Dishing with Stephanie's Dish

KC Kye is the founder and CEO of K-Mama Sauce . KC grew up eating his mom's spicy Korean food.  He realized how hard it was to find quality Korean food and sauces after he moved to Minnesota. After 100 variations, he perfected K-Mama Sauce.  K-Mama Sauce is a rich and spicy Korean hot sauce that adds deep and complex flavor to a variety of dishes. By perfecting and selling K-Mama Sauce, KC ca...

When we first talked to Mary Leonard in Season One, Episode 68 , she was making her lovely chocolates at Chocolat Celeste in St Paul creating new techniques and flavor profiles. With Covid19 stalling retail, Mary has moved to curbside chocolate sales for two of her biggest holidays, Mothers Day and Easter and is forging new relationships including Hope Chest for Breast Cancer. When you purchase a...

Minnesota Ice believes ice should enhance the visual impact and overall taste of cocktails and drinks. They craft beautiful cocktails so you can entertain in style whether you are a bar or restaurant or consumer buying ice at your favorite liquor store.  When the global Covid19 pandemic hit - these clients shut their doors and Director of Sales, Erik Eastman, got creative creating a local Minnesot...

After two decades as a food and lifestyle writer for various publications in the Twin Cities, Alex Lodner decided to parlay her connections and experience into a career of connecting the right social media influencers with the right brands to create social media influence marketing connections for both parties. Influencer marketing taps into the power of these social media influencers to promote t...

SK Coffee is a specialty coffee roastery in Saint Paul, Minnesota led by Sam Kjellberg, the company’s namesake. Kjellberg laid the foundation for SK Coffee, a subscription coffee business, while he was living in Boston. SK Coffee is an e-commerce coffee subscription service, a strategy that allowed them to thrive during the Covid 19 pandemic.  SK Coffee’s beans originate from small-scale farmers i...

Josie Lewis is an artist, speaker and author who empowers others to explore their own creativity. Josie shares her process via @josielewisart on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok, with over 2 million unique followers and more than 1 billion video views.  Josie received an MFA  from the University of MN and in 2019 she presented at TEDx Minneapolis .  Shop her color book or her watercolor...

Steele Smiley, the founder of Steele Fitness, got into the restaurant business in 2016 with the opening of the first Crisp & Green . The chain offers fast-casual salads, both curated and customizable, as well as grain bowls and smoothies. With the Cronovirus closing all restaurants in March, hear how he is pivoting Crisp and Green by adding Crisp @ Home as well as many other initiatives like v...

Bradley Traynor is perfecting his Sourdough starter and Bread Loaf during the Covid 19 Pandemic. He watched You Tube videos and found a starter process he really liked at Marys Nest - You too can make Sourdough Loaves. Click here to see his loaf. Support the show ( https://paypal.me/StephanieKHansen?locale.x=en_US ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

When Tom and Nicole Dokman married in 2017, Tom created a universal spice blend for their wedding. They used it on their food and guests received spice jars as a wedding favor.  "Long story short, everybody wanted more and more and we thought they were being nice and really, they really loved it," Nicole said. "So we really felt like we had something here." The couple launched...

My girlfriend Molly King had an epic 50 birthday party and she loves to throw theme parties. Her idea on how to stay connected during the Coronavirus with a distanced dinner party is brilliant. Take a listen here. Support the show ( https://paypal.me/StephanieKHansen?locale.x=en_US ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, vis...

Carla Metz was on a roll at Iron Shoe Farm selling microgreens to restauranteurs in the Twin Cities. Her Spring plans included expanding her business and creating a farm dinner series when the Coronavirus hit. In one day she lost a $16,000 crop and had to figure out how to re-imagine her farms' offerings to sustain her and her customers in the time of Coronavirus. Her pivot included going dir...

Rachel Banken harvests local organic herbs + foraged botanicals native to Minnesota. These infusions of herbs, roots, leaves, fruits and berries are the basis of Well Rooted Teas. Well Rooted Teas nourish the body and are grown and harvested in a manner that supports the health of our environment as 10% of our profits are given to local organizations working to protect and promote our environment....

15 miles up the North Shore from Canal Park is one of Duluth's most celebrated restaurants called the New Scenic Cafe . Chef/owner Scott Graden, grew up in the region and co-founded the business with his aunt, Rita Bergstedt. He has been working there ever since and took on full ownership by buying Rita out in 2005.  Known for its "Nordic" cuisine and its deft hand with vegetables t...

* Programming note - this episode was prerecorded before the Coronavirus outbreak* This week's Makers of Minnesota guests are Michael Sedlacek and Rachel Romanelli co-founders of Worker B Wellness . Worker B Wellness is a therapeutic wellness center near Keg and Case market on West Seventh Street in St Paul that focuses on holistic services grounded in a belief in apitherapy (bee therapy). Wo...

* Programming note - this episode was prerecorded before the Coronavirus outbreak* Meal Magazine is a new, independent print publication featuring thought-provoking food writing that is based in Minneapolis and published bi-annually. Peter Sieve is the editor and co-founder of the magazine.  As a writer, musician and generally creative dude living and working in Minneapolis Peter had written about...

*Special Programming Note: This episode was recorded before the Coronavirus outbreak. John Waller and his wife Jess were looking for a healthy, savory, snack so Jess went into the kitchen and blended up some raw nuts and spices and like magic and lots of trial and error, Humble Nut Butter was born. Countless batches and plenty of feedback later, they launched three signature flavors at Farmers Mar...

Sara Haydens Pie Company, Sara's Tipsy Pies have taken the Minnesota State Fair and the Food Building by storm with their boozy hand pies. We catch up with Sara from her new production facility and coffee shop in Stillwater Minnesota to talk about running a forward-facing retail outlet, at 823 4th St S, Stillwater, and the launch of her Savory Pies.  Support the show Follow the Makers of Minn...

Allison Vaillancourt and Daniela Serra are two of the founders behind BLNCD Naturals, a women-owned and operated Minnesota-based CBD health and wellness brand. BLNCD is making its first step into the beverage space partnering with Big Watt Coffee to produce a line of CBD-infused sparkling waters. In addition to water, BLNCD Naturals has CBD face, body and wellness treatments designed to promote he...

We check back in with Molly Clark from Taking Stock Foods on the re-launch of Taking Stock Bone Broth. Taking Stock has new packaging, has moved to the shelf-stable aisle and is now at a co-packer. Hear about what led Molly to these decisions and how she is moving forward in her new landscape. Support the show Follow the Makers of Minnesota on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram @MakersofMN. Send s...

Charles Lovejoy is a pioneer in the Twin Cities Bloody Mary community. His "Lovejoy's Bloody Mary Mix" and "Burn Yo Face-Off Hot Sauce"  is a recipe he has been perfecting throughout his bartending career in the Twin Cities. While employed at the now-closed Happy Gnome, he began bottling his mix and hot sauce. Charles Lovejoy's Bloody Mary Mix gives $2 from every bott...

Jenna Redfield is the founder of Twin Cities Collective. Twin Cities Collective is a place to connect with businesses, creatives and other like-minded people in Minnesota. The collective is designed to help each other grow their networks with networking events, social media coaching and a podcast called the Twin Cities Collective. In this podcast episode, we learn about how Jenna started and how s...

Susan Elwer connects her passion for fighting childhood hunger with a mission-based apparel business.  Spoonful Apparel features inspiring messages on garments that can be purchased as well as supplying corporations with their garment and logo merchandise needs. Each item purchased through Spoonful Apparel results in 50% of the profits going to a community organization dedicated to fighting hunger...

Michele Henry and Ali Nanne co-founded The Face Foundry, a quick, convenient, full-service spa-like experience for facials, waxes, and lashes that could be completed in less than 40  minutes. The first location opened in March 2019. Then, just eight months later, a second location opened up. Now, these serial entrepreneurs have their eyes set on the future with a skincare product line and plans fo...

Lily Shaw works to support and connect the worlds of entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities through access, content and support. She is the community lead for 1 Million Cups Saint Paul, the trainer, and facilitator for Co-Starters , a 10-week program presented by the James J Hill Foundation designed for entrepreneurs to develop and fine-tune their ideas and determining next steps to bring that...

Eli Ailloni is 16. He is also the content creator and influencer behind foody channel with over 262,000 followers on Instagram and over 1.6 million followers on Tik Tok . Eli is making his way in the world of influencer marketing in Minnesota. Support the show Follow the Makers of Minnesota on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram @MakersofMN. Send story ideas to Stephanie@stephaniesdish.com If you a...