CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

For this season, I looked back on my most memorable moments on the Consumed podcast. Featured in this episode: Hayley Thomas Cain, San Luis Obispo Sarah Deiter, Markers & Allies, San Luis Obispo Greg Clarke, Thousand Oaks Brittany App, Where There Once Was Water, Creston Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food, Oakland

For this season, I'm looking back at my most memorable moments on the Consumed podcast. Featured in this episode: Cameron Alarcio, Cameron Alarcio Knives, Pismo Beach Paul Filice, Miner’s Ace Hardware Josh and Lindsey Haring, The Mountain Air, San Luis Obispo Denis and Kacey Kehoe, Kehoe Carbon Cookware, Los Osos

For this season, I look back at my most memorable moments of the podcast. Featured in this episode: • Vailia From, Desparada Wines, Paso Robles • Jim Clendenen, Au Bon Climat, Santa Barbara County • Samra Morris, Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards, Sta. Rita Hills • Sonja Magdevski, Casa Dumetz, Los Alamos • Stephy Terrizzi, Giornata Wines, Paso Robles • Nancy Ulloa, Ulloa Cellars, Paso Robles • Matt Dees, Jonata, Ballard Canyon • Ryan Deovlet, Deovlet Wines, Los Osos

For this season, I'm looking back at my most memorable moments on the podcast. Featured in this episode: Sandi Sigurdson, community leader and recovering alcoholic Dr. Stephen Lloyd-Moffet, The Spirit of Wine Arcenio J. Lopez, MICOP Dr. David Cleveland, UCSB Ariana Lovato, Honeycomb Home Design, Arroyo Grande Peter Cron, SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority Sister Theresa Harpin, Restorative Partners and The Bridge Cafe, SLO

For this season, I look back at my most memorable moments on the Consumed podcast. Featured in this episode: Robin Wolf, The Hatch, Paso Robles Eric Olson, Central Coast Distillery, Atascadero

For this special season, I look back on my most memorable moments with the podcast. Featured in this episode: Dan Berkeland, Back Porch Bakery, SLO and Atascadero Sara and Jon Peterson, Scout Coffee and Honey Co. Coffee, SLO and Morro Bay Tim Veatch, Wayward Bakery, Los Osos Shanté Norwood, Té’Stees Cupcakes, Lompoc Penni Monroe, Hush Harbor Bakery, Atascadero Marisa Bloch Gaytan, Pasolivo, Paso Robles Stephanie Nye and Kirsten Finberg, Soup Gangsta and Little Red Hen Bread Michael Palmer, McConnell’s Ice Cream, Santa Barbara

For the 20th season, I share my favorite, most memorable moments during the Consumed podcast. Featured in this episode: David Walker, Firestone Walker Brewing, Paso Robles Max Montgomery, There Does Not Exist, San Luis Obispo Jack Dyer, Topa Topa Brewing Company, Ventura Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa

For the 20th season, I share my favorite, most memorable moments during the Consumed podcast. Featured in this episode: Zack Andrade, Spinaca Farms, Gilroy Captain Mark Tognazzini, Dockside Restaurant, Morro Bay Neal Maloney, Morro Bay Oyster Company Elizabeth Poett, “The Ranch Table,” Lompoc Daniel Sinton, Avenales Ranch, Shandon Barbara Bullock, home chicken expert, San Luis Obispo

For the 20th season, I share my most memorable moments during the Consumed podcast. Chefs and Restaurants featured: Feben Teffera, Ebony SLO, San Luis Obispo Gessica and Alberto Russo, Flour House, San Luis Obispo Brian Collins, Ember, Arroyo Grande Chef Daisy and Greg Ryan, Bell’s, Los Alamos Chris Dillow and Evan Toohey, Fig at Courtney’s House, Templeton Chef Julien and Courtney Asseo, Les Petites Canailles, Paso Robles Clark Staub, Full of Life Flatbread, Los Alamos Jeff, Lindsay and Jade Jackson, The Range, Santa Margarita

At Dave Congalton's invitation, I went on KVEC 920/96.5 in January to talk about why so many restaurants are closing in San Luis Obispo, the state, and the nation. Shared here with permission from KVEC.

In this episode of Consumed with Sophia Pattison, intern Sophia flies all the way to Italy to delve into the life-changing experience of a Cal Poly student’s study abroad experience and internship at a sustainable farm-to-fork restaurant in Lastra a Signa, a municipality of Florence. Through hands-on work, Mary Carli has taken Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing philosophy international, embarking on a journey of cultural exchange and culinary exploration, participating in everything from beekeeping to marketing strategies for the company. Instagram: @sophia.pattison @marycarli_ @fattoria_bucolica More information: tuorlomagazine.it/it/lautosufficienza-nella-ristorazione-esiste-e-a-metro-zero/

In this second episode of Consumed with Sophia Pattison, my intern Sophia takes us behind the scenes of Sidecar Cocktail Company, the cocktail bar that offers a unique fusion experience, pairing a Chinese-style food menu with an eclectic mix of drinks. Amidst the bustling ambiance, Sidecar is host to weekly live jazz performances found in the hidden gem of the bar's basement lounge. Owner Josh Christensen and Jazz Trio Forte are giving San Luis Obispo a spot that transports locals to what feels like a larger metropolitan city. Instagram: @sophia.pattison @sidecarslo @jacobster125 @zedpudding @jamesgallardomusic

When I developed this season of California and Central Coast legends, I came across an article about sommelier and farmer Rajat Parr. It was written by Esther Mobley, the senior wine critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. She called him one of the wine industry’s biggest celebrities and California’s most influential sommelier—and she’s certainly not the only one. Rajat Parr is an absolute giant of the wine world, having worked as a sommelier for restaurateur Michael Mina for many years in San Francisco, and co-authoring two very important books: Secrets of the Sommeliers and The Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste. So imagine my surprise when he instantly accepted my email request for an interview. Since moving away from the sommelier and restaurant world, he has taken up as a farmer and winemaker in Cambria at Phelan Farm, Stolo Vineyard, Domaine de la Cote, and Sandhi Wines. We talked about his upbringing in Calcutta, his original goal to become a chef, the way he risked it all to move to San Francisco, and his legendary and well-documented blind-tasting abilities. Website: phelanfarm.com / sandhiwines.com / domainedelacote.com / stolofamilyvineyards.com Instagram: @rajatparr

There are few businesses I’d travel multiple hours to visit, but Russian River Brewing is one of them—and I am most certainly not alone. Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo are the minds behind Pliny the Younger, one of the culty-est brews in the world, and one that is only available for a short time each spring. The brewery only makes a certain amount of this perfectly-balanced triple IPA, and only sells it for two weeks in March. People from around the globe line up outside their two locations to wait for the doors to open, and the economic impact on Sonoma County stands at $6.1 million, just for Pliny the Younger week. We talked about Vinnie growing up in a pioneering Temecula winery, how they met when Natalie bought booze for an underaged Vinnie, and the terror they felt that first time Pliny caught the world’s attention. I drove to their second location in Windsor for the day to hang out and chat, and the nine hours I spent driving were absolutely worth it. Website: russianriverbrewing.com Instagram: @russianriverbrewingofficial

Someone once called Chuck Hiigel the godfather of Central Coast beer, but I would go as far as to say that, in many ways, he is the godfather of beer across the state of California. What began as an obsessive side project to studying architecture at Cal Poly has since comprised a life and career that celebrates the art and craft of brewing, from managing the iconic Spike’s Pub in the San Luis Obispo Creamery—a business that has since closed but will forever have a place in the hearts of beer lovers everywhere—and convening the California Festival of Beers, to bringing his special brand of education and beer hospitality to the famous Transitions Beer Dinner, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, and local NPR affiliate, KCBX. I know Chuck as a beer man about town, but we also sing in the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale, so there is discussion about the similarities of classical music and beer that I like to believe will delight fans of either, both, or neither.

Fritos were born in 1932. Same for Lay’s Potato Chips. Cheetos came on the scene in 1948, and Doritos in 1966. And then, in 1976, riding high on the snack wave, Taco Works Tortilla Chips arrived in San Luis Obispo, California. These crunchy, crispy chips originated with Ty Bayly at his Foothill Boulevard Mexican restaurant of the same name. But whereas the restaurant closed, the chips grew more and more famous for their light texture and signature seasoning. Today, Ty’s son Robbie Bayly runs the operation, and joined me to share the story behind these rather addictive snacks, the changes they’ve had to make over the years, and the letters and comments that Taco Works receives about their product. If your a Taco Works-head like we are in the Lewis household, you’re definitely going to want to listen in. Photo credit: Jerry Perez for Edible SLO Magazine Website: tacoworks.net Instagram: @tacworksinc

If you’ve lived on California’s Central Coast for any amount of time, you’re aware of the name Cattaneo Brothers. Since 1947, this family-owned brand has produced artisan jerky, as well as other snacks and sausages, and their handiwork can be found nearly everywhere you look in San Luis Obispo County. CEO Katelyn Kaney joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of Cattaneo Brothers, its humble beginnings in the basement below present-day restaurant Luna Red, how her parents took the company nationwide, and, well...how the jerky’s made. Website: cattaneobros.com Instagram: @cattaneobros

Some products are so tightly woven into the culinary consciousness of a place that it’s hard to believe they ever didn’t exist. Such is the case with the Brown Butter Cookie Company, makers of a ridiculously addictive shortbread cookie that California and the Central Coast just can’t get enough of. I spoke with co-founder Traci Hozie Alderson about her beginnings in marketing for Calvin Klein fragrance, the origins of this special cookie in the back of a deli in Cayucos in 2008, how locals and out-of-towners alike have embraced it as “our cookie,” and the ways the company is currently giving back—and bursting at the seams. Photo credit: Ruby Wallau for Edible SLO Magazine Website: brownbuttercookies.com Instagram: @brownbuttercookiecompany

The Madonna Inn is a California icon for many reasons, most famous of which might be its embrace of the color pink: pink walls, pink goblets, pink carpet—even pink tennis courts and pink lamp posts. Who made the decision to go pink? That would be Mrs. Phyllis Madonna, who co-founded the hotel and restaurant with her late husband Alex Madonna, a successful businessman, developer and contractor. Their over-the-top aesthetic and unique interpretation of luxury turned the inn into a destination for travelers driving Highway 101 through San Luis Obispo—and over the years, a whole new generation has adopted the Madonna Inn as its own. (Just search up “Madonna Inn” on Instagram and brace for impact.) But it isn’t just tourists who love the inn: we locals love it too, and have been known to argue about which is better: the Pink Champagne Cake or the Black Forest Cake. Interestingly, when I sat down with Marketing Director and longtime assistant to Mrs. Madonna, Amanda Rich, she spoke mostly about Mrs. Madonna’s Cheese Pie (whose recipe I share below) and her own favorite dessert, which I guarantee isn’t one you would guess. Website: madonnainn.com Instagram: @madonnainn1958   Madonna Inn Cheese Pie (courtesy of Madonna Inn) 12-14 graham crackers 1/4 cup melted butter 4 3-ounce packages cream cheese (whipped) 2 eggs (whites beaten stiff) 3/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 1 cup sour cream 3 1/2 tablspoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Crust: Crush graham crackers until fine, then mix with melted butter. Press and shape into a pie plate. Bake in 350-degree F oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove and cool. Filling: Combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, 2 teaspoons vanilla and lemon juice. Beat until light. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour mixture into graham cracker crust. Bake in 350-degree F oven 15-20 minutes. Remove and cool for five minutes. Topping: Blend 1 cup sour cream, 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour over pie filling. Bake 10 minutes more. Refrigerate for 5 hours.

If you don’t recognize the name Susie Righetti, you might recognize her two iconic businesses: she is the founder of Susie Q Brand, a purveyor of Santa Maria Style barbecue seasonings, pinquito beans, salsas and jerky; and along with her family members, she is co-owner of the Far Western Tavern in Santa Maria. I chose Susie as one of this season’s legends because she grew up hanging out in the Far Western’s dining room and kitchens, and she knows both Santa Maria and barbecue. Also, family lore says that her family line dates back to the De Anza Expedition along the California coastline and predates the Declaration of Independence—if that doesn’t make her a legend, I don’t know what does. We talked about what makes Santa Maria Style Barbecue different, important, and delicious, and we discussed the evolution of the Far Western Tavern, too, which moved from its original building in Guadalupe to its new location in Orcutt just a few years ago. Websites: farwesterntavern.com / susieqbrand.com Instagram: @susieqbrand / @farwesterntavern