PUBLIC LIVES; The Pungent Passion of a Maestro of Cheese
Published: May 11, 1999  MAX McCALMAN is in his office, or what
passes for an office: the dank cheese cave at Picholine, a
Lincoln Center dining spot. He is sniffing, stroking, turning,
tasting and otherwise tending to his beloved Cheddars, Goudas
and blues.  ''It's what they want,'' says Mr. McCalman, the
''maitre fromager'' at the restaurant, who has turned the
European-style cheese course into a popular New York City
performance art. ''A little T.L.C.''  ''They respond better if
they're treated this way,'' Mr. McCalman continues. ''You must
look at them, smell them, touch them, taste them. Sometimes I
even listen to them and they talk to me.''  Mr. McCalman is in
his own world, readying the evening's cheese service, so
distracted he might be talking to himself. ''Watch your tie,
Max,'' warns Terrance Brennan, owner and chef of Picholine, who
coined Mr. McCalman's title when he decided that his three-star
restaurant was to be America's temple of chee