CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Booker Vineyard winemaker-farmer Eric Jensen, Paso Robles, CA

Eric Jensen is the man behind Booker Wines, My Favorite Neighbor and Harvey & Harriet Wines, Eric grew up in southern California, and went on to be a real estate developer and concert promoter before heading for the hills of Paso Robles. Eric spent his formative years as a winemaker in the company of Paso Robles pillars like Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure Winery and Justin Smith of Saxum. He and Booker Wines have wound up on just about every best-of list out there, from Wine Spectator to Forbes to Food & Wine and many others. We talked about Eric’s work with Must! Charities, a powerful nonprofit that benefits the communities where wine is made, as well as the space at Booker’s tasting room in Paso Robles.

 

Websites: bookerwines.com; mustcharities.org

Instagram: @bookerwines; @must.charities

Food photographer Mary Lagier, San Luis Obispo, CA

Mary Lagier's food photography has appeared in multiple print publications, and some of her clients include the Magnolia Network, The Infatuation, Hungryroot, and King Arthur Baking. But her background isn’t in photography or media: actually it’s in computer engineering. Mary chatted with me about her natural engineering and math-minded qualities, the way the pandemic made several (good) decisions for her, and she even gave some tips on how to take good food photos with a smartphone.

Website: marylagier.com

Instagram: @marylagier

SLO Provisions owners Steve Bland + Dwyne Willis, San Luis Obispo, CA

Southern gentlemen Dwyne Willis and Steve Bland are spouses and business partners who own and operate SLO Provisions. Their menu includes rotisserie chicken, pulled pork, bocadillo, devilied eggs, biscuits, porchetta, and locally-famous salt and vinegar chips. Everything is crazy-high quality, flavorful — and with the ambiance to match. We talked about the realities of modern restaurant ownership, the Silver Palate, and favorite cookbooks. Find SLO Provisions' recipe for Kale Cauliflower Caesar Salad at letsgetconsumed.com.

Website: sloprovisions.com

Instagram: @sloprovisions

Cannabis and CBD edibles with April Worley of Mender, Atascadero, CA

April Cole Worley is the owner of Mender, a company that makes and sells CBD-based body care products and edibles. Based out of Atascadero, California, April has hustled hard for several years to educate folks on the benefits of CBD-based products, including her most recent venture into candy-making with renowned New York confectioner Michael Fertucci. The result is a product that Mender calls “calming sweets” — 25 milligrams of a one-to-one formulation of CBD and CBG.  April explains the difference between CBD, CBG and THC, and talks about the first time she smoked pot, the inequality of cannabis legalization, and the beauty of caring for oneself.

Website: mender.shop

Instagram: @mender.shop

Julia Child Foundation chair Eric Spivey, Montecito, CA

Julia Child, the godmother of American cuisine, spent the final years of her life in Montecito, California, just up Highway 101 from where I live in San Luis Obispo. She was a big fan of Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, and she invested her energy here until her death in 2004. Since then, her longtime friend Eric Spivey has grown the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts into a purposeful organization that consults with media like the recent documentary “Julia” and the HBO Max series, also called “Julia.” The foundation also presents the Julia Child Award in Washington DC, in association with the Smithsonian Museum, and makes grants to those who influence the way America cooks, eats and drinks. I visited Eric in his Montecito home and indulged in a bit of Julia lore. I also learned about ongoing events like Taste of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience. 

 

Websites: juliachildfoundation.org, sbce.events

Instagram: @juliachildfoundation, @sbculinaryexperience

Harvestly co-owner Lauryn Luescher, San Luis Obispo, CA

Right before the pandemic hit, a little company called Harvestly started up in San Luis Obispo County. In essence, Harvestly is the farmer’s market, brought home to you. On the website, you can pick and choose from items that are in-season, grown and made by local farmers and producers — then pay and wait for the delivery to arrive. Think of it like Instacart with a heart, from dirt to your door. Co-owner Lauryn Leuscher stops by to describe how Harvestly got started, how it works, and how, with any luck, it will take over the world.

Website: harvestly.co

Instagram: @harvestly.co

Backyard chicken expert Barbara Bullock, San Luis Obispo, CA

Anyone who’s had backyard chickens in San Luis Obispo has probably heard of Barbara Bullock. For me, I knew her only as “Barbara the Chicken Whisperer” — I even had her in my phone that way — because she helped me with my backyard flock when we had chickens at our old house years ago. Barbara knows just about everything there is to know about chickens, from what they like to eat, what’s toxic for them, setback and noise rules for having a coop, dominant predators, and what the noises they make mean. She currently has 25 birds of her own in her backyard, so she’s also an encyclopedia of ideas for cooking with eggs. Listen to Barbara talk about her childhood on the ranch, her gorgeous garden (sponsored by chicken poop), and how she instills a love of chickens in young people through 4H. 

Instagram: @nightfeather_poultry

Seaweed forager Spencer Marley, Cayucos, CA

Seaweed authority Spencer Marley hosts foraging tours along Highway 1 that have been covered by huge media outlets. My family took a tour, and Spencer taught us all about local seaweed, and he even prepared us bowls of a simple seaweed ramen on his campstove, right there on the beach. Here, Spencer talks about how he came to love the ocean, and love teaching people about seaweed.

Website: marleyfamilyseaweeds.com

Great American Melodrama Cast, Oceano, California

Hardworking actors at the Great American Melodrama in Oceano share favorite pre- and post-show foods, plus stories from the GAM snack bar. Listen in as Toby Tropper, Mike Fiore, Meggie Siegrist and Jeff Salsbury, plus interim artistic director Katie Worley Beck, talk about “showrritos,” refusing to pay for popcorn ever again, and lactose intolerance pills as a superpower. Stick around to the end to hear them sing a couple of their famous tip jar songs.

 

Website: americanmelodrama.com

Instagram: @tgamericanmelodrama

Super cool update from Jaime

Great stuff on the horizon! 

Consumed LIVE: August 31, 6pm

There Does Not Exist Brewing, San Luis Obispo

More info: letsgetconsumed.com/events