makers // Mouth.com

Woodblock
Brent Bailey, January 11, 2013

Charley and Jesse Wheelock came to Portland from New York City eight years ago, seeking a calmer, a simpler life....

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{"id":7156558,"title":"Woodblock","created_at":"2013-01-11T10:54:35-05:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/WoodblockMakerPhotoCrop_1_medium.jpg?6190\"\u003eCharley and Jesse Wheelock came to Portland from New York City eight years ago, seeking a calmer, a simpler life. After a few years as a struggling industrial designer, Charley decided it was time for a big change. He and Jesse wanted a family business, something that would allow them to be home to spend more time with their two young children and with each other. They quickly zeroed in on chocolate. “It all happened really fast, we decided and then we were immediately all in. We bought a $600 bag of beans, and some basic equipment and just dove in.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin a few months, Charley – a complete chocolate novice – traveled to UC Davis to study chocolate (yes, that’s a thing) and to Costa Rica with cult chocolatier (and crazy-talented guy) Steve Devries to see cacao harvest and fermentation in action. Armed with a brainful of cacao dreams, Wheelock came back and began to apply all he’d learned. Their friends (and ours!) over at Olympic Provisions loved the first batch, and sold them in their own increasingly popular storefront. Soon, Charley and Jesse outgrew their home-kitchen where they “constantly had to take everything out of our fridge to cool” and found a simple space to create their current ‘manufactory.’ \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWoodblock begins with exceptional cacao carefully sourced through friends in Ecuador, Madagascar and Venezuela. Stacks of burlap bags brimming with beans greet you as you walk into the white-washed, spare, Wonka-smelling workspace. Next to the bags sits a beautiful, old-timey roaster, and after a pass through that, the beans shake in a winnower, which shells the beans and transforms them into nibs (very small bits). \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s where it really gets good. Behind a heavy wood-and-glass door sit three metallic tubs called conches. The bottoms are made of heavy stone and Charley pours the roasted, chopped beans into the conche, where they’re ground until they're liquid. It’s a magical process, and the smells that waft through the air as it happens...well, let’s just say it’s a transformative olfactory sensation. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharley pours the chocolate into simple metal containers to cool, then the bricks are labeled by origin and date, and left to age for about 3 weeks.”The chocolate has gone through a lot of transformation, and the grinding process especially introduces air and heat. It needs time to settle. Someone once told me something about letting the ‘tannins mellow.’” When the Wheelocks are happy with the way the chocolate tastes, it is melted, tempered and carefully wrapped for the world to gobble up! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharley and Jesse are true visionaries, on the forefront of the bean-to-bar movement, but you’d never know it. It’s abundantly clear that at the center of their business is that they’re simply happy to have found something fun to do together. And the fact that their kids think it’s pretty cool? Well that’s just icing on the...chocolate bar.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2013-01-11T10:54:00-05:00","updated_at":"2020-03-11T11:43:29-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"woodblock","tags":""}
Bearded Brothers
Brent Bailey, October 19, 2012

A vegetarian and mostly-raw foods devotee, Caleb Simpson has come a long way from a childhood spent hiding his vegetables...

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{"id":6749648,"title":"Bearded Brothers","created_at":"2012-10-19T07:58:24-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/BeardedBros_2_medium.jpg?30797\"\u003eA vegetarian and mostly-raw foods devotee, Caleb Simpson has come a long way from a childhood spent hiding his vegetables in a vase on the table, to be thrown away as soon as his mother wasn’t looking. “For a really long time I wasn't a healthy eater, but I got into rock climbing and cycling, which led me to switch to a vegetarian diet, high in raw foods. It truly refined my taste buds and my health.” His \"bearded bro” (brother-in-law, if you want to be technical about it) Chris is just as active, and they share a love of the outdoors and health food. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChris and Caleb, needing healthy fuel for their super active lives, had been making raw, organic bars for a long time, but nothing quite as mind-blowingly delicious as what they came up with when they decided to start a business. “We knew if we were going to start Bearded Brothers, our bars were going to have to be awesome. We thought about our favorite flavors, and what foods had great nutritional benefits and began experimenting.\" They presented eight initial flavors to friends at a taste test and launched the company with the four faves. (Considering how intensely good these four are, we’d like to taste the rejects, too!) \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA year and a half later, the guys are still hands-on, though they do a have a few people helping out in their Austin, Texas kitchen. “We mix the dough in a giant food processor, press it into molds, and roll it flat with a pastry roller (hello onset carpal tunnel).” It’s been a struggle to grow the business and stay as involved in the physical production as they are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bars themselves and all the positive reactions have made all the hard work worthwhile. “Chris and I are both passionate about health, so for us to be able to bring a product like this to market and share it with the masses is an amazing feeling.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-10-19T07:58:00-04:00","updated_at":"2019-05-07T16:08:08-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"bearded-brothers","tags":""}
Adoboloco
Brent Bailey, October 15, 2012

Tim and Summer Parsons quite literally grew their hot sauce business by accident. Raising their family in the Kīhei area...

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{"id":6729812,"title":"Adoboloco","created_at":"2012-10-15T15:46:57-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/adoboloco-family-photo_medium.png?1985\"\u003eTim and Summer Parsons quite literally grew their hot sauce business by accident. Raising their family in the Kīhei area of Maui, the two had chosen to home school their children, and part of the curriculum included starting a small garden. Given the tropical climate, hot peppers were a natural edible to plant, and before they knew it, there were more jalapenos than they knew what to do with! \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn an effort to, well, use them up, Tim began to experiment with homemade hot sauces. Soon, family and friends were begging for a share of the liquid fire, and during meal time, the Parson family could easily (and often) go through a whole bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe young company is very much a family affair. They grow most of their peppers themselves, but have started to source some of the peppers from neighboring backyard farms and a few local farmers to supplement their own crop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProduction is completely done by the couple. Tim cooks and bottles, while Summer handles the cleaning and sanitizing of the bottles, and they work in batches ranging from 6 to 224 gallons, depending on the crop yield. The kids are right in the mix too, helping with packaging, sorting, de-stemming, and, of course, getting good and dirty in the garden itself. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the super freshness of the tropical peppers is partly responsible for how tasty these sauces are, we’re also convinced you can literally taste all that love in every single bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-10-15T15:46:00-04:00","updated_at":"2020-03-10T11:35:06-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"adoboloco","tags":"featured"}
Big Spoon Roasters
Brent Bailey, September 18, 2012

Mark Overbay, the brains (and palate) behind Durham, North Carolina’s Big Spoon Roasters, has been a lifelong lover of all...

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{"id":6601125,"title":"Big Spoon Roasters","created_at":"2012-09-18T17:52:17-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/BigSpoonRoasters_Mark_Crop_medium.jpg?29931\"\u003eMark Overbay, the brains (and palate) behind Durham, North Carolina’s Big Spoon Roasters, has been a lifelong lover of all things edible, but especially the humble peanut. Though he, like most Americans, grew up eating peanut butter, his conception of the lovable spread was transformed in 1999 when he found himself in Zimbabwe, working as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Living in a rural farming community, Overbay was awed by a local staple - freshly harvested peanuts, roasted over an open flame, hand-ground and salted. In other words, the absolute freshest peanut butter imaginable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Overbay returned to the U.S., he was disappointed to find that there wasn’t a single brand of PB on the shelves that even came close to matching this taste memory. However, it would be 10 years before he turned his frustrations into the deliciousness that is Big Spoon. “I devoted the next decade of my life to promoting the connection between nutrition and health, advocating for a more just and sustainable food system, and marketing direct-trade coffee.” Not a bad way to spend his time, of course, but here at Mouth Headquarters, we’re certainly happy that he found his way back to what is obviously his true calling: peanut butter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn January of 2011, he finally launched Big Spoon Roasters so that he (and everyone!) could once again enjoy freshly roasted PB as addictively tasty as the kind he remembered from that little Zimbabwean village. Overbay incorporated lessons learned from his work in food and health advocacy, using only the best nuts from around the U.S. and never adding palm oil or any sweetener other than pure, wildflower honey to his perfect peanut butters. “We source ingredients from only trusted, transparent farms and producers that share our philosophy, and we buy our nuts locally and regionally when possible. Peanuts are a tremendous agricultural resource for the American Southeast, and North Carolina is ranked sixth in terms of peanut production. We are thrilled to be able to work with local and regional peanut farmers and to be a positive market force for sustainable peanut agriculture and transparent marketing.” Jars are hand packed, while the nut butters are still warm from the grind, and the freshness of his final product is simply unparalleled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe company is named for Mark’s father Gary “Big Spoon” Overbay, who was so called because of his tendency to eat PB straight from the jar (a practice we are wholly in favor of).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-09-18T17:52:00-04:00","updated_at":"2019-05-07T16:13:28-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"big-spoon-roasters","tags":""}
Gordy's Pickle Jar
Brent Bailey, August 1, 2012

Washington DC is known for many things. Partisan politics. Sensible shoes. Indie food? Not so much. But if Sarah and...

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{"id":6365062,"title":"Gordy's Pickle Jar","created_at":"2012-08-01T16:50:17-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/GordysPicklesSarahSheilaLR_medium.jpg?28409\"\u003eWashington DC is known for many things. Partisan politics. Sensible shoes. Indie food? Not so much. But if Sarah and Sheila, founders of Gordy’s Pickle Jar, have anything to say about it, that won’t be true for long. After meeting at a friends’ brunch a five years ago, the two were drawn to each other immediately. “We both just love food” says Sheila, who has worked in the service industry for a long time, and still moonlights as a bartender at DC’s popular Marvin. “We both have an entrepreneurial spirit. I have a knack for playing with flavor, and she has a really strong business background. We knew kind of right off the bat we’d do something like this.” Both were huge pickle fans and aware of the lack of great pickles coming out of DC, so they decided pretty quickly that the pickle business was for them. “It’s the rebirth of an old craft, a way to work with local farmers, to make a product that reflects the bounty of the mid-Atlantic.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the summer of 2011, after 4 years of daydreaming, they zeroed in on the idea of simply making the classics (ie. Bread \u0026amp; Butter, Pickle Relish, Pickled Jalapenos) but making them better, and they put their palates to work. “We wanted to use natural sweeteners, focusing a lot on balance and creating really dynamic brines. For the Bread \u0026amp; Butter Chips, it was important to add a savory element, which we achieved by using plenty of garlic and ginger.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLaunch time came with a friends’ wedding at the end of that summer. They customized their hand-stamped labels with the newlyweds name and wedding date and the jars were handed out as wedding favors. (Jordan almonds, your days are numbered). The pickles were a hit, so Sarah and Sheila were inspired to send their just-perfected Bread \u0026amp; Butters to the International Pickle Festival and wound up taking second place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn December, Whole Foods DC noticed some of their social media efforts and the girls were invited to meet with a buyer. Eight weeks later, Gordy’s Pickles were on the shelves. By June of 2012, Sarah quit her day job and devoted herself to pickling full time. Sheila hopes to do the same soon. “Making pickles is fun! We love our customers and forming relationship with farmers. It’s a hectic endeavor, but we thrive off of the adrenaline. You have to be resilient, responsive, and willing to do whatever it takes, at any hour. But when you make it work, there is nothing more rewarding.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year, they hope to ramp up production a bit, but they never want to change the fact that they make the pickles themselves, in tiny 72-jar batches. “Our pickles have a really good crunch, and that’s huge for us. We’re extremely detail-oriented. While we want to grow, it’s really ultimately about the love, the joy of pickling and preserving. We were attracted to the idea of preserving the seasonal. We can take a cucumber grown just 100 miles from where we live, and by pickling it, we’re able to enjoy it year round.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGordy’s is undeniably one of the District’s indie food shining stars. “It’s definitely under-represented, but that’s beginning to change. I see more and more people establishing roots here - DC has that reputation as a transient place, but I think that’s changing too. We have great produce - Lancaster County has one of the highest rated soils as far as nutrient density goes on the entire east coast. We admire and look to other cities for inspiration but we’re excited to have it here in our own community and we’re all trying to help each other out. We definitely hope that our success helps other artisans.”\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-08-01T16:50:00-04:00","updated_at":"2019-05-14T14:07:08-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"gordys-pickle-jar","tags":""}
Grady's Cold Brew
Brent Bailey, June 24, 2012

Grady Laird worked at GQ in production and wrote a blog for them about grooming. After GQ ran an article...

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{"id":6193980,"title":"Grady's Cold Brew","created_at":"2012-06-24T22:19:23-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/GradysRobHoward700_AC4Y3399_LR_medium.jpg?25232\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrady Laird worked at GQ in production and wrote a blog for them about grooming. After GQ ran an article a few years ago about DIY cold brewing, Grady tried it, perfected the perfect cup, then realized that, due to most people’s laziness, people would buy it. And become addicted. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrady and his partners, Dave Sands and Kyle Buckley, brought it to Smorgasburg (the Brooklyn Flea food market on the waterfront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) and people did just that – buy it and become addicted. \"Smorg really made the evolution happen,\" says Kyle, \"It really is the perfect launching pad for any new food product. You don't need to quit your job or put down a ton on money, just show up on Saturday and see if people like it. Lucky for us our coffee was a hit.\" Grady’s Cold Brew Concentrate is now a full-time gig for the three of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere’s why cold is better: When heat is used to brew iced coffee, it releases acids and oils that are intensified when coffee is cooled down in the refrigerator, resulting in a bitter brew with a short shelf life. Cold brewing, on the other hand, produces an intense but smooth flavor that lasts two weeks in the refrigerator. And chicory (the root of the endive plant) gives it extra mellowness and that signature New Orleans-style flavor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe boys source their Ethiopian beans from New York City coffee institution \u003cspan\u003ePorto Rico Importing Company\u003c\/span\u003e. Back in their Williamsburg ‘BrewCo’ (otherwise known as 'Camp Cold Brew'), the grounds steep overnight with chicory in cold water for 20 hours, then are twice-filtered and poured into handsome amber-bottles the next day. \u003cspan\u003eEach has a “born on” date so you know exactly when the batch was produced. Dave has said, “They are like little breakable babies to us, so we definitely dote on them.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKyle runs around most days making deliveries in their awesome diesel truck (which has a name – Riggins).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe trio – who describe their brand as “leisurely, unpretentious and crack-like” – admits to their own evening addiction: Grady’s Night Coffee (coffee, milk and vodka).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-06-24T22:19:00-04:00","updated_at":"2020-03-11T12:53:15-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"gradys-cold-brew","tags":""}
The Jam Stand
Alex Farrington, June 16, 2012

Sabrina Valle and Jessica Quon are every bit as bubbly and quirky as you’d expect people who invented rum-infused banana...

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{"id":6163968,"title":"The Jam Stand","created_at":"2012-06-16T20:48:19-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/JamStandGirls_medium.jpg?24783\"\u003eSabrina Valle and Jessica Quon are every bit as bubbly and quirky as you’d expect people who invented rum-infused banana jam to be. Their recipes are born out of a shared curiosity about pretty much everything, and a friendship that feeds it. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jam girls had spent most of 2010 traveling in South America. Like so many 20-somethings, they came back to the States, Brooklyn specifically, to face the dreaded What am I doing with my life? “We always liked to cook and do crafts together. If we found something new that we wanted to try out we would call each other, dive in together and just learn.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSabrina had encountered and happily eaten a lot of jam during her South American travels (who knew?), so one afternoon she suggested they give it a whirl and they handed out a few jars to friends. People loved it. “From there, it all happened very naturally. It was like, ‘Neither of us are working this afternoon, let’s make some jam!’ This fun, part-time thing. Then one day, we put something our website just saying we’d sold out of a batch and if you wanted to order some more send us a message. We got flooded.” By the spring 2011, the girls were full-time jammers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe company has been based in experimentation and fun. They rely on traditional jamming techniques but want their recipes to be totally out there, flavor-wise. “We want to be silly, to push people to do fun things with our jam. You don’t have to just put it on toast. Put it on pancakes, ice cream, whatever! Play.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first flavor was born out of the difficulty of making jam in winter. With no ripe berries around, they made lemonade out of lemons – or rather, Drunken Monkey out of rum and bananas. Now, they have four signature flavors, each with a story. Razzy Gabby is named for a friend who placed a rather specific order for raspberry-jalapeno jam. Blueberry Bourbon was inspired by coffee cake that Sabrina tasted on a mother-daughter trip to San Francisco. Onion-wine jam came about when the girls made a special jar for a Brooklyn Winery event. “All the flavors happened really with us just playing around in the kitchen. A friend of mine who lives in China came to visit and brought all this tea, it was literally spilling out of my cupboards. That lead to Tea-rrific Strawberry jam.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe actual making of jam is a bit less breezy. They describe the process as “extremely grueling.” A typical day in the Red Hook kitchen they share with La New Yorkina begins at 4:30pm and lasts until midnight, on a good day. They’re committed to process, and though working in five-pound batches isn’t the most efficient thing ever, it is the only way they can ensure quality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSabrina and Jessica have overcome a lot of challenges and continue to adapt as the company grows. They love doing the farmers markets, but now realize they'd rather focus on wholesale, because it allows them to spend more time on recipe development. “We just take it one step at a time. It’s extremely rewarding. We look at our jam like it's our babies. Going to a store and seeing our babies on the shelf – it’s a moment when those 18 hour days really pay off.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Alex Farrington","user_id":6845096,"published_at":"2012-06-16T20:48:00-04:00","updated_at":"2017-12-31T09:27:41-05:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"the-jam-stand","tags":""}
Unbound Pickling
Brent Bailey, May 14, 2012

Neither Katie nor Jesse Hancock had ever been particularly into food. But, when they met (being the two youngest employees...

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{"id":6051506,"title":"Unbound Pickling","created_at":"2012-05-14T13:36:16-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/UnboundPicklingMakersPlaceholder_medium.jpg?24927\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNeither Katie nor Jesse Hancock had ever been particularly into food. But, when they met (being the two youngest employees at a small office was the ice-breaker) they found that learning to cook together became a favorite pastime. Considering their only ‘instructor’ was a small collection of cookbooks, they must have shared a natural talent.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout four years ago, Katie and Jesse found themselves \u003cspan\u003ein Portland\u003c\/span\u003e, Oregon, happily married but looking for a way to spend more time together after work. So, when their small vegetable garden had a particularly productive summer, Jesse called his mother for her pickle recipe, and Unbound Pickling was born. “We had so much fun, we thought ‘This is it!’ Artisanal-pickle-wise, we saw this huge gap on the West Coast and it just evolved from there.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter doing some homework about what was already going on in the small-batch pickling world, and a lot of tasting\u003cs\u003e\u003c\/s\u003e, they were ready to launch. Portland, OR, with its super indie-vibe and hyper-local ethos struck them as a natural home for the business and in 2009 they sold their first pickle at the Portland Farmers Market. \u003cs\u003e\u003c\/s\u003e“We honestly thought we’d just make pickles in Portland and nobody would ever notice. But there are all these people out there – not just in Portland, but all over the country – looking for new things and they DO notice. That was a big surprise. You get noticed.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith products like Bacon Pickles, which actually get their bacon-y flavor from liquid smoke and paprika (vegan friendly!), or French Quarter Beans, whose brine is heady with over 20 different spices, it’s no surprise that Unbound Pickling struggled to keep up with demand from Day One. “For our first big order, I mapped out a tight pickling schedule. We were going to make 800 jars in 8 hours.” As it turns out, pickling has some hidden time-guzzlers (like waiting for water to boil) and eight hours became 24 loooong hours. Three years later, they’ve learned a lot about streamlining, like to only tackle reasonably-sized batches. The most the two of them process in one day is 500 – impressive, considering that in their spare time (spear time?), Jesse still has a day job in IT and Katie’s hands are full at home juggling two kids.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eClearly, these pickles are a labor of love, an old-fashioned family-business-in-the-making. And the physical work of preparing the pickles (which by the way, is still done entirely by the Hancocks) is Jesse’s favorite part. “It’s sort of mindless and incredibly relaxing to just sit there and cut vegetables. To put the cold, fresh, local produce in the jar, pour the hot brine and let it bubble away in the water bath. I just love it.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-05-14T13:36:00-04:00","updated_at":"2019-05-14T15:01:12-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"unbound-pickling","tags":""}
The Girl & The Fig
Brent Bailey, May 11, 2012

Sondra Bernstein (the ‘girl’ of the Girl & the Fig) talks about her Sonoma, California restaurants as a “mixed media...

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{"id":6045774,"title":"The Girl \u0026 The Fig","created_at":"2012-05-11T17:04:24-04:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/TheGirlAndTheFig_sondra-bernstein300_medium.jpg?38799\"\u003eSondra Bernstein (the ‘girl’ of the Girl \u0026amp; the Fig) talks about her Sonoma, California restaurants as a “mixed media collage incorporating and engaging all five senses at once.” We have to know, where does such a wonderful world view come from? “I was lucky in that my family traveled a lot, so I grew up very curious and open. I was always on a journey of discovery, and my business reflects that.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a kid, Bernstein’s family rituals were centered around food. Sunday kicked off with bagels and ended with Chinese. She inherited her family’s travel bug, which led her to gastronomic greatness in Europe, where even the most rustic meals were a revelation. “I’ve just never lost that bug. I love tasting new foods, visiting the open air markets and just people watching. I could spend all day in the Boqueria in Barcelona, smelling, tasting, watching.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSonoma was a later discovery. Sondra had been living in LA and on a whim decided to drive up to wine country with her boyfriend. While he explored the local Irish pubs, she soaked up the wineries and markets. “I was just like “how can I not be living here”? Food, wine, nature, beauty!” Three months later, she packed up and quickly landed a job at Viansa, a winery and marketplace with a heavy Italian influence. There, she absorbed everything she could about marketing, branding, food and wine, about gourmet food products and catering. After four years, she was ready to strike out on her own. “I thought, if I am going to work this hard, I want to work for myself.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe took her limited funds, poured them into a small space in Glen Ellen, and the Girl and the Fig – named simply for her complete adoration of figs – was born. It was 1997, when the food and wine culture of Sonoma was dominated by a heavy Italian influence. Knowing that the climate of the Rhone region of France was somewhat similar to Sonoma, and knowing that a few local wineries had begun to branch out into Rhone varietals, she embraced a concept that married the two. “Eighty percent of our customers were tourists, here for the wine. We felt like were were adding this element of discovery. Chardonnay was king, and we were opening it up a little bit. We knew could always add more familiar wines if we needed to. We never did.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFig vinegar came around a little later, along with a host of other “fig foods,” as Sondra calls them, inspired by her deep love of the uniquely sweet, plump and delicate little fruit. Soon she opened a little shop called “Figaments” devoted 100% to all things figgy. Vinegar production began, it was popular from day one\"Our whole idea was just that people if they loved their meal they could take home a piece of it, a piece of this place. Making money obviously wasn’t our primary goal.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow she is proud to be both wholesaler and retailer of the fig vinegar and many other products. When not tasting wines, meeting with local winemakers, building a menu, or catering an event, Sondra’s probably busy self-publishing her latest cookbook, Plats du Jour. “I don’t sleep a whole lot. If you dream big and you really mean it, well, be careful what you wish for. This is a much bigger business than I ever thought I would own. But, I happen to love what I’m doing. I like making a difference in people’s lives, whether it’s for 2 hours, or for 10 years.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBernstein isn’t sure what's in her future, though she knows she’d like to slow down a bit. “I’m kind of living in the moment. There’s part of me that wants to travel more, but I love my home. It’s been so much fun. Our roots here are good, we’re just really lucky.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-05-11T17:04:00-04:00","updated_at":"2019-05-14T14:55:38-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"the-girl-the-fig","tags":""}
Brooklyn Slate
Brent Bailey, March 1, 2012

Brooklyn Slate Company is a collaborative effort from Brooklyn graphic designer Sean Tice and Parsons graduate student Kristy Hadeka....

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{"id":5809954,"title":"Brooklyn Slate","created_at":"2012-03-01T11:32:20-05:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0100\/5392\/files\/BrooklynSlate_SeanAndKristy_medium.jpg?15188\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrooklyn Slate Company is a collaborative effort from Brooklyn graphic designer Sean Tice and Parsons graduate student Kristy Hadeka. After visiting Kristy's family slate quarry in upstate New York in the spring of 2009, the two grabbed a few pieces for use as all purpose boards back home in Brooklyn. They used them as trivets for tea kettles and hot dishes to coasters for beers - and began gifting pieces to friends. The response was so positive that the two struck out to produce a line of slate products.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey now make regular trips to the family quarry in upstate New York to hand pick the best pieces of black and red slate. Some of the slate is sourced from the quarry \"graveyard,\" or collection of odd shaped pieces that were ultimately destined to be ground for use as road cover or baseball diamonds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey then transport the pieces to a studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where they do additional cutting and clean the stone so it is food safe. In order to achieve the rough, unfinished look, the edges are chipped with a slate cutter and other tools.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey finally assemble the packaging in small batches. Every single piece of packaging - from the envelope to the burlap bag - can be repurposed for other uses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe end result is a product completely unique in cut, shape, color, and overall presentation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","blog_id":1310142,"author":"Brent Bailey","user_id":23116578850,"published_at":"2012-03-01T11:32:00-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-07T16:20:22-04:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"brooklyn-slate","tags":""}
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