Sound Bites

Next Show, April 4th: Leslie Bennett, Star Apple Edible Gardens

soundbites — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:08:51 +0000

Tune in this upcoming Sunday, 2/14, at 4pm PT, for a conversation with Leslie C. Bennett of Star Apple Edible Gardens. Although she has always been passionate about environmental work, Leslie’s work as a gardener and urban farmer was a long time coming. After years of public health and environmental non-profit work, she found herself a 28-year old depressed corporate lawyer in London. It was all wrong – so she jumped ship. She rented a one-room wooden shack on the beach in rural Jamaica and decided to do what she’d always sort of known she should have been doing — grow food. Leslie worked for seven months with an organic farm deep in the Jamaican hills, then continued her apprenticeship on organic farms in Northern California, near where she grew up. She wanted to help people in the city, especially those who are like she was a few years ago – exhausted, trapped, and disconnected from other people and the earth – to learn how to grow food. Since 2008, she has been designing, installing and maintaining aesthetically designed edible gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area with her full-service edible gardening company, Star Apple Edible Gardens. She works closely with her mentor, Patrick Rodysill of Garden Fare in the Sierra Foothills, and with her husband, Linval, a farmer and fisherman she met while farming in Jamaica. Business is growing and Leslie is continually thrilled by how growing food can help people to develop a powerful and positive relationship with the land with which they live. If you’re in San Francisco or Los Angeles, you would be able to tune into 87.9FM, if it weren’t for a pesky FCC injunction (read more here). In Berlin, we’re at 104.8FM. Everywhere else, you can listen live online on Pirate Cat Radio’s stream. Call in with questions at 510-PIR-8CAT, and feel free to leave comments below before the show with any questions or comments. The edited podcast and summary will be posted within a few days of the broadcast.

This Sunday, 2/28: Eric Hagyard, Pott Wine

soundbites — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:31:50 +0000

Eric Hagyard of Pott Wine was first entranced by alcoholic beverages at a young age, fascinated by the labels adorning the bottles while shopping with his father. Years later, while visiting his sister in California, he had a sensory epiphany tasting wine in the beautiful Napa Valley. Obsessed, he studied wine both from books and bottles.

After graduating with a degree in Mathematics, he landed his first job in the industry. For a year and a half, he managed a fine wine shop in Middletown, CT where he continued to explore the vinous pleasures. Lavish tastings put on by importers and distributors afforded many opportunities to meet winemakers from around the world.

Following his gut and the good vibe he sensed from all these winemakers, Eric moved West. He got his foot in the door as a harvest intern at Crushpad, a unique winery in San Francisco. He stayed at Crushpad for the following year, working in the lab. Next stop: New Zealand, for a three-month position at a very small winery on the South Island.

This past fall, returning to California for the harvest, Eric landed an internship with Aaron Pott. Now, as Aaron’s assistant winemaker he does all the grunt work for Pott Wine and Chester’s Anvil, and helps with the Blackbird, Bello Family, and Seven Stones projects.

Bryan H, Brewer and Richard B, Elizabeth ST Brewery

soundbites — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:46:53 +0000

Bryan Hermansson and Richard Brewer-Hay, two SF-based beer brewers (no, really), talk about the state of home-brewing and beer culture in the Bay Area and beyond.

Bryan is trained as a Bio Engineer, but has evolved into a beer brewer. He is located on Clara St. in “amazing San Francisco, CA,” and has been homebrewing for 4 years now. You can follow his blog to hear more about his brewing expansion and inspiration. Enjoy!

Since 2003, the residence of Alyson and Richard Brewer-Hay has been known to family and friends as The Elizabeth Street Brewery. Located in Noe Valley, the ESB is a home brewpub for the people, by the people.

In February, Imperial Jack, a strong version of Richard’s ESB recipe (named after his Grandfather – “Grandpa Jack” and brewed with past Sound Bites guest Shaun O’Sullivan) will be available to 21st Amendment customers as part of Strong Beer Month.

Ben Kaminsky, Barismo/Ritual

soundbites — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:44:17 +0000

We talk about the state of the specialty coffee industry with Ben Kaminsky, coffee taster (the 2009 United States Cup Tasting Champion) and consultant, founder of Barismo in Boston, and now working at Ritual Roasters, based right here in the Mission District.

We had so much to talk about that there will be a round two of this discussion, likely with some special guests from the Bay Area coffee scene.

Kitty Greenwald, Montalvo Arts Center

soundbites — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:06:47 +0000

Kitty Greenwald, culinary fellow at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California, discusses her fellowship, what brought her there, and what projects the future holds for her.

According to her bio:

“Kitty has worked in kitchens abroad and at home. Beginning in New York, she founded Kitty’s Catering Servicio and catered a range of events for such clients as MoMa New York, Columbia University and the China Institute among others. Her two and a half years abroad began as an apprentice with organic farmers and artisans in the Piedmont and led her to restaurants in France, Italy and Portugal. While in Portugal she was the pastry chef at A Travessa, received favorable press, and authored a weekly food column for Destak, a daily with circulation in Portugal and Brazil. A set of her recipes appeared in the September 2008 issue of Real Simple Magazine. Most recently she worked with Slow Food Nation and guest curated the Slow Film Presentation at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.”

Sam Mogannam, Bi Rite Market

soundbites — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:01:44 +0000

Sam Mogannam, owner of Bi Rite Market, Bi Rite Creamery, and 18 Reasons, is a native San Franciscan who grew up working in Bi-Rite when his father owned the store. He started working there when he was six and vowed not to return when he was 18. He decided to pursue becoming a cook, and opened a restaurant in 1991 in SF’s FiDi (Rendezvous du Monde), at the age of 23. He took over Bi-Rite Market in 1997 and reopened in 1998, then opened the Bi-Rite Creamery with two partners, my wife, Anne Walker, and Kris Hoogerhyde.

In 2008 he started a mini-farm in Sonoma to supply the market with great produce and to learn more about the challenges of growing food organically, and also cofounded local not-for-profit 18 Reasons, designed to bring our community of guests and staff closer to the producers of our food. Sam keeps bees for honey on the roof of Bi-Rite and on the farm in Sonoma. He is working on a cookbook and market manual with Dabney Gough, to be published by Ten Speed Press in the Fall of 2011. Sam is the father of two amazing girls, aged 2.5 and 6.5, and loves what he does.

Food Dude SF

soundbites — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:15:13 +0000

The star and producer of local web food review show Food Dude SF talk about their search for inexpensive and delicious grub in San Francisco.

Check out the Dude’s bio:
“The San Francisco Food Dude is on a mission to find the best inexpensive food in San Francisco. There are plenty of places to get a good, even great, expensive meal here in “The Sanctuary City for the Rich.” The harder task is finding decent, quality food at reasonable, or even bargain prices. That’s what Food Dude is all about.”

Kim Kissling, Food Stylist

soundbites — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:08:50 +0000

Since 1995, Kim Kissing’s artistry has been the centerpiece of more than 70 cookbooks, magazines, advertising campaigns, product packaging, television advertisements, and a feature film. Kim has worked with clients such as Dreyer’s, Annie Chun’s, and the promotions of Haagen Dazs, Ghirardelli Chocolate, and her work has been featured in magazines such as Bon Appetit, New York Times Magazine and Cooking Light. Kim attended Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco.

Anthony Myint, Mission Street Food

soundbites — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:31:10 +0000

Anthony Myint, founder and head chef of SF’s innovative street food pop-up, talks about his story, trends in food, and running a pro-social business.

Leave questions or comments below, and tune in to future episodes, Sundays from 3-5pm on Pirate Cat Radio.

Leif Hedendal, Various Catering and Dining Projects

soundbites — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:08:17 +0000

Leif, an SF-based cook about town, has cooked for Secret Dinners, the Secret Cafe, Noise In My Kitchen, Dinner Discussion, Food Loyal, Living Rooms Events, Olive Green Catering, Meatpaper magazine, and sometimes even Chez Panisse. He has been part of food related activities at SFMOMA, YBCA, InCubate (Chicago), Catharine Clark Gallery, Southern Exposure, New Langton Arts, Triple Base Gallery, Baer Ridgeway, Anthony Meier Gallery, and 826 Valencia.