the U.S. have become so popular that people are making their own versions of the item.

“The Europeans, they think we’re crazy because we just say anything is charcuterie, like donuts on a board is a donut charcuterie,” she said.