CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

From sushi to charcuterie with Beerwood’s Jess Saddoff-Bauer and Annie Steinmann

At Beerwood in Los Osos, Chef Jess Saddoff-Bauer and owner Annie Steinmann work hard to offer a family-friendly space and an elevated brewpub experience. I came to know Beerwood through gorgeous pictures of Chef Jess’s charcuterie platters, so imagine my delight when she brought one to the house for our interview! I learned a lot about her background, which includes fighting her way into sushi kitchens to learn the craft and become a well-respected sushi chef. (I suspect it also explains why the charcuterie boards are so precise, colorful, and beautiful. That level of care and skill doesn’t just happen.) I learned a lot about Annie too, how she worked in a previous iteration of the business and how she, her husband, and her friends really wanted to see the space thrive. We also talked about the brewpub’s support of the LGBTQ community and how relationships are everything in Los Osos-Baywood Park. Here are Chef Jess Saddoff-Bauer and Annie Steinmann of Beerwood. By the way, it doesn’t happen often, but I sometimes forget to ask guests about their final meal. That happened here, sadly, but I was able to get Jess and Annie on a voicemail that I share at the end. Enjoy.

 

Website: thisisbeerwood.com

Instagram: @thisisbeerwood

Author Dianne Jacob on the fate of food writing

Becoming a food writer tends to be a try-and-see-what-sticks process. Last time I checked, you can’t major in food writing in college, so most folks who want to pursue that line of work need to either make it up as they go along or attach themselves to a knowledgeable mentor. For my part, I’ve done both, and the latter I’ve done with Dianne Jacob, an award-winning food writer, cookbook author, and writing teacher based in the Bay Area. I’ve hired Dianne to help with magazine pitches and book proposals, but I’ve also benefited greatly from her book “Will Write For Food,” a guide to the food writing industry that’s now in its fourth printing. Ask any food writer, and they’ll tell you this is the gold standard for food writing, so I was delighted when Dianne agreed to come on the podcast. You’ll love her expertise, stories, and advice in this interview that I recorded in her home in San Leandro. I encourage you to sign up for her newsletter on Substack by the way, if you love good food writing and want to find more of it. You can also see the recipes that Chat GPT made for her, and the results of her following them. 

 

Website: diannej.com

Substack: diannejacob.substack.com

Instagram: @diannemjacob

Happy meals®, soda, Disneyland, and grief with Alexandra Wallace

Alexandra Wallace is a photographer who captures weddings, portraits, and editorial photos for a living. If you’ve ever been to the Consumed website at letsgetconsumed.com, you’ll see the generous shots she’s taken of me, too. She’s also a born creative, having helmed Coyote and Oak Magazine and associate producing the podcast Your Own Backyard about the disappearance of Kristin Smart. (Her partner, Chris Lambert, is the producer of that show, and he was on the Consumed podcast several months ago, too.) But when Alli isn’t shooting photos, making magazines or other kinds of media, she’s a pop culture junkie who’s willing to drive out-of-state to visit the last Blockbuster Video on earth, or research “theme park disasters” on Wikipedia. For this episode of Consumed, she surprised me with a Happy Meal to eat on the mic, just to see how I’d feel about it, as she mistakenly believes I have a highly refined palate. We talked about grief, Disneyland, cake, and more. 

 

Website: alexandra-wallace.com

Instagram: @thelittlealli

Cooking With Caleb on YouTube

Pinot noir, baseball, and Armenian roots with winemaker Ryan Deovlet

Ryan Deovlet is the winemaker behind Deovlet Wines, based out of San Luis Obispo, but with wines from the Santa Rita Hills, Happy Canyon, and other Santa Barbara County regions and vineyards. Perhaps most exciting right now is Ryan’s purchase of property off Los Osos Valley Road, formerly owned by grain farmer Larry Kandarian, who has been featured on this podcast, too. Ryan speaks about pioneering a new region, his Armenian roots, and his connection to the late, great Kobe Bryant. He also shared a bottle of his first wine, a 2008 Pinot Noir from La Encantada Vineyard. And yes, it was GORGEOUS. I don’t get to taste wines like that very often. Anyway, we spoke for about half the episode indoors, but we had to move outdoors because someone had to get into the house. No biggie, but you’ll notice a few leaf-blowers going when we move outside. Such is life. 

 

Website: deovletwines.com

Instagram: @deovlet_wines

Bonus episode: Matt Brynildson (Firestone Walker Brewing), Max Montgomery (There Does Not Exist) and Jack Dyer (Topa Topa Brewing) at Consumed Live

This is a re-release of the first Consumed Live episode featuring three powerhouse brewers on California’s Central Coast. Listen in as I talk with Matt Brynildson, brewmaster at Firestone-Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles, Buellton, and Venice Beach; Max Montgomery, brewmaster at There Does Not Exist in San Luis Obispo; and Jack Dyer, founder at Topa Topa Brewing Company in Ventura. These three brought lots of fun stories, insight, and humor to the table, and I’m so glad I recorded it. The event took place at There Does Not Exist on August 31, 2022. Enjoy!

The Mountain Air owners Josh and Lindsey Haring on camping and cooking

Josh and Lindsey Haring own The Mountain Air, a shop in downtown San Luis Obispo that sells outdoor gear like skis, sleeping bags, and hiking shoes. And because it’s summer, and because Josh and Lindsey have been dear friends of mine for years, I thought we could talk about eating and cooking on the trail or at the campground. Camping and backpacking food and gear has come a long way since I was a kid, and I wanted to share the Harings’ expertise with you, as well as their story. The Mountain Air opened in 1975, so there’s lots to cover. And yes, we talked about radishes, a vegetable that Josh believes shouldn’t be served at Halloween parties. You’ll understand why.

 

Website: themountainair.com

Instagram: @themountainair

Coffee roasting in Oceano with John Quint of Deltina Coffee Roasters

John Quint (who pulls a JFK and also goes by Jack Quint) owns and operates Deltina Coffee Roasters, located in Oceano and, as of this summer, a location near Cal Poly on Taft Street in San Luis Obispo. As a native of Seattle and the nephew of a prominent master roaster, Jack comes by his coffee culture honestly. He started his career as a CPA specializing in international taxation, but when coffee became his true love, he made a plan to start a roastery. Why did he and his wife Jill — yes, Jack and Jill — why did they choose the little coastal town of Oceano to set down roots with their five kids? And why open a new spot? You’ll have to listen to find out. Oh, also, Jack sent me a few pounds of Deltina coffee and I am loving its French-Roasty style.

 

Website: deltinacoffeeroasters.com

Instagram: @deltinacoffee

Teaching Asian cooking with Annie Yu, San Luis Obispo

Annie Yu learned how to cook from her grandmother, who grew up near Canton, China. Her style of cooking included a lot of seafood, rice, and milder spices than Northern Szechuan cuisine. As the first American-born of seven siblings, Annie spent a lot of time in Chinatown in Boston, traveling to the markets with her grandmother. Today, Annie teaches Asian cooking in San Luis Obispo after many years in the world of corporate training. She shared with me her secrets for stir fry, which are fascinating, her dad’s one wish for his kids, and the reason she and her husband decided to move from the East Coast to San Luis Obispo.

 

Instagram: @sloasiancooking

Photo: Jen Olson

 

Chef/owner Rusty Quirk, Linnaea’s Cafe, SLO

Rusty Quirk is a chef and the owner of Linnaea’s Cafe in downtown San Luis Obispo. If you’ve spent any time in SLO since 1984, you probably remember the little cafe with the long walk to a leafy back patio with a koi pond. Linnaea’s is one of a rare breed of small, family-owned businesses in SLO that have retained their original charm for several decades. It’s a cozy, simple place where the focus falls more on fostering relationships and art than on getting esoteric with the coffee. And now with Rusty at the helm, it’s going to have even more delicious pastries, too. She has served as pastry chef at Hotel SLO, Bell’s in Los Alamos and Bar Le Cote in Los Olivos. (By the way, I butchered the pronunciation of that restaurant in our interview, and Rusty was gracious enough not to correct me. Anyway, mea culpa.) Here she talks about her experiences on the line in kitchens from New York to California, her background in graphic design, and how her musician husband is helping to boost the musical offerings at the cafe.

 

Website: linnaeascafe.com

Instagram: @linnaeascafe

Functional nutritional therapy with Stephanie Killen of Sound Body Nutrition, SLO

Stephanie Killen is the Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner behind Sound Body Nutrition in San Luis Obispo, a service that works with women to resolve their health concerns using nutrition, lifestyle guidance and natural therapies. In addition to her training in functional nutritional therapy, she has a unique edge: a culinary school degree. Stephanie became interested in nutritional therapy when she sought help for her own severe hormonal imbalances. With her culinary experience, she was able to tailor a program of nutritional recovery that uses data from extensive lab testing to nourish her clients and restore digestive and hormonal balance. We used my own physical woes and imbalances as jumping-off points for her to share her expertise, which was kind of fun.

 

Website: soundbodynutrition.com

Instagram: @sound_body_nutrition

Vitality Smoothie Recipe

Stephanie recommends this smoothie for all her clients. She says “it’s great for breakfast as it is a balanced meal that promotes regularity, satiety, energy, balanced blood sugar, nourished adrenal glands, and digestion.”

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut water or regular filtered water

3/4 cup unsweetened almond, cashew, or coconut milk

1 scoop Ora Organics vanilla, chocolate, or unflavored protein powder 

1 tablespoon organic hemp or chia seeds 

1 tablespoon organic chia seeds

1/2 avocado

1/2 inch knob peeled ginger

1 tsp camu camu powder 

handful leafy greens

Blitz everything together in a powerful blender. Serve.