Umami Podcast

Georgetown and Community with Carrie Omegna

Carrie Omegna [carrieomegna@gmail.com] co-owns Fonda la Catrina and El Sirenito–a vibrant restaurant and bar that serves as a colorful oasis amid the engines and industry of Georgetown: a Seattle neighborhood of approximately 1,800 residents and 28,000 workers. Carrie talks to us about what good, clean, and fair food means to her as an independent restaurateur, and how employee happiness is the key not only to a healthy restaurant but also a strong community. Georgetown has remained fiercely independent over the years--with only one chain store (a Starbucks) amid several local restaurants and bars. We talked to Carrie about what it will need to thrive in independence going forward (like, it currently has neither a grocery store nor farmers market), and we venture into what’s possible in this most unique of Seattle neighborhoods.  We also talked about what makes a healthy restaurant and how a healthy restaurant is an important cornerstone of a healthy neighborhood. It comes down to these values: Advocacy: Often the cultural significance of Mexican food is completely overlooked in restaurants: many think there’s only one kind of Mexican food out there. Catrina works with staff to be vocal about the cultural significance of the Mexican cuisine they serve. Staff is educated and empowered to talk about the good, clean, fair food it serves by listing farmers and purveyors on the menu, speaking to customers about the quality and provenance of dishes, and  by presenting fresh ingredients consistently and carefully. Retention: Employees are more satisfied to work at Catrina, and Catrina has an unprecedented number of long term employees. Paying well above minimum wage and offering the same benefits to all staff members. “It's all about keeping staff around: listening to them, supporting them, valuing their input and recognizing their contribution,” Carrie says. Regular customers: It’s easy to see how invested employees are in the restaurant’s success, conveying a sense of ownership that underlies the restaurant’s vibrant scene. Catrina staff understand and communicate the cultural significance of the Mexican cuisine they serve. They educate customers. And customers, in turn, are proud to know the menu and the employees. Community: Regular customers, especially when they’re proud of a place, start to build a community, where customers themselves become vocal advocates who come together around the restaurant and feel invested in its whole. Action: This sense of community leads to opportunities for action. for speaking out about what good, clean, fair food means for the community, speaking out about what the community needs from government and civic entities to make this possible and to help it grow to other parts of the community.

Beacon Food Forest with Elise Evans

Have you been to Beacon Food Forest [https://www.beaconfoodforest.org/about-us]? It’s magic! Especially at this time of year. What used to be a 7-acre hillside of intractable grass is now a verdant, climate change-mitigating ecosystem with a diverse pollinator habitat, rich, healthy soil, and more than 1000 different edible plants. It's a demonstration site and a learning community that reimagines what urban green spaces can offer. It’s public food on public land. On this episode of the Umami Podcast, we talk to Elise Evans, Core Volunteer and former Board President of Beacon Food Forest. We’ll dig into how this grassroots organization has empowered a community of volunteers to create a unique, thriving, sustainable solution to food insecurity, land access, and food and ecology education.   Beacon Food Forest offers a blueprint for any community looking to create opportunities for its citizens to participate in creating local food ecosystems. Elise talks to us about how it got started, how it has evolved over the 15 years since the project began, and how community keeps it thriving. The produce that grows on Beacon Food Forest land is available to anyone to harvest. Show up to volunteer on any third Saturday work party and you’ll learn about soil, indigenous plants, and garden care (you might even get a free lunch!). Or take a class to learn about everything from cultivating mushrooms, to attracting pollinators, to growing natural remedies.  Intrigued? Listen to this episode of the Umami Podcast to learn more about Beacon Food Forest and the ways you can get involved in this community.

Michela Tartaglia on Pike Place Market

Every city needs a food center. The Pike Place Market is a Seattle's democratic platform for local business, and a community, and exists around it. This episode is an argument for the importance of the Pike Place Market [https://www.pikeplacemarket.org/about-pike-place-market/]. Michela Tartaglia [https://michelatartaglia.com/] is chef-owner of Pasta Casalinga [https://www.pastacasalingaseattle.com/], a shining example of the creative expression the market fosters. The Pasta Casalinga lunch counter serves handmade pasta with seasonal flavors from the farmers, fishers and foragers of the Pacific Northwest. On this episode, we go deep with Michela on the tradition and technique of pasta, on being a restaurateur in the Pike Place Market, and on finding a culinary voice.  Michela estimates 40 to 45% of her clientele is regular / local, which surprised and delighted us to hear. After all, the Pike Place Market reports a staggering 15 million visitors every year, and I’ve heard more than one friend say they avoid it because of tourists. That is why we made this episode.  If you haven’t been to Pike Place Market in a while, now’s a great time to reconnect with this vital part of our city. The more local patronage, the more vibrant and sustainable that food center can be for our city and for the hundreds of restaurateurs, farmers, and purveyors who base their independent businesses here. Michela talks to us about what it takes to build a business with Pike Place Market PDA [https://www.pikeplacemarket.org/about-pike-place-market/governance/], how to build and frequently change a menu, how to have seasonal flare and be frugal at the same time, how to market, and how to collaborate with your team. Photo credit: Charity Burggraaf

Foraging with Langdon Cook

Author Langdon Cook has been leading foraging expeditions for  more than 30 years in the Pacific Northwest. We learn about foraging mountains to sound, in the wild and in our own backyard on this episode of the Umami Podcast: everything from clams, to nettles, to morels and chanterelles.  Foraging is a great way to be introduced to nature and to feel more connection to it, and from that to have a stake in it, to become a steward of the land and the water. It's in our DNA! We're all the descendants of successful foragers from the deep, deep past. --Langdon Cook Umami Podcast is about examining our food selves—how what we consume is an essential expression of who we are--personally, culturally, and civically. The subject of food is daunting: It’s different for every person, and many of us never had the privilege of feeling nourished by or connected to it. Some of us are downright alienated by it. Part of getting to know our food selves is to examine what grows around us. There is empowerment in learning about how nature continues to nourishes us; how we benefit most by working in concert with its rhythms.  On this episode we touch on  foods in the wild, like salmon, mushrooms, seaweeds, clams, and nuts, to those in our backyards, like berries, nuts, and weeds. More information on Langdon's events and classes: https://langdoncook.com/events/ [https://langdoncook.com/events/] Langdon's books: Fat of the Land [https://amzn.to/3a1u8qy], Upstream [https://amzn.to/3oJsXjk], The Mushroom Hunters [https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780345536273]

Regenerative Farming with Eiko Vojkovich

This week’s conversation is with Eiko Vojkovich of Skagit River Ranch [https://www.skagitriverranch.com/]. Theirs is a small but mighty family ranch she and her daughter, Nicole, run together. They sell grass-fed and -finished cattle, pastured hogs, pasture-raised poultry and eggs at Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets [https://seattlefarmersmarkets.org/] and some co-ops around the Puget Sound.  When I came to Seattle in the late 90’s, I was ecstatic to learn about the existence of farmers markets, something that didn't exist in the suburban area of my upbringing (but more and more are popping up everywhere!). I met Eiko at her stall at the University Farmers Market around the turn of the century, where she introduced me to the taste of grass-fed cows and acorn-fed pigs. I fell in love and wanted to know more, so I took a trip to their ranch where they taught me about rotational grazing, regenerative agriculture, and happy animals.   The majority of the meat we consume in America is produced by large-scale farms and sold at multinational chain supermarkets, where it is virtually impossible to tell how people, places, and animals in their care are treated. Factory farms, concentrated animal feeding operations and massive processing plants compromise human and animal welfare as they leave huge carbon footprints.  But small-scale farms like Skagit River Ranch do still exist in every state in the country, and it makes sense to find them: they are more likely to employ regenerative and sustainable practices, they're often family run, and they sell their products directly or via area farmers markets.  You can't get this stuff in a supermarket!