Local businessowner Monica Carruth embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship in St. Charles Parish, having found a viable opportunity in a trending presentation medium for meat and artisan cheese trays – known as charcuterie boards – and created an entire business around them.
The Montz resident’s business sprouted up just two years ago from a creative food hobby she picked up almost unexpectedly. In 2021, Carruth began to observe charcuterie boards gaining popularity on social media feeds everywhere and saw them as a great way to show creativity with food presentation. Charcuterie boards resonated with her, and she soon began experimenting, creating her own charcuterie boards for various gatherings at her home with friends and family.
“People began asking me to make them for them, and then I started selling them – and it got a little too busy to be doing it out of my kitchen at home,” Carruth said.
She began looking for a permanent location for her business and found it in a renovated 1940s era commercial building on River Road in Norco, with high ceilings and concrete walls, a space she moved into early this year.
Carruth was able to take a large back room in her new Norco location and turn it into what she calls “The Parlor,” using it as a dining room with what she says now has a “loungey, parlor feel.”
Her charcuterie board offerings tend to include a wide range of foods presented on them, each garnished in an artful way – featuring items like artisanal cheeses and meats, to fruits and nuts. Bluebird Boards’ charcuterie boards can be custom-tailored for guests that prefer certain types of cheeses or certain types of foods to be included or excluded, depending on their tastes.
Carruth’s custom charcuterie boards are available for purchase year around, for holidays, special events and various gatherings. Her business can also fill larger orders for catered events including non-charcuterie board items.
Another main facet of Bluebird Boards is the Norco business’ dine-in or to-go lunches, available from Tuesday thru Friday.
“I typically do a different sandwich every week, and I do a different salad every week,” Carruth mentioned. “One of my really popular items is a loaded hummus box, and I’ve also been doing something called a Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad that has been popular, flying off the shelves.”
With her menu offerings, Carruth aims to give locals interesting lunch options, much of it lighter, healthier fare “that you can’t find anywhere else,” she commented.
In September of this year, Carruth began offering private cheese tasting events for groups of 10 or more in “The Parlor,” combining it with a murder mystery twist.
“It’s interactive, so the guests that come for the cheese tasting are part of the mystery – everyone that comes in is a suspect,” Carruth said of her murder mystery cheese tasting events.
Once the ‘criminal’ has been exposed at the end, guests are able to purchase additional quantities of the cheese offered in the cheese tasting, which she also sells in her shop.
Bluebird Boards is open Tuesday thru Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its 15616 River Road, Suite B location in Norco. Carruth mentioned her group cheese tasting events and custom or catered orders can be booked ahead of time by calling the business or by visiting Bluebird Boards’ Facebook page online.
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