#61 | 🍷 Define Natural Wine
Hello!
While we’re waiting on our next issue (delayed, like everything else, by supply-chain logistics), may as well pour a glass of your favorite beverage and dig into the latest food news.
THE WINE
When the townspeople
gave the teenaged Buddha
a glass of wine
so delicious he grew
to an unthinkable size
and froze into a blue statue
that shielded the town
from a wave that broke
upon his back
and would have swept away
the town if he’d not tasted
the wine and afterward the people
were overjoyed and said
they would do good deeds
like carpool their children to school
more often and plant lettuce
everywhere while the Buddha
melted into water and receded
into the calm sane sea.
—Michael Metivier, from Poetry Magazine, 2015
By the way, I'm Bruce Cole, Publisher of Edible San Francisco. Welcome to all the new subscribers this week! But if you'd like to hop off anytime, simply unsubscribe. I appreciate you reading (and sharing) this newsletter.
Trick or treat? Here we go.
Vegetable Index: “Vegetables are expected to be cheap, and so how much work should be done to “elevate” them to the level of meat so that they’re worth a few hundred dollars? From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy
Thai Food Index: “Do all Thai restaurants need to serve food at a lower-than-average price point to be “real”? Soleil Ho in the SF Chronicle
From The Archives: Cheapskates: A case for paying more for ethnic food. “American diners have long balked at paying big bucks for so-called ethnic food. Ramen for 99 cents or less. Tacos for a buck and change. A bowl of pho for a few dollars tops.” Edible SF
Getting The Low Down From Your Mom: How to find the best Vietnamese food in San Jose
Comic by Thein Pham: See in its entirety here. His food-based memoir about his family's immigration story will be out in Spring/Summer 2023 from First Second Books. Follow him on Instagram @thiendog. KQED
Infinite Spaghetti: ATK is still riffing on their brown butter and soy "Infinite Sauce," and now claim it makes spaghetti infinitely better. America’s Test Kitchen
🎬 The Best Cooking Show On YouTube (You’ve Been Warned): The Home Feed Show Oriental Mac N Cheese.
Memoir On Aisle Five: Trader Joe’s book is a sort of “Kitchen Confidential” for the grocery business, but without the drugs or rage. The New Yorker
🥩 Latest In Lab Meat: Two key employees have left the lab-grown-meat startup Upside Foods, formerly Memphis Meats, as skepticism about the entire industry's business model grows. Upside counts John Mackey, the founder, and CEO of Whole Foods, as an investor, and Whole Foods is also an existing investor in the company. Business Insider {paywall}
Sweetgreen IPO Reveals They Aren’t Profitable Afterall: “But in the world of tech investing, growth is king (and they have a $1.78 billion valuation). As long as Sweetgreen continues to promise its investors that it will open new stores and work on fancy salad robots, it’s likely that the company’s hype among investors will stay fully intact.” Eater
Climate Change Claims One Of Our Favorite Fruits: The loss of their oro blanco grapefruit, beloved by locals at farmers’ markets, is especially heart-wrenching. “We’ve had them for 20 years. People look forward to them every winter.” Farmer Tory Torosian in Civil Eats
FYI: Tory Farms
Alas, Family Farms Won’t Save Us: “Having grown up on a small family farm myself, I was certain that they were not only the future of our food system, but also the best and most virtuous way to organize agriculture.” Farmer Sarah Mock in The Counter
Like A Virgin: Such a great name for a column focused on non-alcoholic drinks. The Takeout
We’ll Pass On The Guilt-Infused Cocktail: Not sure why you’d call your alcohol-free brand Abstinence?
Define Natural Wine:
Via Rachel Signer, author of You Had Me at Pét-Nat: A Natural Wine-Soaked Memoir. Illustrations by @carmenjanelew (click illustration for slideshow)
☠️ Props To Whomever Art Directed This Shot:
🍷 WHAT WE’RE DRINKING:
Sandlands 2019 Red Table Wine, Contra Costa County: Winemaker Tegan Passalacqua’s red blend is named as a nod to the European tradition of identifying wines by region (rather than grapes): when we think of Burgundy, we don’t say Pinot Noir, and we don’t refer to Napa cabernets as Bordeaux. Actually, we don’t ever refer to Napa cabernet here (who drinks that stuff? 😉), but that’s a story for another day. The 2019 Red Table Wine, Contra Costa County, is a blend of 65% Carignane and 35% Mataro (vineyards were planted in the 1920’s). Passalacqua’s tasting notes: Bright cranberry, peach, violets and driftwood. Fine, supple, acid-driven finish. 12.8% alc. Our (amateur) notes. Scintillating violet color in the glass. Definitely fruity, we’ll go with cranberry too, and some subtle tannins (aka driftwood?) to go with that minerally-acid finish. Sold out, but if you see it on a wine list order it stat.
🤪 This Shit Smell Like Felonies…Is It A Rap Cognac? Desus and Mero try to guess different celebrity alcohol brands. Featuring Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, and more. Showtime
Real Food Real Stories: Join Mohawk Seed Keeper, farmer & storyteller Rowen White and Black culinary artist & activist Jocelyn Jackson in Around The Table for a conversation on food culture and the role it plays in shaping our lives, stories, and dreams for the future.
Thursday, November 4, noon–1pm, online
Cost: Free
Info and registration: Eventbrite
"I have been younger in October / than in all the months of spring." —W.S. Merwin
That’s all for this week.
This jazzy, rap-centered single “Run Ricky” by vibraphonist, composer, arranger, and educator Nikara Warren is at the top of our playlist lately:
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–Bruce
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"Humans — despite their artistic pretensions, their sophistication, and their many accomplishments — owe their existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.” Anonymous