For Andrea Seifring-Robbins ‘97 and the rest of her team at Urban Stead Cheese in Cincinnati, this Sunday is the most important day of the year on their calendar. The hometown Bengals playing in the Super Bowl is only part of it.

Having people back in here, shopping in person, sitting at tables, and enjoying interacting with people is why we have the tasting room.  To get back to that and engage with people again is really special.

-Andrea Siefring-Robbins '97

“We have the perfect storm coming together for the Super Bowl and National Cheddar Day on Sunday, plus Valentine’s Day [on Monday],” Seifring-Robbins said.  “People have a lot of things going on this weekend.”

Seifring-Robbins, a lifelong Bengals fan and small business owner since 2017, has welcomed customers back to the tasting room and bar built at the front of the house of her cheese production facility as COVID restrictions have begun easing up.  The timing of a surprise run to the biggest sporting event in America for the Bengals has only added to the excitement.  A stroke of good fortune with Saturday game scheduling for the Bengals’ first two playoff victories meant that Seifring-Robbins and her husband and Urban Stead Cheese co-founder, Scott Robbins, could see another part of their dreams come to life in front of their eyes.

“My favorite thing about Urban Stead Cheese is the sense of community that we experience here in the tasting room.  Having people back in here, shopping in person, sitting at tables, and enjoying interacting with people is why we have the tasting room.  To get back to that and engage with people again is really special.  Adding the Bengals’ success and all the brightness that it brings has just been phenomenal as well as good for business.”

Much like the Bengals, the Urban Stead team is preparing for a memorable Sunday.  Requests for centerpiece charcuterie catering boards have increased, and special football-shaped cheese balls with Urban Stead’s quark, a traditional German item similar to cream cheese, and locally sourced summer sausage are available for purchase this week only in-store at their 3036 Woodburn Avenue location.  Party hosts can also purchase Urban Stead’s two-year aged cheddar, a blue ribbon winner and Reserve Grand Champion at the 2021 Ohio State Fair.  Siefring-Robbins says their quark is a perfect substitute for mass-produced cream cheese in crowd favorite game day snacks like Cincinnati Chili Dip or Artichoke dip.  Retail orders are available online (pick up only) and in person for all of Urban Stead’s cheeses, boards, drinks, and accompaniments.  Dayton-area residents can find Urban Stead products in any Dorothy Lane Market location.

The tasting room will be closed on Sunday as usual so that Siefring-Robbins and the staff can cheer on the Bengals in their quest for the team’s first Super Bowl win.

“It’s so exciting.  It’s been 31 years, and there are groups of people who remember the last time and people who don’t remember the last time the Bengals made the Super Bowl.  It’s so fun to hear people’s different perspectives about how they grew up as Bengals fans.  The city is just so incredibly ready to embrace this.”