CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

David Walker, co-founder, Firestone-Walker Brewing Co, Buellton + Paso Robles

Brewery founder David Walker and I talk about the differences between wine people and beer people, the history of American craft brewing, and what an Englishman eats and drinks for his final meal.

@firestonewalker / firestonebeer.com

Sarah Deiter, creative and owner, Makers & Allies, SLO

Sarah Deiter owns Makers & Allies, an award-winning design and branding studio producing exclusively for the wine, craft & spirits industry. A graduate of the Cal Poly studio art program, she and her husband, Garrett, manage a team of 15 people, from designers and copywriters to web developers and social media managers, all with a focus on alcohol beverage and increasingly other products, too. Sarah and I discussed the creative process for wine and spirits work, why she loves Gamay, and what it’s like to work with her husband.

Website: makersandallies.com

Instagram: @makersandallies

Antonio Diaz, filmmaker and publisher, The Migrant Kitchen and Life & Thyme Magazine, Los Angeles

Antonio Diaz is a young entrepreneur who started the “culinary storytelling” journal Life & Thyme Magazine as a hobby. Today, it is an influential international publication. Based out of Los Angeles, Antonio and his team have most recently won a third Emmy for their PBS series, The Migrant Kitchen, which explores California's booming food scene through the eyes of a new generation of chefs whose cuisine is inspired by the immigrant experience. Antonio and I talked about how the magazine and the television show came into existence, and, by extension, we discussed what it means to eat like an American these days, especially in L.A. where cultures can mix and blur into one another.

Website: lifeandthyme.com, kcet.org/shows/the-migrant-kitchen

Instagram: @lifeandthyme

Captain Mark Tognazzini, fisherman and restaurateur, Morro Bay

Captain Mark Tognazzini is a commercial fisherman out of Morro Bay who’s been on the ocean for over 40 years. Captain Mark was born into a family of ten children descended from Swiss-Italian immigrants. Living near the ocean, he caught the fishing bug at a young age and followed a career path into commercial fishing. Later, he built a direct-to-consumer fish market and two seafood restaurants as well. Here, Captain Mark shares stories from his life on the ocean.

Website: morrobaydockside.com

Instagram: @tognazzini_dockside_restaurant

Father Ian Delinger, priest, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, and food journalist, KCBX, San Luis Obispo

Father Ian Delinger is the priest at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in San Luis Obispo, as well as the host of a radio show called “Playing With Food,” which dives into the food culture, history, and people of California’s Central Coast. We talked about the time he spent living in England, how he learned to compose radio stories, and about how to help someone who is grieving.

Website: Playing With Food

Instagram: @ianmdelinger

Golzar Barrera, chef and caterer, All Purpose Flower, Solvang

Chef Golzar Barrera is of Persian descent, but she indulges her love for Japanese cuisine by making and selling ramen through pop-ups with her catering business, All Purpose Flower, in Solvang, California. Since arriving in Solvang three years ago, she has expanded her catering work significantly for events and private clients, in addition to building her ramen pop-ups, which are unprecedented in this little town. We discussed what it was like to grow up as a first-generation first-born daughter in a Persian home, the secret to perfect ramen broth, and about her stint as a contestant on Master Chef with Gordon Ramsey.

Website: allpurposeflowerco.com

Instagram: @allpurposeflower_

Gray Hartley + Frank Ostini, winemaker and restaurateur, Hartley-Ostini Wines, Hitching Post II, Buellton

Gray Hartley and Frank Ostini make wine under the label Hartley-Ostini Wines, and Frank owns and operates the venerated Buellton barbecue restaurant, The Hitching Post II. Gray and Frank have been friends since 1976, when Santa Barbara Wine Country was just beginning to emerge. We sat together at the Hitching Post 2 and discussed how both men grew up, Gray’s commercial fishing career, Frank’s education at UC Davis, and the impact of the Oscar-winning 2004 movie Sideways, which features the Hitching Post II and Hartley-Ostini Wines prominently in the plot.

Website: hitchingpost2.com

Instagram: @hitchingpost2

Jacob + Brooke Town, restaurateurs, The Spoon Trade + Grover Beach Sourdough, Grover Beach

Jacob and Brooke Town own and operate The Spoon Trade in Grover Beach, Jacob as chef and Brooke as front-of-house manager and wine director., as well as Grover Beach Sourdough. For a decade, Brooke and Jacob worked in extremely high-end restaurants in San Francisco, but they left to open their own place, back home on the Central Coast. Jacob’s elevated American food and Brooke’s legendary hospitality have already made The Spoon Trade a Central Coast classic in the five years since it opened. We talked about traveling the country, American cuisine, and about The Spoon Trade’s famous fried chicken and waffles.

Website: thespoontrade.com, gbsourdough.com

Instagram: @thespoontrade, @groverbeachsourdough

Megan + Jeremy Raff, farmers, Dare 2 Dream Farms, Lompoc

Dare 2 Dream Farms belongs to Jeremy and Megan Raff, whose humble chicken egg operation on family property became a garden, a chicken coop-building business, a WWOOF host, a farmstand and CSA, an AirBnB property, and much more. I spoke with them about their beginnings, how Jeremy’s upbringing influenced their decision to start farming, and about celebrity chicken coop drop-offs in L.A.

Website: dare2dreamfarms.com

Instagram: @dare2dreamfarms

Robin Wolf, mixologist, The Hatch Bar + Restaurant, Paso Robles

Robin Wolf manages the bar at The Hatch Bar and Rotisserie in Paso Robles, in addition to producing craft bitters with her company SLO Bitter Co, consulting on cocktail lists for bars and restaurants, and competing on the international mixology circuit. We talked about growing up in a large family here on the Central Coast, her theater background, and the decade she spent living in New York.

Website: slobitterco.com

Instagram: @slobitterco