Insights, PR, and Social Media for Craft Food and Drink Brands
Author: Pekio_Vergotis
Culinary explorer and seasoned business lady, Native Portlander, enthusiastic canner, grower and harvester of the seasonal bounties our rich culinary landscape has to offer. lover of local food and drink, fangirl of local food and drink makers, supporter of a sustainable and prosperous local food and drink economy. xo p
What a delight it is to work with a client and to witness the evolution of their digital presence to one that encompasses the full narrative of who they are – their talents, their achievements and the journey they took to get to this point.
photo source: Zoe Cope Creative
This is the case with Primrose Apothecary, and its founder, Felicia Howe, whose journey has taken her from sought-after hairdresser to the stars to clean beauty pioneer, to the acclaimed author, artist, and botanical healer she is today. The publishing of her latest book, Sibyl of the Flora, and the launch party that took place over this past weekend represents the culmination of incredible creativity, talent, and skill as well as an investment of resources to deep dive her brand’s online presence and commit to a series of projects: foundational brand work, a website revamp, a digital press kit, PR and event planning.
It’s no small feat to undergo such a staunch effort, but the payoff is digital presence that has increased her brand awareness, streamlined her sales processes, and made it easier for both customers and media to find her. As Felicia puts it, it’s an incredible and transformative process that is allowing her to put her focus back on doing what she loves.
And speaking of love, check out this reel of what was a fun, flower-filled night!
Winemaker Jason Werner talks about his favorite projects and former life as a renegade DJ.
photo courtesy of Archetype12 Wines
When the weather becomes lovely and temperate, every day feels like a weekend day. To-do list be damned, my mind begins to meander among many possible outdoor diversions. During the week, I don’t often have the bandwidth to drive far out of town, so urban wineries are an ultimate go-to. For someone who lives and breathes local food and drink, it’s pretty much the best of all of my favorite things – I can relax, support a local business, indulge in incredible small-batch offerings and learn firsthand from the maker themselves – all sans a lengthy drive home. One of my favorites, Archetype12 Wines, is relatively new and under the radar, but is starting to get local and national nods for their artisanal wines and progressive French-and Spanish-inspired ciders and perries.
I met Archetype12’s founding winemaker, Jason Werner when he responded to a hand-scrawled ad I posted on the bulletin board at Steinbart’s seeking an aspiring winemaker who might want to use the hundreds of pounds of Niagara grapes the single vine in my backyard produces each year. This was a few years before Archetype12 had come to be, and before he opened his public tasting room. At that time, he was operating out of a home space, driving across the region to obtain fruit from various places for his then fledgling community-sourced libation project, Terroir Incognito.
grapes of wrath.
Not only did Jason take my grapes, but he provided me with a substantial quantity of the light, fruity and surprisingly dry wine he made from it, as well as a sparkling variety of the same and a special chai cider he made by co-mingling and fermenting fruit from all of the various projects he had in process that season – an absolute delight. Emerging from the pandemic, Jason expanded Terroir Incognito and opened the Archetype12 Winery and Tasting room in the Brooklyn neighborhood in lower southeast Portland where he crafts small batches of wine based on the ethos and personalities of the twelve classic archetypes. I recently popped in for a chat, to taste some of Jason’s new and soon-to-be-released wines and libations and to play three questions.
photos courtesy of Archetype12 Wines
It’s always fun to connect with Jason, and especially in his natural (winemaker’s) habitat. He moves quickly among the barrels and bottles with a Bowie-like grace, describing with excitement the different projects and releases he is working on (spoiler alert – there are many). And because he plans to expand and move operations to rural Hillsboro this summer, it’s a chance to visit him while he’s still local, not to mention a bit more of a secret than he’ll be once the wine country crowds discover him. While we conversed and sipped delicious things – among them a buttery and refined yet-to-be released 2023 Chardonnay as well as a dark, sultry and beautifully composed Syrah aptly named ‘The Sage’, and an exquisite and earthy Norwegian-style bilberry cider which I hesitate to mention due to fact that I wish to acquire more of its quickly dwindling quantity – I asked him about what he’s got in the works, what he’s excited about and to share something about himself that few people know.
Q: You always have your hands in so many delicious things! Any specific projects you are particularly excited about?
A: There are two! First, I’m working on an Imperial Wine Sap cider using gorgeous crab apples from Two Trees at Red Hat Orchards. These are late ripening apples and have accumulated a significant amount of sugar and are being co-fermented with agave nectar, resulting in rich, mezcal notes and a relatively high alcohol content of 14%.
The second project is a Cider I’m calling Miss Mary Mac based on the famous nursery rhyme that goes “Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack all dressed in black, black, black…” where ‘Mac’’ refers to its composition of wild heritage and Macintosh apples. It’s ‘dressed in black’ due to the use of coconut charcoal filtration which gives it its black color, so that’s pretty unique. I produced and bottled 60 gallons of it, and just released it this week. (A black cider named after an old-timey nursery rhyme?!! That’s so goth!)
So Goth! – photo courtesy of Archetype12 Wine
Q: Outside of the Archetype12 Winery Tasting Room, where can people meet you and taste your wines and libations?
A: I’ll be at the Indie Wine Mixer Memorial Day weekend at the McMinnville Bindery. It’s one of the only local wine events of its kind featuring over thirty of Oregon’s truly independent craft winemakers. I’ll be there pouring wines and probably a few different ciders on Sunday, May 26th, but you should definitely go on both days!
photo courtesy of Indie Wine Mixer 2024
Then on June 1st, the Portland State University Alumni Association’s wine club, Viking on the Vine, is hosting their first-ever tasting event at Stoller Family Estates in Dayton. That event features 10 local winemakers, excellent food and interviews with each winemaker.
Q: What is a fun fact that very few people know about you?
I’m going to keep my moniker a secret, but in my former life, I was a radio and club DJ and produced a show for the pirate radio outfit Portland Radio Authority. My show was broadcast nightly from 12 Midnight to 2am before we were shut down by the FCC, but I continued to work with them as they made the transition to an internet-only broadcast station. (It’s going to take all of my willpower NOT to try and find out what his DJ name was.)
Check it Out.
Archetype12 Wines offers tasting experiences by appointment at its southeast Portland tasting room located at 4855 SE 18th Avenue. You can book by calling (971) 999-1809 or emailing Jason@Archetype12.com. Or feel free to stop in from 1-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays with the last seating at 5:15pm.
Like Moira Rose, I veer to ‘awards’ whenever someone asks what my favorite season is. I’m admittedly not much of a movie buff, and don’t watch TV save for a handful of comfort shows (including Schitt’s Creek, obviously). For me, awards season means food, and specifically the Good Food Foundation Awards, bestowed annually to honor the absolute best in makers of tasty, authentic and responsible food and drink across the United States. Chosen through a rigorous blind tasting and sustainability vetting process, winning products are chosen based on taste while demonstrating an outstanding commitment to sustainable environmental and social practices. This is worth celebrating.
Last night’s awards ceremony took place at Portland Center Stage, and opened with remarks from Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who welcomed a full house of six hundred guests. Dana Cowin, the longtime Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine Magazine, was the evening’s MC, and Ari Weinzweig, co-founder of the legendary Zingerman’s Family of Businesses, delivered the keynote address. Good Food Founder and Executive Director Sarah Weiner closed out the evening with a poignant and touching speech acknowledging the journey and efforts of those who craft food and drink both artfully and responsibly:
“My wish for you is that tonight is just the start of the celebration and the rejuvenation that you deserve. Having struggled to care for your team and farmers and customers over many years, you can let those around you rise up and carry some of the burden. That you make time to explore new delights, to cultivate your gardens. That you refill your well so your creations can continue to be powered by the vibrant energy and singular vision only you can bring to them.”
(I’m not crying, you’re crying!).
Not surprisingly, Oregon made a good showing among the winners. For the first time that I can recall, two Oregon makers took home awards for Olive Oil. Both Durant Olive Mill and La Creole Orchards were honored. Durant Olive Mill was founded in 2008 and is home to seventeen acres of olive trees and a state-of-the-art Italian mill at Red Ridge Farms in Dundee, Oregon. Their olive oils are available online and at the Olive Mill itself. Creole Orchards is located in Dallas, Oregon and supports research at Oregon State with the aim of identifying cold-hardy olive varieties and using a state-of-the-art water efficiency system for summer irrigation. They are a little tougher to find as they collaborate directly with chefs and tend to pop up at a handful of farmer’s markets across the state.
Molalla’s Mt. Hope Farms took home an award for their wonderful marionberry jam, a perfect homage to our region. It’s always nice to see good things happen to lovely people and that’s the best way to describe Owners Mike and Laura. And their marionberry jam is just the beginning. I’m absolutely fawning over their amazing strawberry lavender jam, which I purchased thinking it would make a great gift but couldn’t help slathering on my morning toast this morning. Ah, well. Veteran winner Briar Rose Creamery once again rose to the top with their irresistible Butter Baby, a soft, bloomy rind Guernsey cow milk cheese. Butter Baby is a personal-sized version of their also award-winning Butterbloom, which I included in an indulgent Briar Rose Creamery-focused tasting this past summer. (And now I’m wondering how IT would taste slathered in strawberry lavender jam!)
Oregon also made a fine showing in the chocolate category, with Portland’s Only Child Chocolate Company winning for their delicious Cashew Later bar – a dark chocolate bar filled with a milk chocolate and turmeric filling. If you’ve not tried their bars, I highly recommend it. Seahorse Chocolate out of Bend received awards for both their Dark Milk 65% and Left of Dial Blend, a lovely, fruity 78% bar they describe as custard pie, sweet cherry and lemon zest, and as being inspired by “musical obscurity found only in the search for hidden gems lost in record crates forgotten in the basement”. That’s pretty specific! I tried it over the weekend, and I’m not sure I picked up on the musical obscurity, but the flavors absolutely blew my mind.
And finally, although I’m focusing on Oregon brands, I do want to give a shoutout to Brooklyn Cured from New York. Brooklyn Cured makes mouth-meltingly delicious charcuterie from pastured-raised meats using no antibiotics and has received kudos from everyone from Bon Appetit to Martha Stewart. Things were temporarily looking perilous when Marketing Manager, Katie Milani arrived in Portland for the weekend’s festivities only to discover that the product she planned to sample and sell hadn’t arrived and could not definitively be tracked. Katie was forced to run around to local purveyors to try and procure enough product for Saturday’s Mercantile and Marketplace events. Happily, the excellent team at Zupan’s on West Burnside sprang into action and was helpful and amazing – Zupan’s exactly. As what I’m certain was no small consolation, Brooklyn Cured walked away with awards for their Tuscan Red Wine Beef Salami and Pork Salami with Black Truffles. I love a happy ending! Assuming Katie didn’t clean them out entirely, you can find their products at Zupan’s.
Congratulations to all of the 2024 Good Food Award recipients and thank you for making the world a better and more delicious place!
The Kitten List: Organizations Tackling the Bigger Picture of Small Food and Drink.
Our passion for delicious things to eat and drink drives the work we do. After all, partaking in a wonderful meal or a glass of something excellent is one of life’s greatest pleasures.
But it’s no secret that many in our community struggle with hunger, and even more do not have ready access to healthy foods. Add to these concerns the very real toll food production exacts on our climate (and ofttimes our health), and it’s clear that proactive solutions and urgent actions are needed.
While it’s technically its own separate page here on the Culinary Kitten website, we wanted to post about the Kitten List to raise awareness, and as a reminder to ourselves that this is a living list that we want to continue to grow and promote. Without further ado…
The Kitten List is a compilation of links to local and regional food-adjacent organizations engaged in critical work to create food regional food systems that are equitable, accessible and sustainable. We encourage you to check them out: visit their sites, follow their socials, and by all means, support them if you can.
Who are we missing? Leave a comment below to let us know.
Cheese is quick and easy to prepare – with a crisp wine and a few simple accompaniments, it can be the better part (or all) of a perfect summer meal. In honor of the timely excellence of cheese, we’re staging a local culinary mashup featuring 4 cow’s milk cheeses from Briar Rose Creamery and the Cheese Tasting Flight Deck and 33 Pieces of Cheese Tasting Journal from Portland’s 33 Books Co.
Let’s Talk about Cheese.
I’m aware that the summertime heat lends itself to easy-to-make, easy-to-eat meals; Meals that require little to no actual cooking. Meals that are heavy on the light and light on the heavy. And yes, few things are heavier to eat than cheese – but please bear with me. Cheese is quick and easy to prepare. Paired with a glass of crisp vino and a few simple accouterments – a baguette, some jam or fresh fruit, a handful of nuts, perhaps – it can make a satisfying summer meal. Cheese is fragrant and profound. It’s imbued with the terroir of its origin– an embodiment of the sunlight, soil, and climate that produces it. One would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect example of food that is truly local. The ease of its preparation is just icing on the cake.
The Mashup.
This sets the stage for a local culinary mashup, where we bring together offerings from two talented local producers, resulting in a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. This mashup features a tasting of 4 extraordinary, aged cow’s milk cheeses from Briar Rose Creamery, an artisan cheesemaker located in Dundee, Oregon and the recipient of multiple Good Food and American Cheese Society awards. The cheeses – Butterbloom, Maia, Fata Morgana, and Callisto – are produced by hand in small batches and have names steeped in mythology, with nods to magical caves, floating castles, springtime goddesses and faraway kingdoms.
photo credit: Briar Rose Creamery
Briar Rose procures milk from dairies across the region, including Perrin Family Dairy in Woodburn, who tend Oregon’s only herd of certified organic Ayrshire cows.
photo credit: Briar Rose Creamery
This rare heritage breed is favored by cheesemakers for its sweet, pure flavor and the unique way the cream is naturally dispersed throughout the milk. According to Briar Rose Proprietor and Cheesemaker Sarah Marcus, Ayrshires are also efficient grazers, and thus gentler on the land, thriving as grass-fed herds. In addition to Ayrshire, Briar Rose sources local Guernsey milk, prized for being rich, sweet, and high in butterfat.
For the second piece of the mashup, we’re performing the tasting using both the Flight Deck for Cheese Tasting and 33 Pieces of Cheese Tasting Journal produced by 33 Books Co, a Portland-based purveyor of tasting journals, kits, and tools. Founder David Selden’s offerings encourage learning and discovery and are designed to enhance the appreciation of many good and delicious things like wine, beer, coffee, whiskey and… well..cheese.
photo credit: 33 Books Co.
The flight deck cards allow the organizer of a tasting to capture standard identifying information like the name, milk, texture, and origin of each cheese, while the tasting journal’s unique flavor wheel allows each taster to rate each cheese on the following 16 qualities:
* Crystalline * Crumbly * Salty * Sweet
*Sharp/Tangy *Lemon *Grassy * Herbal
*Caramel * Nutty *Earthy * Moldy
*Stinky * Robust * Buttery/Creamy * Milky/Lactic
As with all 33 Books tasting journals, this one incorporates ink laced with the tiniest bit of the thing being tasted. In this case, it’s a few morsels of a semi-firm beer-washed sheep’s milk cheese made in Belleville, Wisconsin. (I have yet to bring the guide up to my nose to see if I can smell it, but I’m thinking about it.) To note, I also sprung for one of 33 Books’ Flight Boards, which are handmade by Selden himself using orchard-salvage Oregon Black Walnut. They are incredibly stylish and come with a convenient slot to display the flight cards. While the board and card are configured for a flight of three cheeses, I made some minor accommodations to squeeze in four:
I like to jury rig things.
Setting the Stage.
photo credit: Culinary Kitten
To maximize the aromas of the cheeses, I’ll serve them at room temperature, and we will taste in order of mildest to strongest, saving the deeper, more pronounced flavors for last. This will help preserve our palates throughout the tasting so that we can better appreciate the individual nuances between each cheese. To this end, I will keep accompaniments simple to help cleanse the palate between selections. For today’s tasting, I chose a flatbread cracker and slices of sweet-tart Washington pink lady apples. Unlike at a wine and cheese party where I might be a little more informal (and let’s be honest – tipsy), I’ll be methodical in my approach, first visually inspecting the exterior (Is there a rind? Is there mold?) and the interior (What color is it? Are there holes or veins?). Then I’ll cut off a piece to get a sense of its weight and texture (Rubbery? Delicate?), and to appreciate its full aroma. Upon tasting, I’ll take high level notes, and then work through the 33 Cheese Tasting Wheel to develop a more nuanced profile. I’ll share my observations along with Briar Rose’s cheesemaker notes for comparison.
The Tasting.
Butterbloom photo credit: Briar Rose Creamery
Briar Rose describes Butterbloom as a butter bomb, and I agree in the best possible way. I’m not sure I truly appreciated all the different ways butter can present itself before really sitting down to enjoy this lovely, soft cheese. The first thing that occurred to me in looking at it alongside the Maia is how tall and fluffy it is by comparison. I was immediately reminded of a 1970’s magazine ad for boxed cake mix that compares two cakes – an ordinary mix and then one that bakes up lighter and fluffier. Butterbloom is very much the fluffy cake. I was also taken by the gorgeous, long striations in its bloomy, delicate rind, resembling long, slow ripples in a pond. As I cut a piece, it felt like sticky butter on my fingers, and when I brought it to my nose, I was rewarded with aromas of sweet, lemony frosting. It was incredibly creamy, and the initial taste brought a lush buttery top note with a slight sharpness that quickly melted into an earthy chocolate note and then relaxed into comforting buttermilk pancake batter. It was an utter treat and an excellent first stop on our tasting journey.
Maia photo credit: Briar Rose Creamery
Whereas Butterbloom is fun and pleasant, Maia has what comes across as a more serious flavor profile with greater depth. While round and buttery like Butterbloom, it bears an almost cabernet sauvignon top note with a sweet, grassy finish accentuated with fudge and caramel. The texture is soft and luscious. It’s approachable like Butterbloom, but with some unexpected (and welcome) points of interest. Whereas Butterbloom is out skipping through a sunny meadow, singing and picking daisies, Maia is at home in her room writing really good poetry.
Fata Morgana photo credit: Briar Rose Creamery
Fata Morgana is Briar Rose’s gorgeous basket-shaped, rindless feta-style cheese. Full disclosure – as a Greek woman with definite opinions about what constitutes good feta, I wasn’t sure what I would think about a local version – made with cow’s milk, no less. But when I took my first bite of Fata Morgana, I was tempted to ask everyone to leave the room so that I could spend a little more focused time with it. I wanted to sort out exactly what it was that I found to be so profoundly delicious. It’s crumbly, but firmer and not as crumbly as the feta I’m accustomed to. It also seems slightly less salty. The package contains very little brine as compared to the small swimming pool that most feta comes in. Stripped of feta’s typical drama and intensity, Fata Morgana is left with an incredible flavor that starts with a slightly tart, lemony top note and gives way to an unmistakable browned butter finish. It was all that I could do not to abandon the tasting entirely and finish the piece (and possibly a second one) by myself. I look forward to exploring Fata Morgana further, mixing it into softly scrambled eggs or handmade pasta, and pairing it with different herbs. I have a hunch it has an affinity for fresh tarragon.
Callisto photo credit: Briar Rose Creamery
The final selection, Callisto, is named for the beautiful nymph from Greek and Roman mythology; skilled hunter, companion of goddesses and associated with the moon. Callisto is a semi-firm alpine-style cheese with a distinctive hoppy top note, an earthy body, and a sultry nutty brown butter finish. According to Briar Rose, it is meltable, like Gruyere or Fontina. I’m sure it would be phenomenal in fondue or wrapped in pastry as part of a creamy mushroom filling, but I don’t think I’d serve it to anyone I wanted to remain platonic with. Beautiful nymph, indeed!
In Summation.
The 33 Pieces of Cheese Tasting Journal has a spot for tasters to assign an overall rating to each cheese, but I couldn’t possibly do it. First, I’m cheese drunk (is that a thing?), satisfied and happy and in love with everything I tasted. I could see enjoying any of them again, in different preparations, contexts, and seasons. I enjoyed using the flavor wheel as a tool to help develop my palate and to recollect my observations and impressions. And I recommend you find your way to both local culinary mashees – Briar Rose Creamery and 33 Books Co – for a delicious experience and your own excellent culinary adventure.
Where to Find.
Visit Briar Rose at their farm store in Dundee, Oregon or find them at farmer’s markets across the greater Portland Metro area, markets and shops across the United States and at amazing restaurants across the Pacific Northwest.
Farm Store Address:
Briar Rose Creamery
19231 NE Fairview Dr.
Dundee, Oregon 97115
Farm Store Hours:
Friday & Saturday: Open 12-5pm year-round.
Monday-Thursday hours are by appointment only, year-round.
Zuckercreme’s Strawberry Museum Returnswith a Fashionable Twist
What’s better than June in Oregon, with the suddenly regular appearance of a nearly forgotten sun, the intoxicating fragrance of flowers in bloom, and most importantly, the return of our local strawberries? Any Oregonian worth their salt knows that these few precious weeks in June yield some of the sweetest, juiciest, and ripest strawberries anywhere. For me, the season means a strawberry cure. I wait in anticipation, checking the Sauvie Island farm blogs daily. Once word comes down that they are ready, I make my way to Columbia Farms to pick up (or U-pick) any variety of the wonderful local fresh berries to be had – Hoods, Shuksan, Mary’s Peaks. I’m not choosy. If it’s an Oregon strawberry, I’m here for it. After returning home with my berry loot and freezing the requisite portion for the smoothies my much healthier future self will enjoy, I go about devouring the rest of them in more indulgent ways, like in strawberry shortcake with freshly whipped cream, in homemade strawberry ice cream, or in a strawberry syrup, which makes a perfect base for a strawberry basil lemonade or other (boozier) libations. There is an exquisite pleasure to be found in savoring something I know I’ll enjoy only once this year, so I make it count.
The dreamy team at Zuckercreme, Montavilla’s charming collaborative marketplace and bakery café shares my passion for strawberries and takes it to an entirely new level of fandom with Portland Strawberry Museum, their wildly popular annual pop-up spanning the month of June and featuring local strawberries from Dayton’s Pablo Munez Farms, fresh strawberry soft serve from Hound Dog Ice Cream and a plethora of strawberry-themed wares, art, gifts and goodies from local micro makers and artists. Following up on the success of last year’s event held in the former Küchenhaus space, Zukercreme Owner Brittany Sigal will cap off this year’s celebration with a now sold-out strawberry-themed fashion show and museum market hosted at the old Victoria Secret space in the Lloyd Center Mall.
The event is a continuation of the seasonally themed pop-ups Sigal organizes throughout the year, and part of the exciting small business takeover fueling a much-welcomed revival at the beleaguered mall. The event will feature a fashion show flanked by interactive displays and strawberry-themed wares like amazing stained-glass pieces by local artist Toni Iyoha and delicious things to eat and drink from 30 local vendors. Get there early to enjoy a strawberry-studded rice crispie treat from Bowl & Whisk Sweet Treats and stake out a good spot for viewing the runway show, which begins promptly at 4:30pm. Expect fantastical strawberry-themed looks from 14 local designers who’ll draw inspiration from themes like ‘malibu strawberry’, ‘strawberry cottage core’, ‘intergalactic strawberry’ and ‘strawberry goth’.
The event takes place on Sunday, June 25th from 4-7pm at Lloyd Center Mall. As of this printing, tickets are sold out, but you can stop by Zuckercreme anytime this summer for a foray into their delicious strawberry-tinged universe.
A part of me doesn’t even want to open this can of worms, but having experienced some unfortunate departures as of late, I’d like to point out that a traditional Caprese includes olive oil, mozzarella, tomatoes and fresh basil exclusively. No pesto. No sun-dried tomatoes. Certainly, no balsamic drizzle.
In the same way, a traditional jambon-beurre is just baguette, thinly sliced ham and good butter. That’s it. Please I beg of you – no mustard. Call me a purist, but there is a reason these items in their original form are recognized as classics. The interplay of their elements exacts a simple perfection, and it’s disappointing to anticipate the experience only to find it mucked up with someone’s random add-on. While I’m not one to stifle creativity, what’s the harm in leaving the extraneous hoo-ha on the side? In other words, let a Caprese be a Caprese.
