The fuller story
Daniel Angerer was the chef at Klee Brasserie in Chelsea. His partner, Lori Mason, had more breast milk than their baby needed, and Angerer, being a chef, saw an ingredient. He made cheese from it at home and offered a taste to some of his restaurant’s guests. NBC New York reported diners “smacking their lips.”
Then the city found out. The interesting part is what the health department actually said. Breast milk, officials told reporters, wasn’t prohibited by the city codes. Instead they advised against it. “We don’t recommend it be shared,” said Daniel Kass of the New York City Department of Health. Officials called the milk “not intended for adults or wide public consumption,” and the cheese was not to be sold in the restaurant. It never appeared on the menu. Within a day, the story was news in London too.
Why it matters
The book’s version of this story ends with a grin: “Talk about taking ‘nurturing’ to the next level!” The real story is better, because the official answer wasn’t a ban. It was a shrug: not illegal, just not for sharing.
That shrug is the whole culture of milk in one sentence. Human milk is the only food made for us, and we still treat it as the one food that mustn’t leave the nursery. Angerer’s cheese and Frida’s breast milk ice cream poke at the same tender spot: the moment curiosity meets taboo. Nobody has to want a slice. But it’s worth asking why the idea makes so many people flinch.
