CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Jill Hammond and Joey Baxter talk about strong emotions, our shared love for the produce section at California Fresh Market, and whether or not In-N-Out deserves all the hype.

The Dressler sisters discuss hot-drop, hammer-forged knives, how they took up their father’s business after tragedy struck, and what it’s like to be a woman-owned company working in the knife industry.

Pedro and Chencho from Corazón 805 Tacos come by to chat about their long histories in restaurants and how they started their own taco pop-up with a focus on fresh, new flavors.

Dr. Lloyd-Moffet and I chatted about humanity’s search for meaning, the sometimes madness of the mystics, and how, at the end of every wine lover’s rainbow, is a bottle of German riesling (though Stephen’s might still be Burgundy).

Libbie Agran swings by to talk about San Luis Obispo’s long and fascinating wine history.

Ben Arrona talks about his background in criminal justice, the tailor who makes him bespoke suits in Colombia, and how he wound up getting his PhD in Imperial History at Oxford. (Oh, and pizza.)

I won’t soon forget the conversation I had here with Samra Morris. Samra was born in Bosnia and grew up in war-torn Sarajevo, with her father on the front lines during the Siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996. She shared with me stories of how her family survived those four years and the years following, which in many ways were equally tragic. But you’ll hear from Samra’s episode how buoyant and en...

With the advent of COVID, Riley Roddick took the plunge to become her own boss after years of assisting luminary winemakers like Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure and Vailia From of Desperada Wine. The move was a long time in coming. A native of San Diego, Riley studied viticulture at Cal Poly University and eventually traveled to France for her master’s degree. Her experiences in Europe over the course...

When I invited Sharde Shepherd to join me on the podcast, she actually said to me, “I have no idea what I’ll talk about.” This is hysterical because, as it turns out, Sharde has more to talk about than most. She is the cellar master for a Santa Barbara winery, but before that, she dabbled in oil and gas, law, teaching yoga and professional wrestling. Yes: for a time, Sharde wrestled for WWE as “Sc...

R.H. Drexel has been part of the wine industry since she came of age to drink, and has worked with many of the greats: Opus 1, Caymus, critic Jeb Dunnuck, and many others. She has also built her own web zine called Loam Baby, about wine culture, and she has a newsletter called Holy COW, which stands for Child of Wine. But for all her high-level involvement in the wine industry — socializing, trave...

At just 25 years old, vineyard management supervisor Alondra Torres has accomplished more than many people twice her age. A resident of Santa Maria, Alondra works for Coastal Vineyard Services, a company that manages vineyards across the Central Coast of California, providing crews to prune, manage canopies, irrigation, pest abatement and harvest, among other services. Alondra started as a crew me...

Sonja Magdevski is a winemaker, as well as a Michigander, a first-generation American, a Baskin-Robbins expert, a Fulbright scholar and a journalist. Open and thoughtful, Sonja brings a wealth of stories to the podcast, from watching Westerns with her dad, to mistaking an MTV reality show for journalism — a move that subtly changed her life. I’ll just cut to the chase here: she wound up meeting an...

Robin Puricelli is the sommelier and wine director at Lido Restaurant in Shell Beach, a beautiful oceanfront resort where she’s earned Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence for multiple years. She’s also co-owner of the small wine label Locura, focused on light-style Grenache, which she makes with fellow sommelier Amanda Gill and winemaker Coby Parker-Garcia. Robin first came to my attentio...

Stephy Terrizzi is a viticulturist based in Paso Robles whose work has helped Central Coast vineyards and wineries grow. She is also the farmer behind Giornata Wines, the brand that she and her husband Brian Terrizzi own, focusing on Italian-varietal wines. Stephy and Brian both grew up in the Midwest though they didn’t meet until they attended Fresno State in the enology department. Since then, t...

How we talk and think about wine — and who makes it — is a subject that Heather Daenitz thinks about a lot. She is the founder of Craft & Cluster, a photography and social media consulting business located in Santa Barbara County. Heather worked for 10 years in the wine industry doing everything from tech-y jobs like compliance and pest management to working harvest, pouring in the tasting room, t...

Nancy Ulloa is a Mexican immigrant, the first person in her family to attend and graduate from college, a survivor of domestic abuse, and, in her own words, a “butterfly” who has discovered her most engaged and abundant self in the winemaking community. She talks here about her first vintage of Gruner Veltliner, the intimidation and empowerment of being able to choose when to pick, her interest in...

Clark Staub had a completely different life before establishing Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos nearly two decades ago. He worked from being a humble record store clerk to becoming the Vice President of Marketing at Capitol Records — plus there was a stint in Vermont working for Burton Snowboards. But he was always really into bread, which led him to start his own place in the little-known to...

Few restaurants hold the hearts of Central Coast locals like Mee Heng Low, the chop suey restaurant on Palm Street, owned and operated by the Gin Family for over 40 years and still in operation under Chef Paul Kwong. As a young boy growing up in his parents’ restaurant, Mike Gin saw it all up close, and in adulthood he chose to write a family cookbook of original MHL recipes. The first edition sol...

The Monroe family owns and operates Hush Harbor Bakery in Atascadero, California, including father Donnie, mother Penni, and daughter Morgan. Penni and Donnie worked in aerospace engineering in Southern California before taking an early “retirement” to start a bakery on the Central Coast. In time, their daughter Morgan would start working at the bakery, too. Penni and Morgan discuss their love of...

Chef Travis Watson has worked all over the world, most recently as executive chef at the Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, built in the 1920s and recently — spectacularly! — renovated. We talked about how he honed his effortlessly artful style, his dedication to sustainability, savory marshmallows, and the haunted Stanley Hotel in Colorado. Instagram: @hotelcalifornian Website: hotel...

Susan Feniger is known from over 300 episodes of the Food Network’s Too Hot Tamales along with her business and creative partner Mary Sue Miliken, and their restaurants Border Grill and Socalo in Los Angeles and Border Grill in Las Vegas. She is the co-author of six cookbooks and was recently honored by the Julia Child Foundation, and is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum. Her s...

Humboldt Distillery owners Abe and Courtney Stevens weren’t always into distilling. Abe started as a biochemist and Courtney studied English, but their paths brought them to Humboldt , where Abe’s family has lived for five generations. Humboldt Distillery is best known for its organic vodka, which is the best-selling organic vodka in California. We talked about clean water, poker tournaments, and...

I travel to Gold Country to meet Zachary Ahrenholtz, the executive chef at the Holbrooke Hotel and Golden Gate Saloon. These are the oldest continuously operating hotel and oldest watering hole in California, respectively, and they were recently renovated and polished to a shine. Zach talked with me about smoking meats and how they influence the new Golden Gate Saloon menu, as well as the phenomen...

Ashley Chaney is a successful voiceover artist and red carpet host who recently launched a project that’s close to her heart: a food podcast. “Dear Food” inquires into the lives of those who love to cook, eat, and talk about food. Ashley shared the origins of her interest in the project, how she years for the tri-tip sandwich at Firestone Grill in San Luis Obispo (where she studied journalism in c...

Nicky is a fourth-generation miller and bread baker with Central Milling in Petaluma, and a descendent of the famed Giusto’s Flour company in South San Francisco. We discussed what it’s like working for a 150-year-old family company, the COVID home sourdough phenomenon, and baking on Team USA for the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. Instagram: @centralmilling Website: centralmilling.com