CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Going Rhône with Vicki Carroll, Hospice du Rhône, Paso Robles

Vicki Carroll is the president of Hospice du Rhône, an organization of wine producers across the globe that promotes Rhône-varietal wines. It's hard to believe there was a time that people didn't know what syrah or grenache are, but it really wasn't all that long ago. As the administrator for Hospice du Rhône, Vicki has worked to coalesce the efforts of Rhône producers all over the world to share their work with consumers. So if you've ever tasted grenache, syrah, mourvedre or viognier, you have Vicki in part to thank. Here we talk about Hospice du Rhone events, what it's like to be the American wine producers in a room of French wine producers, and the beauty of the South of France.

 

Website: hospicedurhone.org

Instagram: @hospicedurhone

Soupgangsta and Little Red Hen Bread, aka Stephanie Nye and Kirsten Finberg

My guests Stephanie Nye and Kirsten Finberg are each lovely in their own right, but because they are longtime friends who work side-by-side at the Morro Bay Farmers Market each Thursday afternoon, they are magic together. Stephanie (aka Soupgangsta) is the brains behind Farmers Market Inspired Soups, a company she’s had for many years that feeds folks tasty soups made from produce she gets at the market. I first came across Stephanie’s work via her cookbook, Central Coast Farmers Market Soups, a beautiful love letter to our home and the agriculture it supports, plus recipes of course. Kirsten Finberg is another person I’d met once or twice but never had the chance to really get to know. She is the owner and baker behind Little Red Hen Bread, which makes wood-fired breads for sale at farmers markets and other local outlets. Kirsten is a firecracker with energy, brains, and humor to spare. The two of these ladies work at several farmers markets, but when they met at the Morro Bay Market, they knew they’d become friends, just like soup and bread. But NOT like cherries, as you’ll soon understand. Anyway, listen in and you’ll feel like you’re right at the table with us.

 

Buy Stephanie’s book here.

 

Little Red Hen Bread Instagram: @littleredhenbread

Farmers Market Inspired Soups website: farmersmarketsoup.wordpress.com

Instagram: @soupgangsta

 

Employing former inmates in the kitchen with Sister Theresa Harpin of Restorative Partners and The Bridge Cafe in SLO

A couple weeks ago, as I was scrolling around on Instagram, I saw photos from the recent grand opening of The Bridge Cafe in downtown San Luis Obispo. This isn’t just any eatery, though. In collaboration with the Cuesta College Culinary Arts Foundation, The Bridge Cafe is a social enterprise, providing culinary training and employment for people who have previously been incarcerated. As I looked at these photos, one face stood out amid the crowd, beaming with a little extra light. Turns out it was the face of Sister Theresa Harpin, Executive Director of the organization Restorative Partners, which helps people move from inside the justice system to outside it, and which oversees the administration of The Bridge Cafe. Theresa is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, a Catholic congregation begun in 1650 around a kitchen table in France. She is kind, articulate, and her clear-eyed way of seeing the world is positively infectious. Listen to Sister Theresa talk about growing up in the Carl’s Jr. family, how she decided to become a nun, her work inside the justice system, and how she dreamed about establishing The Bridge Cafe eight years before it became a reality.

Website: restorativepartners.org

Instagram: @thebridgecafeslo / @restorativepartners

Taking tea time with Kirstin Sherritt of The Secret Garden in SLO

Kirstin Sherritt owns The Secret Garden in San Luis Obispo, a shop that specializes in tea, herbs and spices. I’ve known Kirstin for a while, just through the grapevine of life in SLO, and I’ve watched her grow what was a tiny little back-patio business into a thriving community. The shop overlooks San Luis Creek, with jars of all kinds of raw botanicals: bark, leaves, petals, buds, rinds and spices. With decades of expertise in how to use these ingredients, she creates bespoke blends for people who come in, or they can buy pre-blended concoctions she’s developed over the years for things like improved cognition, detoxification, and relaxation. I love that little shop, but there’s so much more to Kirstin and her business. Here we talk about plants and tea, sure, but you definitely don’t want to miss Kirstin debunking myths about the difference between tea and coffee drinkers.

Website: organicherbshop.com

Instagram: @secretgardenslo

What is good service? A chat with Giuseppe’s SLO server Chloe Lane

A friend recently had dinner at Giuseppe’s Cucina Rustica in San Luis Obispo, a bustling and beloved local Italian eatery. Afterward, she texted me to say she’d had an interesting conversation with her server about the nature of tipping that might make for interesting fodder on this podcast. That server’s name is Chloe Lane, and she rather graciously agreed to come over to share her experiences despite never having met me or knowing much of anything about Consumed. We talked about tips: how important they are, how they ebb and flow with the seasons, and the kinds of people who tend to tip well. I also quizzed her on a couple of bizarre situations I’ve had in restaurants to see what she would do. My favorite quote from Chloe? “It’s hard when people won’t allow you to help them.” I found that extremely insightful for a young server. She clearly has a knack.

Food writing, gumbo, and big transitions with Sara Roahen in SLO

Sara Roahen is a food writer who lives in San Luis Obispo — but who left her heart in New Orleans. She lived there for 17 years, working first as a line cook in professional kitchens, and later as the food critic for the alternative weekly paper called Gambit. Sara grew up in the Midwest, so she was an outsider in New Orleans but came to love the people and flavors of the place so much she joined the Southern Foodways Alliance, a nonprofit that records and promotes the food traditions throughout the American South. She also wrote the book Gumbo Tales: Finding my Place at the New Orleans Table, whose chapters focus on different dishes and their champions throughout the city. Now a resident of the Central Coast, Sara considers herself “still in transition” from urban New Orleanian to rural Californian. Listen in as we talk about Hurricane Katrina, discovering Cattaneo Brothers linguica, and re-finding her voice.

 

Website: sararoahen.com

Instagram: @sararoahen

High cuisine and high praise with Chef Rachel Haggstrom at JUSTIN Winery in Paso Robles

In the last year, The Restaurant at JUSTIN Vineyard & Winery in Paso Robles has received massive accolades, including a Michelin star and a five-star recognition in Forbes Travel Guide's 2023 Star Awards. Such are the results of the culinary team’s efforts, spearheaded by Chef Rachel Haggstrom. A native of Temecula, Rachel knew she wanted to cook when she first read about Chef Thomas Keller in high school. Little did she know she’d wind up working in his kitchen at The French Laundry a handful of years later. We chatted about the precision of plucking leaves, quiet kitchens, and IKEA efficiency.

 

Website: justinwine.com

Instagram: @justinwine

Bonus episode: CONSUMED Live with Harmony and Brian Collins, Ember + Brooke and Jacob Town, The Spoon Trade

This is a special between-seasons bonus episode with the folks behind two of the Central Coast’s most flavorful restaurants, Ember in Arroyo Grande and The Spoon Trade in Grover Beach. My conversation with Brian and Harmony Collins and Jacob and Brooke Town took place November 29, 2022 in front of an audience at There Does Not Exist brewing in San Luis Obispo as part of the Consumed Live event series. 

Apologies for the poor audio quality: the fault is entirely my own! 

For more info on the Consumed Live event series, visit letsgetconsumed.com/events.

Bread, bikes, and community with Sam DeNicola and Matt Gamarra of Bread Bike, SLO

Sam DeNicola and Matt Gamarra are the bakers behind Bread Bike, a community-supported bakery in San Luis Obispo. Here’s the business model: people mill whole grains and bake them into hearty loaves of bread, then bike it around to people in the community. I’ve had a Bread Bike subscription for a while now, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE bread day. Here we talk about how bread became a thing for both Sam and Matt, how their shared interests merged into a business, the early days of biking bread around, the new bakery space on Parker Street, and how the name Bread Bike stuck.

Website: slobreadbike.com

Instagram: @bread.bike

Talking trash with Peter Cron of SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority, SLO

Peter Cron is the executive director of the San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority, and he is a treasure trove of answers for all the burning questions I had about garbage. It turns out that we in SLO County do a pretty decent job of leading the way with managing waste. In fact, we’re the first place in the nation to use an anaerobic digestion facility to process organic waste, which is extremely cool. Stay till the end of the episode, please please please, because you’ll love to hear about Peter’s final meal...and what he wants to happen afterward.

Website: iwma.com

Instagram: @recycle_slocounty