Over the past seven years, the annual Berry Good Night dinner has aimed to connect and celebrate local and sustainable farmers, ranchers, fishermen, chefs, and vintners.
In September 2017 we debuted a new format (#BGN100) to increase interaction and engagement. After submitting responses to a brief questionnaire, 100 “idea ambassadors” were hand selected for their commitment toward fundamental change in our food system.
Over the course of 2018, we are profiling the participants to highlight their efforts and create greater awareness and connection within our community.
This month we focus on fermenting and speak with the following individuals:
- Austin Durant, fermentation experimenter, blogger and founder of the Fermenters Club
- Frank Rivers Golbeck, beekeeper, mead maker, veteran and mead company co-founder
- Lori Saldaña, former California State assemblywoman and craft beer company co-owner
Austin Durant, Fermenters Club
Austin Durant
Please tell us briefly about your work and your goals.
I founded Fermenters Club with a mission: To improve people’s lives by teaching them why and how to make and enjoy fermented foods, and to create communities that are connected through their guts. That manifests in many ways (more explained below). The importance of gut health (from a modern medicine view) is just beginning to be understood, so it’s a perfect time to contribute by reviving the tradition of food fermentation. Fermented foods are the original probiotics, making them very relevant in helping maintain a healthy gut and overall well-being.
Did you make any interesting connections at BGN100?
Fortunately, I have been blessed to already have met or worked with many of the guests. But it was great to meet and chat with Troy Johnson, a local restaurant critic and food writer, and gain an understanding of his passion and work. And meeting Sam from Misadventure & Co., whose company makes distilled spirits from discarded bakery items, was very inspiring! He’s using fermentation as part of his process, but his concept of using sugar in a new way and finding it from unexpected places was enlightening and encouraged me to start looking at things in a new way.
Are there other ways you connect with like-minded members of the community to further your mission?
Absolutely! Since our mission is all about creating community, we have bimonthly meetings about fermentation. I also produce an annual Fermentation Festival (February 17, 2019 in Encinitas) to bring people together to celebrate fermented foods and their many benefits! Additionally, I have created virtual communities through my blog, fermentersclub.com, where people can read recipes, watch videos, and connect with local companies in their corner of the globe.
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
I love gardening, practicing yoga, riding my bike around town, meditating, and reading about and studying the many mysteries of life! And of course, finding new recipes and things that utilize fermentation!
Do you have any fermenting anecdotes or favorite fall traditions you’d like to share?
Gosh, there are so many… autumn is a fermenter’s dream time! It’s when cabbages are first available. I love putting up a large (3 or 5 gallon) batch of apple-ginger sauerkraut, which will ferment for a few months. I also love maximizing pumpkins, since it’s such a short window when they’re available. I make pumpkin kimchi (a common style in North Korea) and I flavor kombucha with pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Both recipes are on our blog.
Frank Rivers Golbeck, Golden Coast Mead
Frank Rivers Golbeck
Please tell us briefly about your work and your goals.
We make mead, the timeless libation made from honey. With it we endeavor to light up people’s lives, regenerate the earth, and create abundance. We do this by building and sharing mead culture with customers and partnering with beekeepers to improve honeybee health and landscape biodiversity through regenerative mead business models. More mead = more bees = more life.
Did you make any interesting connections at BGN100?
Yes. I brought Ojok Simon, the partially sighted beekeeper from Uganda. He met Rita Rayman of The Guardian Project, and she got a bunch of goats to a bunch of Ojok’s beekeeping partner’s families in Uganda.
Are there other ways you connect with like-minded members of the community to further your mission?
Over mead, regularly. We’ve started doing Meaditation – mindful mead drinking and exploring the intersection of the good and the real and our role in it.
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
I love to surf. And be around bees. And laugh and sing and play with my wife and three daughters.
Do you have any fermenting anecdotes or favorite fall traditions you’d like to share?
Fermentation is magic – we partner with trillions of microbes to turn honey into mead. Honey is the product of the sun, the plants and the bees. So, in mead we have the intersection of the cosmos, the plant world, the animal world, the microscopic world and human craftsmanship. One thing we like to do in the fall is start crafting warming meads, using warming spices like mace, ginger, and cinnamon. We always raise a glass and toast to the bees and to the sun. Cheers!
Lori Saldaña, brewery partner and San Diego Community College Instructor
Lori Saldaña
Please tell us briefly about your work and your goals.
I have been an educator with the San Diego Community College District for decades. I like the flexibility of the school year schedule, and currently teach Business Information Technology. My students have included immigrants from around the world, including a pastry chef from Africa who was trained in France who just received his US citizenship, and is updating his computer skills to be more efficient at work.
Other students are taking accounting classes along with their culinary studies, so they can start their own businesses. My goal is to help guide them to successful careers in the areas they enjoy.
I am also a partner in Karl Strauss Brewing Company, thanks to my father’s early investment in the company many years ago. When he passed away, I inherited some of his partnership shares, and so one of my goals is to gain a better understanding of the business side of craft brewing. I want to continue learning about the hospitality/service industry in San Diego and understand how it can provide career opportunities for my students who graduate from our Culinary/Hospitality programs.
Did you make any interesting connections at BGN100?
I enjoyed connecting with friends old and new at the last event! I was delighted to realize Natalia Badan of Mogor Badan was seated at our table – we have known each other for over 20 years, and only rarely get a chance to see each other in person these days. I met her while I was living in Baja and enjoyed visiting her home in the Guadalupe Valle long before Deckman’s and others set up operations there. A good reminder of how things have changed for the better in Baja California for the culinary/wine making industry.
Are there other ways you connect with like-minded members of the community to further your mission?
I have several friends who own coffee shops and restaurants, and we share stories of successes – and failures – often over good wine and craft beer. I have been a member of a local wine maker’s club at Negociant Winery in North Park for the past year, and enjoyed watching the owner, John Rinaldi, as he worked to grow and expand his operations.
I’ve just joined the wine club at Truly Fine Wine, it’s closer to my home so I hope to have more time to participate in their events and tastings and encourage others to do the same.
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
When at home, I enjoy organic gardening. I inherited a wonderful garden from my mother, and I have added edible plants to her collection of exotic flowering plants over the years, in part to feed our two desert tortoises. I also love to travel and visit new places, taste good beers and wines, and sample regional foods around the world.
As an educator, my fall tradition is returning to the classroom after a summer recess! But as we approach the holidays, I enjoy mulled wines, hearty stouts, and cooking flavorful vegetarian soups and other dishes that include beer and wine in the recipes, as well as on the table.
Do you have any fermenting anecdotes or favorite fall traditions you’d like to share?
A few years ago, my sister and I took a high-speed train from Paris to Beaune, France, and toured their historic vineyards. We missed the return train and spent the night, and it was the best “accidental tourist” moment of our trip. We had more time to sample their local wine, beer and food. We also visited her son in Italy, and the wines and cuisine of Sardinia were a delicious surprise.
I’ve visited southern Germany to learn about their clean energy programs and wine production (increasing, thanks to climate change), and visited an historic Pilsner brewery that has been in operation for centuries. In 2016 I toured the massive Heineken facility in Amsterdam, and years ago I visited Chile and learned about Carménère – a rare wine that is only grown in that country, after being wiped out by blight in most other countries.
Learning about beers and wine, tasting them, and visiting with those who grow, manufacture, and market them adds a tremendous value and perspective to my travels, and reminds me of how international this business is.
