video // CULT TACOMA : 1022 South

We produced further content for Cult Tacoma—this time featuring the epicurean artisanship of Tacoma’s 1022 South owner Chris Keil.  To illustrate Chris’s philosophy and approach behind 1022 South’s cocktail alchemy, we captured his process for creating the hand-carved ice used in the drinks.  As Sarah, who also shot and edited the video, writes for Cult Tacoma:

Nobody is asking Chris to dismantle 150-pound slabs into rugged, fist-sized rocks customized purely for patrons’ drinking pleasure. It’s a choice—and admittedly, a good one. Each a diamond in the rough, winking up at you from your glass with the self-sufficient pluckiness of a Klondike gold miner and the crystalline purity of glacier melt.

But melt is what they won’t do—at least too fast anyways.

“You’re going to notice a difference in flavor because of the difference in dilution,” says Keil. “You’re going to be able to enjoy your beverage more, whatever the drink is. It’s going to honor the ingredients more. It’s better quality ice. If you start with better quality ingredients, you end up with a better product.”

Read more here . . .

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Cult Tacoma

1022 South

“Grand Daddy Blues” by
Jelly Jaw Short

video // Cult Tacoma : Frank Fairfield

Here’s another video we created for Cult Tacoma. Nearly all this footage was shot by Sarah who wrote for the Cult Tacoma posting:

Before you hear him, you’re not sure you really believe Frank Fairfield. And it’s not his fault.With the momentum of a Dakota stampede, a slew of indie musicians has recently waded into the sweet river of folk salvation by the seat of their patchwork pants, ready to pledge themselves to a life of dirty long johns and homemade butter churning if only for a shot at a the cover of Spin. Why, throw in a washboard, some boxcar harmonies and a canteen of moonshine. Crickets and tarnation! You’ve got authenticity.

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SanFrancisco magazine // Scribe is The Best!

 

Sarah was delighted to oblige Editor Bruce Kelley when he asked her for a brief write-up on the bohemian wonderland of our friends’ Scribe Winery for the latest edition of San Francisco Magazine’s Best of the Bay Area:

“Rarely have backwoods and bohemian gone together so well—or with such underground notice—as they have at Andrew Mariani’s two-year-old Scribe Winery. There’s scarcely more than a crude wooden sign to it off Napa Road in Sonoma, but rampant word of mouth among the city’s celebrity artists and artisans has generated a following that thrives not only on the wine but also on the loose party scene. The 256-acre property has a checkered history spanning everything from turn-of-the-century winery to bootleggers’ brothel to industrial turkey farm…”

To read the rest, be sure to pick up a copy at your local news stand or click here!

 

Beer in Sonoma

We were recently commissioned by Sonomanews.com to update an old SONOMA magazine story Sarah had written and supplement it with a short video covering the subject of local craft beer in Sonoma.  With our love for writing, filming and beer, we did not hesitate to say “yes!”

“Ah, the alchemy of good beer. Water, yeast, malted grain, hops. It feels like such a quaint equation, and yet prattling off those four ingredients is where the simplicity ends and the darkling tide of chemistry begins, chemistry from which—after a thousand bubbly incantations—our muse emerges from behind steel and oak. There’s a primitive comfort to good beer’s complexity. While wine strives to tether its story to a geographic place, beer makes a humble home in its glass. Surely, it can be regional, but at its best, good beer is drink for the deconstructionist.

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video // A Good Baker

One of our favorite things about living in Sonoma is the bread.  Our community is lucky to have one of the world’s greatest bakers making bread just for us!  Take a look at the short feature we produced on the subject above for Cult Sonoma, which writes:

There is gravity to a good bit of bread—it carries a sort of sacramental heft that doesn’t fool around. The way the outside shatters like a mosaic as you take a carnal rip off the crust, or the way it springs forth like a cloud into your mouth, swirled with a slug of olive oil. Great bread tethers you to your mortal coil—to your teeth and tongue and bones and blood and the all the things and conversations going on around you. It keeps you from floating away into the zeitgeist and leaving nothing but status updates to show for it. Pair it with nice beer, friendly people and some amicable herbs and vegetables and you pretty much have another reason to live.

This is why we have vaulted Sonoma’s Mike [the bejkr] Zakowski to the echelon of artisanal god. What can we say? He maketh good loaves, the sort of bread that bores into your psyche, the sort that would keep ancient fishermen alive when adrift at sea or something. I guess what we’re trying to say is that there are a lot of breads out there, but his breads feels divinely necessary.

“Every town needs a good baker,” intones Mike from the shipping container in his backyard he’s converted to a professional, artisinal bread-baking shop.  We agree and we feel very blessed that Sonoma’s good baker is Mike!

Please try Mike’s bread for yourself if you get an opportunity—look for him at Sonoma Valley’s farmers markets. We look forward to a lot more from Mike as he prepares to represent the U.S. in the 2012 World Cup of baking in Paris
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music mixed by
Max Lynch

video // Flatbread Night

We had the opportunity to join Sonoma’s Mike [the bejkr] Zakowski at his home last month for some delicious flat breads. Under a veil of December condensation, a group of lucky friends huddled around his outdoor brick oven while he and girlfriend Christy assembled small, steaming miracles adorned with pumpkin sauce, fresh cheeses, dandelion greens and other brilliant toppings.

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SONOMA magazine // Fall 2010

Once again sporting art direction and page layouts by Peter, the latest issue of SONOMA magazine—its second issue distributed nationally—features a story on the valley’s sublime Scribe Winery by Sarah:

“Scribe Winery is exquisitely imperfect. This is where the sheen of Wine Country ends and its patchwork, outlaw lore bubbles to the surface. It’s where the dust billows over an irregular dirt road, escorted by a long row of palm trees that beckon you back toward the coarse hillsides and corrupt histories and overgrown, feral sweetness to a turn-of-the-century hacienda wiling away its hours in a state of gauzy, dilapidated bohemian grace. It’s where Andrew Mariani, his brother Adam, their uncle Andrew Avellar and Napa-based winemaker Kristof Anderson spend their hours making a neglected property whole again, and almost coincidentally, crafting lush, drinkable wine…[read more]

We’ve been receiving rave reviews on this issue, and Sarah’s Scribe story in particular. Our favorite response, though, is this note from Adam Mariani of Scribe:

“Beyond the beautiful writing and absorbing journey you take the reader on, we are moved by how well you captured SCRIBE.  It is re-inspiring to hear our manifesto spoken so well in your writing.  Thank you.”

If you don’t subscribe, please go out and pick up a copy at the newsstand—or at least check out some of the content on the magazine’s web site!

Also, be sure to check out the video we produced on Scribe Winery for Cult Sonoma!

SONOMA magazine // we scream for ice cream!

Sometimes, work can be a grind.  But most of the time, we love every second of what we do—especially when Sarah gets to write stories for SONOMA magazine on topics such as cheese, beer, spas and ice cream.  No better reason for a little indulgence than in the name of research! ivermectin over counter تنزيل لعبة روليت


PHOTO // ROBBI PENGELLY, SONOMA MAGAZINE

Just in time for the hot summer months, check out Sarah’s article in the summer issue of SONOMA magazine on the best local ice creameries—you can read the article here.  Also be sure to pick up a full copy of the magazine for features on local food (including Sarah’s cheese article) and Francis Ford Coppola’s new Sonoma County winery.

SONOMA Magazine // summer issue

We love working on SONOMA magazine—what better way is there to immerse ourselves in and celebrate the Sonoma Valley culture we hold so dear?

The summer issue has been published and is now on local news stands.  This issue also marks a major step forward for the magazine as it is now being distributed nationally.

Featuring Peter’s art direction and story layouts as well as two feature stories written by Sarah—one on local cheese producers and the other on local ice creameries—the issue’s theme is “food” and also features a story on Francis Ford Coppola’s new Sonoma County winery.

Check out the web site for more information, or go out and find a printed copy to get the full scoop!