#MADEINDC: UNDONE CHOCOLATE

March 24, 2016

We've mentioned here/there/everywhere: we're so excited to help launch the Made in DC Program! A partnership between local economy advocates Think Local First and the DC Department of Small and Local Business, it's in place to promote and support DC makers of A L L S T R I P E S (from food to furniture, and everything in between), and enrollment is OPEN and FREE for all DC biz creating a product in the city! The depth + breadth of the DC maker community is blowing our minds, daily.

We found ourselves at Union Kitchen: Ivy City a few weeks ago, and were glad to have camera in hand for a little walk-through of the Undone Chocolate space. One of the 40+ Made in DC-enrolled businesses so far, Undone is bean-to-bar in the truest sense of the word (a highlight of our visit: getting to taste the cacao beans at every. single. stage of becoming a chocolate bar), and all of their chocolate products – be it the aforementioned bars, drinking chocolate, and even an organic cocoa shell tea – are handcrafted from organic and direct trade cacao sourced from small producers.

Big thanks to Adam and the Undone team for having us over! Learn more about Undone Chocolate here (and follow along via the @@@s below), and head over to the Made in DC site to browse (way more) of what's being made in the District.

@undonechocolate
@unionkitchendc
@thisismadeindc

MEET THE MISFITS: MISFIT JUICERY + MIRIAM'S KITCHEN

March 09, 2016

Misfit Juicery is not a juice company, but they are fighting food waste one cold-pressed juice at a time – and they're doing it in DC. We'll let you read more about them on their website, but even if you haven't had a chance to try their product, you might remember them as co-hosts of last year's hEArT fundraiser at the Capital Area Food Bank.

Misfit's ongoing blog series, "Meet the Misfits," introduces men and women from across the country who advocate for food equity + sustainability, and against food waste; we loved the most recent installment – featuring chefs Emily Hagel and Ciji Wagner of Miriam's Kitchen – to the point that we felt it was a MUST SHARE with the #aCreativeDC community. Catch a slice of the interview below, and head to the Misfit JOURNAL for the rest.

Misfit: How would you describe the mission of Miriam’s Kitchen in your own words?

Ciji: The overall mission is to end chronic homelessness in D.C. We do that via the food, which gets the guests into the door. The idea is that if you build relationships, and we believe that building relationships happens with food, then people will trust you enough to get the help they need, the support they need to really make the ongoing changes they need to their life.

Emily: I think the way that we hold ourselves to an extremely high standard out of respect for the art of cooking but also out of the understanding that if we are preparing a meal that someone in a paying-customer kind of restaurant would want to pay for, we feel like we have succeeded. So we want to make sure that while our food makes our guests feel safe and at home, in the way that they don’t always feel safe and don’t have a home, here at Miriam’s Kitchen we’re able to make people feel good about themselves and have some security and stability in their lives through that good meal.

In terms of the bar that we set for ourselves and for our volunteers, and the professionalism that we run this kitchen with, that sets us aside I think, we run a restaurant for people who don’t pay within the mission of ending chronic homelessness. Our high standard for food, food preparation and how we run our kitchen, speaks through the impact of our food and how we care for our guests.

@misfitjuicery instagram | @misfitjuicery twitter
@miriamskitchen instagram | @miriamskitchen twitter
photos + interview excerpt courtesy Misfit Juicery

Cloud Terre

September 16, 2015

Cloud Terre is a line of visually s t u n n i n g tableware, each piece handmade by designer + architect Amber Kendrick. Amber has some amazing things to say, below, about the intersection of art and food, and as beautiful as Cloud Terre creations are to simply look at, they're certainly meant to have function: pieces are created in collaboration with/used in service at The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm, Fiola, A Baked Joint, and an enviable list of soon-to-be-opened DC restaurants. An Indiegogo campaign is currently running to help fund new studio equipment and the expansion of this really incredible art + design project – read on for more.

"I started making things well, when I was tiny - mostly taking things apart and putting them back together in weird ways. I disassembled and reassembled MANY Barbie dolls into very odd and probably uncomfortable sculptures. There was also a Barbie pool pent house structure thing I remember working on one night when I was at my parents' office while they had to work late - I was probably 6? - and I couldn't figure it out! It must have been midnight and a group of their top engineers came out into the hallway where I was sitting very frustrated, they sat on the floor with me and I'm pretty sure they re-invented what exactly this pool on a roof top house could do. Life changing!

Tableware only came naturally because of the amazing folks I found myself surrounded by. I was incredibly lucky to get to meet insanely talented and creative chefs. Most of my inspiration comes from them. Some comes from travels, other inspiration comes from a neurotic love of philosophy. If I had been sitting at a table with professional drivers, I'd probably be trying to design cars right now. Maybe my next life ;)

Realistically, I started Cloud Terre in 2009 and began working with glass (blown, cast, kiln-worked). Always with a functional intention. Something about coming out of Architecture school and practicing for a while, it's hard to not think about an object's function! I started working with clay around the same time, but it was about a year later when I met [chef] Johnny Spero. He was telling me about a ceramic plate he saw while staging at Noma and the conversation grew and evolved to where I found myself sitting at the wheel for about a month straight, 12 hour days just throwing over and over, immersion style. With immense gratitude, my Mom had a small studio and sat with with me, teaching me everything I know and my Dad gave profound critique on everything design coming off the wheel. After about a month, I was in love with the material and couldn't walk away.

I have a masters in architecture from Catholic University. My focus was always on performance studies so my thesis looked at how we (re)define space by moving thru it and how do we represent that. My love of subtlety in details is infused into the tableware, as are performative ideas - how is the piece carried, placed down, picked up, held; how does rest on the table or while 'stored' before service. I love playing with temporal ideas like what's revealed as you eat - how does time play a role in this object? Dining out is performative - it has many acts, completely independent of where you're dining. It's about continuing to tell the narrative thru food in a tactile, visual and auditory way (yes, I even like to think about the sound a plate makes or doesn't make when it's set down on a table).

I'm currently in Arlington, VA. My studio set up is part of my home. My business partner and life partner, Ernie and I built a small building behind our home that houses our kilns and glazes. Although very exciting, we're moments from relocating to a larger production and retail space in DC."

We love that your work creates a tangible intersection between art and food. Can we get your thoughts on that idea? I love your question!! I view it as communication/language. We're all saying something, sometimes it's beautifully quiet other times more pronounced. I read, with all the senses, what a chef does (professional or home chef) with our tableware and that's when I see the piece start to breathe and become art. Some of the pics out there of our work plated - it's magical and perfectly humbling.

You create tableware for some extremely recognizable names in the food industry, locally and nationally. Can you share a little bit about what led you to their doors (or them to your door!)? And what's your advice to artists looking to collaborate with + for businesses in general? Chance followed by conversation and the exchange of ideas for the love of what you do. Advice... I would suggest a true collaboration is necessary, meaning let go of the ego and be willing to go on a very long adventure with very long weeks and very late nights. In other words, show up for what you do, show up for whom you want to collaborate with, and let go of what you think the 'right answer' is and let the relationship and your desire to create with sincerity direct the work. That's very esoteric advise. A translation may be necessary. No translation needed – love it. Thank you Amber!

all images by Farrah Skeiky, courtesy Cloud Terre