Food & Drink Artisans
A Pour of Diversity at the Local Wine Table
Phil Long at work in his Longevity winery (Photo by Ron Essex Photography) By Mary Orlin In early 2020, vintner Phil Long was on the verge of something big. The founder and winemaker for Livermore Valley’s Longevity Wines had inked a major deal to make and distribute his wines nationally just as he stepped into…
Read MoreFood I Want to Remember
from a year I’d like to forget Story and photos by Meredith Pakier Opening and sustaining a restaurant or food business is a monumental undertaking in the best of times. During 2020, as an unmitigated global pandemic devastated millions of businesses and livelihoods, an indifferent government largely left the restaurant industry to fend for itself.…
Read MoreOlive Oil Synergies
Networking and mentorship make a difference for small producers, from grove adopters to a former governor By Cheryl Angelina Koehler Clockwise from upper left: Olga Orlova in her Olica olive orchard; Kim Null and Jamie de Sieyes during their Wild Poppies harvest; Kathryn Tomijan at work milling a Fat Gold harvest; Susan Ellsworth sorting…
Read MoreComing Up Oysters
Reflections on teaching, forensic diving, oyster farming, and running a restaurant By Steven Day, co-owner of The Cook and Her Farmer in Oakland Photos by Clara Rice “Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and bringing the first two loves together.” —Scott Hayden It started with a bad day at work.…
Read MoreA Holiday Pie Party
Recipes, photos, and videos by chef/photographer Judy Doherty Don’t let the pandemic ruin your holidays! Baking pie will make your house smell delicious as you channel your granny and all those good times with friends and family in years past. Master these three recipes with the help of expert chef and photographer Judy Doherty.…
Read MoreA Lake County Bottle
Prima Materia brings out the hidden county’s wine charms By Meredith Pakier Copious sunlight beats down on obsidian-laced soils between the Mayacamas Mountain Range and volcanic Mount Konocti in Lake County, where Pietro Buttitta tends his grapevines. He’s grafted most of his rootstock with scions of rare native Italian varieties—robust sagrantino, silky refosco, and savory negroamaro—which…
Read MoreBently Heritage Estate Distillery
Taste, Tradition, and Technology Bently Heritage Estate Distillery takes the farm to the flask By Barbara Twitchell | Photos by Asa Gilmore Once simply a sleepy little hamlet in the Carson Valley east of the Sierra, Minden, Nevada, was long known for two structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places: The old Minden…
Read MoreNew Products from Renewal Mill
Claire Schlemme collects okara from the Hodo Soy waste stream and turns it into baking flour. Photos courtesy of Renewal Mill and Alice Medrich. Oakland’s Renewal Mill spins out new upcycled foods By Rachel Trachten The process of upcycling works its magic in two ways: first, it makes use of something that would otherwise…
Read MoreOsCo: an Unconventional Distillery
Of Makers and Spirits How an artists’ block in Oakland inspired the creation of OsCo, an unconventional distillery By Kathryn Campo Bowen | Photos by Clara Rice Early March In a time before quarantine and masks and social distancing, Michael Pierce offered to show me around the block. “Let’s walk next door,”…
Read MoreMonifa Dayo and Sur Place
From Food Service to Food Justice, Monifa Dayo Makes It Work Story and photos by Annelies Zijderveld Monifa Dayo is not new to pivoting. In 2016, the chef realized she had grown weary of the steep physical demands and endless manual labor of commercial restaurant work. Stepping away, she opened Sur Place, a…
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