Wood JUSTICE: Reclaimed Wood Furniture on Craigslist

Sometimes you get some cool stuff out of the black hole of the Los Angeles Craigslist.  While looking for a coffee table this weekend, FOOD JUSTICE HOUSE came across this awesome post hidden somewhere between the 13th identical Ikea end-table and a STR8-bro solicitation.  We don't know anything about John or his wood reclamation business, but we do know that he makes rugged furniture from high-quality reused lumber in his Pomona workshop.  Things like this make the entire afternoon we wasted on Craigslist almost worth it.

Along the same angle, but a bit less mysterious, is Elysian Park's Blake Avenue.  It's not cheap, but it's beautiful stuff.  This sort of thing makes me excited about actually having a job someday.

"Something often missing in the discussion of environmentally responsible furniture is the principle of longevity.  Here at Blake Avenue we love making the most out of the natural resources the earth provides.  We not only celebrate the natural beauty of reclaimed and recycled materials, but also seek to create designs that are both timeless and structurally fit to last a lifetime."

Well said.

John makes furniture in Pomona; if you're interested in his products you can make an inquiry through his Craigslist post.  Blake Avenue is located at 3010 N Coolidge Ave., just west of the LA River and south of the 2.  Prices are in the thousands, so be prepared to make a life-long investment. 

-Ben "The Best" Tuthill

FJ HOUSE Advocates: The Farmer and the Cook, Ojai, CA (pt. 2)

YerbaMateLover's insightful post about The Farmer and the Cook from earlier this week was really insightful, but it only told half the story.  Olivia Chase is the Cook side of the operation: she runs a delightful restaurant fueled by her husband Steve's farm, and co-manages it's accompanying organic market.  I've been to bigger organic markets, and I've been to fancier farm-to-table restaurants, but I don't think I've been to anything that's quite as integrated, thoughtful, and friendly as her operation in downtown Ojai.

Let's talk about the market first.  Why why why do we not have anything like this in LA?  In some ways it's just not fair. . .Ojai has a few strong regional advantages: miles and miles or orange groves, ample farm space, miles and miles of supportive hippies.  But even so, you think someone (other than our Highland Park allies in FOOD JUSTICE, Figueroa Produce, of course) in LA would make an effort.  Anyway, almost all of the Farmer and Cook's vegetables come from Steve's farm, and their amble citrus collection is picked from local Ojai orchards.  In many ways, it's like a big farmer's stand, and what's being sold is directly tied to seasonal and regional availability.  We hit it right at the height of citrus season, and not surprisingly, the oranges were amazing.

The Farmer and the Cook also featured two of the fastest ways to my heart: bulk goods (spices, cereals, soaps, oils, beans, grains), and an almond butter machine.  The sooner Northeast gets these things, the better.  Those yuppies in Santa Monica have them...we've already got indie-star-friendly bars and upscale coffee shops...why not a granola dispenser or two?

But it's not the Farmer and the Grocer; let's get to the food!  I started out with the soup and salad bar.  My corn chowder soup was a bit lackluster, but the potato salad was wonderful, and the pasta mixed with the dressed chard salad was refreshing and packed with flavor.  I saw a lot of very happy-looking people opting for a very happy-looking plate of huevos rancheros, but I was looking for something I could take home and opted for a burrito.  Filled with seasonal veggies and topped with an interesting sweet sauce, it made for a fantastic lunch.  I'm always skeptical of clearly inauthentic (i.e. not Mexican) Mexican food, but Farmer and the Cook didn't try to fool anyone and put their own spin on it.  The result was something that was both filling and refreshing: you could really taste the purity and thoughtfulness of the ingredients.

For dessert we got a chocolate/peanut butter/graham cracker bar and an Orange Dreamsicle smoothie.  The smoothie was, despite it's name, minty green and absolutely delicious, and the bar avoided the overwhelming richness that these sort of things usually have by layering dark chocolate on real, unsweetened peanut butter.

Our trip to Ojai was both disheartening and inspirational.  Working and eating with Steve, we learned how difficult it is to find FOOD JUST food, and how few businesses you can actually trust ("It's a dirty world," he said repeatedly).  He told us story after story of supposedly JUST businesses like Whole Foods screwing small farms over, and supposedly organic producers turning out to be imposters who were just in it for the money.  At the same time, the Farmer and the Cook showed us that it really is possible to stay ethical; you just need to learn how to play the game and hold onto your values while doing it.  Of course, not every market and restaurant can run a farm to supply its produce, but I think a lot of small businesses can learn from operations like Steve's and Olivia's.  If farmers, cooks, and their communities work together, forming relationships and organizing their businesses around one another's needs, the result is a product that's actually made with care from a traceable, responsible source.   Steve can't put out a dirty crop of lettuce because Olivia won't be able to sell it to a community that can see where it's coming from.  Transparency, integration, responsibility: if that's not FOOD JUSTICE, I don't know what is.

The Farmer and the Cook is located at 339 West El Roblar in Ojai, CA.  Look to spend around $15-20 for an entree and sides.  Thanks so much to Steve and Olivia for the opportunity to learn about their business; if you're interested in learning more yourself, or volunteering for a free lunch, check out their website.

FJ HOUSE Advocates: The Farmer and the Cook, Ojai, CA (pt. 1)

This weekend the Food Justice House took a trip to Ojai to visit the Farmer and the Cook restaurant and it's accompanying farm, Rancho Del Pueblo. Ojai, a quaint town located halfway between L.A. and Santa Barbara, quickly won the hearts of the FJH with its delightful town center and impressive scenery. However, it was the people we met that will ensure our return!

"E"

I don't know much about the issues of FOOD JUSTICE outside of cities (Los Angeles to be specific), but that doesn't mean the farmers in Ojai don't know a lot about the problems here in LA. We spent the morning with Steve Sprinkel, the farm's manager and, as far I can tell, spokesman. Steve was quite the character, and it didn't take long for us to realize that he knew a great deal more than us about LA food politics. Wow, I thought we were the experts! I could go through and make a list of all the tidbits of knowledge we gained that morning, but I won't. Instead I recommend our readers take a trip to Ojai themselves and visit Mr. Sprinkel.

At the farm we spent the morning helping out Steve with farm chores. Picking chard was fun, but I got the most out of trimming back the lettuce. Wilting and parasites is something we struggle a bit with at our garden, so it was useful to see what these problems look like at a commercial level and to learn some solutions to dealing with these issues.

As we picked lettuce Steve discusses the woes and problems of mono-cropping, the corruption in organic foods, and his thoughts on Monsanto (which were for the most part fairly negative). Steve himself is a really interesting guy with a fun past. Today, Steve and his wife run the Farmer and the Cook, a restaurant in Ojai. The food at the restaurant is grown by Steve and is delivered fresh daily. Wow talk about vertical integration! Steve also supplies food to farmers markets, CSAs, and grocery store distributors.

Fun fact: he was also once a potter. Does this make him a Renaissance Man? Hmmm, I didn't see him A) Riding a horse or B) using a bow so I can't make a fair assessment. Either way, his farm, and Ojai in general, is worth a visit. Us at the FJH support organic food, but even more importantly, being informed about where our food comes from and who is involved in improving our access. A big thanks is given to Steve and his family and we hope to be back soon.

Rancho Del Pueblo is always looking for volunteers; if you're interested, check out their website.  Look forward to part 2 of our double header as we talk about the restaurant side of the Farm and the Cook!

Other titles I considered for this article :

One Sprinkel you won't find on a doughnut!

Sugar Free Sprinkels!

Sucka Free Sprinkels!

Ojai, a Land of OJ! 

Ojai, a Land of Milk and Sprinkels!

Oh Hey Ojai!

Sprinkels over Pringels!

Tea of the week: Szechwan Imperial Keemun

If there's one thing I hate more than monkeys, it's things that are made in China.  Buy American!  But even I have to admit that the Chinese make some things really well, and one of those things is Keemun tea.  Assam may be India's best region for breakfast tea, but the Qimen county of China's Annui province gives it some stiff competition.  Keemun (a Western bastardization of Qimen) tea is known for its fruity maltiness, and it's often used in higher quality breakfast blends.  It often gets compared to burgundy wine; who knows what that means?  Not me!

YerbaMateLover and I had been drinking TeaSource Grand Keemun for breakfast for awhile now, but we were starting to go insane due to the lack of variety.  To mix things up, we got a few ounces of Szechwan Imperial from Pasadena's Chado Tea Room (by far the best tea shop I've been to in LA).  Boy is it good.  Szechwan is the keemun-iest keemun I've had yet: intensely malty, richly plum-like, and capped by that weird Keemun taste that can't really be described unless you've had it.  It's an intense flavor experience that can't be taken lightly.  I'd go crazy if I had to drink it every day, but as an occasional breakfast treat it's a true delight.

Is Szechwan Keemun from the Szechwan province of China or from Qimen County?  I don't know; there seems to be some sort of contradiction here.  Geography majors?  Either way, it's fantastic tea.  I've gotten mine to last four steeps: it starts to lose its maltiness after the second, but it retains a light flavor that's perfect for the afternoon.  Have it with or without milk: milk cuts back the wildness of the flavor, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your mood.

#NOM!

You can get Szechwan Imperial Keemun by the ounce at any of Chado Tea Room's three locations; FJ HOUSE advocates for the Pasadena shop, located at 79 N. Raymond Street in Pasadena. 

-Ben "The Best" Tuthill

FJ HOUSE ADVOCATES: The Blue Hen, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles

Last Saturday after hankering a craving for pho all day long Justicers Ben Ben "The Best", Ruby, and I were joined by H.M.O.T.W Robbie at Eagle Rock's own Blue Hen Restaurant.  They are a small blue restaurant on Colorado that prides itself on having local and organic ingredients that really coalesce into a fantastic final product be it the pho or the imperial rolls (it seemed like everyone in the restaurant got the rolls to start).

 

Though the prices were enough to deter about half of our planned dinner group away (the food injusticers went for the $3 tacos down the street) it was probably for the best as the dining room can't do groups of over six very easily.  The four who remained walked away with $15 bucks gladly spent on a healthy and filling meal.  Half the Blue Hen menu has gluten-free and vegan options making it highly adaptable to all needs.  Grass-fed beef and free range chicken are also available for the meat eaters.  However, the fried-potato eaters are given the biggest treat as the French Fries are great!

Go check this place out, it is a wonderful alternative to other less just Vietnamese places in Northeast LA.

P.S. - On that wonderful Saturday Ben "The Best" finally learned to use chopsticks.

P.S.S - Ruby ordered the Kid Under 5 and L-U-V-(MADONNA)-E-D it!



DONUT JUSTICE: Mojo Monkey, West 7th, St. Paul

About a week ago I said BRAT JUSTICE was the rarest type of FOOD JUSTICE.  I take that back: DONUT JUSTICE is clearly the least common.  What is worse than donuts?  They're bad for you, they're made from horrible artificial things, and they're usually sold in gas stations, which are universally evil.  Eating a donut is like sticking your hand in boiling water: it looks fun, it's kind of exciting while it's happening, but it's immediately painful and regrettable.  There is nothing worse in the world than the way your mouth feels after eating a donut, except maybe the way your stomach feels.  I hate donuts.  How can a donut shop possibly be worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as FOOD JUSTICE?  Mojo Monkey in St. Paul makes it possible!

It takes a lot for me to get over my hatred of monkeys, but despite its terrifying name, I have nothing but praise for Mojo Monkey Donuts (Cathedral Hill's Cheeky Monkey, on the other hand, will never earn such redemption).  Mojo bakes in-house, uses organic ingredient, serves organic fair-trade coffee, and sells TeaSource tea.  What more could you want?  By the time I got in they were sold out of their already famous Mango Glaze Coconut, but the S'more with sweet Graham crumble and the Mocha Mouse Bismark with coffee-flavored filling were hands down the best donuts I've ever had.  Every bite was rich without being cloying, and I didn't even feel ill after eating two.  I can't wait to go back and try more of their many options, which include Red Velvet, Keylime, and something with an entire strip of bacon on it.  This takes donut-eating to a whole new level.  New York has Doughnut Plant, Portland has Voodoo, but none of them can touch St. Paul's Mojo.  Maybe monkeys deserve another chance.

 Mojo Monkey Donuts is located at 1169 W 7th St., St. Paul. 

FJ HOUSE ADVOCATES: The Bachelor Farmer, North Loop, Minneapolis

The Tuthills are going out on the town!  Last week we tried to go to Lindon Hills' Tilia and found out that we weren't trendy enough to get a table (this happened to me again with friends four days later; get some more tables, Tilia!).  We went to Lucia's To-Go cafe instead and found it to be very JUST (free range chicken seasonal vegetables) but pretty average.  Farm-to-table is rad and all, we decided, but it ends up tasting a lot like home-cooking, which usually tastes better when it's cooked at home (you rule, Ma "The Best"!).

We were proven wrong on round two, when we decided to go for full luxury and treat ourselves to the Dayton brothers' wildly-hyped Bachelor Farmer.  The Daytons' have received nothing but praise for their first venture into the restaurant business, and they deserve every bit of it.  Bachelor Farmer succeeds on every front: design JUSTICE, location JUSTICE, taste JUSTICE, portion JUSTICE, FOOD JUSTICE JUSTICE.  They even get full marks on the bathrooms (more on this later).

Let's talk about sustainability first.  The Bachelor Farmer uses top-quality, local meat, and practices whole-animal butchery.  Their menu changes frequently depending on what's available and what's in season.  This would be good enough for any restaurant to get an FJ HOUSE stamp of approval, but TBF goes one step further and grows their produce on their own rooftop garden.  I don't know how that works in Minnesota January, but the fact that they even try is enough to get me teary-eyed.  A roof-top garden for a farm-to-table restaurant is such a simple, economical solution.  What are the rest of you jokers doing?        

The effort shows.  Its rare for a restaurant to let the pure goodness of its ingredients do the talking, and TBF's ingredients have a whole lot to say.  Even the starters, which consisted of some nasty-looking red vegetable that I usually avoid (turnips or something?), flat bread, and possibly the best butter I've ever tasted, where incredible.  Nothing complicated, nothing outwardly special, but the simple purity of the ingredients made for a truly notable bread-and-butter plate.

It doesn't get much more simple or more pure than beef tartare, which came with our toast course (the toast course is a bit of a signature at TBF, featuring a toast rack which seems bent on becoming a Twin Cities dining icon).  Ma "The Best" has been eating raw beef while making hamburgers for years, something I've always found to be a horrific practice, but I think I understand it now.  Mixed with salt, chives, mustard, something pickled, and a raw egg yolk, beef tartare tastes exactly as you'd expect it to taste; the only surprise is that its absolutely delicious, and that it doesn't instantly kill you.  I thought one half-slice of toast wouldn't be enough, but the tartare was so rich and so filling that I can't imagine eating much more.  I wish I could have taken a better picture, but TBF doesn't allow flash photography on grounds that it's harmful to raw beef and seafood (or maybe they just think that it's annoying; they don't allow cellphone use either).   

I got the duck flank and breast with cranberries and wild rice.  I won't show my picture because it doesn't do the food anything close to JUSTICE.  Duck is clearly the best of the birds; chicken and turkey don't even come close in terms of texture and juicy flavor.  The breast was immaculate, and the walnuts and cranberries complimented it perfectly.  My father had the meatballs with lingonberry sauce, a Scandinavian classic.  The caraway seasoning, paired with the tartness of the lingonberries and a pile of beautifully-whipped potatoes, was extraordinary.  Ma "The Best," somehow sane after the blood-lust brought on by the tartare, had poached eggs and Brussels sprouts which, though not to my taste, were deemed excellent by both her and my father.  

Dessert, usually the most disappointing course, defied conventions and settled the matter of whether to leave an extraordinarily large tip or not.  I had a delightful peach tart tatin, and had tastes of both house-made café miel and dried-fruit ice cream.  Even the lemon shortbread crackers were good, and the chocolate sauce for the café miel was TO DIE, as our waiter (who was stylish, enthusiastic, and helpful, by the way) put it.

What else is there to say?  TBF is located in North Loop, a neighborhood which has so much potential if only it would fill up a bit more.  TBF is right behind Askov Finlayson, one of the coolest new boutiques in the Twin Cities, and about a block away from menswear staple Martin Patrick 3.  In the basement (only accessible through an unlabeled blue door at the end of a dark hallway, itself only accessible through an unlabeled metal door in the back) is the Marvel Bar, recently rated the best bar in the Midwest by some mysterious organization I can't currently find.  If North Loop can draw a few more businesses and restaurants and some people to live above them, they might actually have something.  Get on it, R.T.!

Of course, no restaurant review would be complete without a discussion about bathrooms.  TBF's are beautiful: clean, spacious, featuring pleasant soap and serenely blue walls.  Most importantly, they are careful to keep the doors opened when unoccupied.  Why is this not more of a thing?  There should seriously be a law about keeping unoccupied bathroom doors open.  What are you guys doing in South Carolina?  Let's get to the #realissues.

The Bachelor Farmer is located at 50 N 2nd Ave., in Minneapolis.  Look at a map first, because it's unmarked and a bit tricky to spot.  Entrees are in the $20 range; with drinks and dessert, look to spend $35 to $50 per person.

THINGS LA SHOULD HAVE: Seward Co-Op, Minneapolis

SoCal is supposedly into hip things and health food and stuff like that.  Didn't they invent Trader Joe's?  Aren't they all yuppies who do yoga and eat frozen yogurt?  Isn't Los Angeles a capital of FOOD and HEALTH JUSTICE?

NO.  Even though Los Angeles votes for democrats sometimes, they don't even have CO-OPS.  What is a CO-OP?  A co-op, or cooperative, is a business owned and operated by a group of people or community for their mutual benefit.  Co-op grocers usually sell local and organic products, and care about consumer health and environmental sustainability.  What is more FOOD JUST than that?  Very little!  Growing up in St. Paul, MN, generally regarded as one of the best places in the world, I assumed that co-ops were a common fact of life.  This isn't true.  In fact, there is only one co-op, Santa Monica's Co-opportunity, in the entire LA area.  What's up with that, SoCal?  I'd think you'd be into natural food markets.  I thought you were the most liberal state in the world.  You even voted for Mondale in '84...oh wait, you didn't.

In Minneapolis and St. Paul, we have not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but SEVEN co-ops.  They are all neat, but the one I'm most partial to is Seward Co-op in Seward, Minneapolis.  Only about a mile and a riverspan away from my house, my family have been members since Seward got trendy and opened their new Franklin Avenue space in 2005.  Seward is an awesome place...come with me as I check it out.

 Seward sells, whenever possible, produce that is local and in-season.  Though they make some exceptions, they almost never sell non-organic, non-USA-grown fruits or vegetables.

 What's that nasty looking brown thing in the lower right, Seward?  Who knows?  They're always selling things I've never heard of.

Ma "The Best" Tuthill pretends to weigh her mushrooms in order to make a more interesting picture.

Things don't have to come prepackaged?  WOW!  Seward has an infinite number of bulk options, including oils, cleaning supplies, tea, spices, and the best vanilla oat-cluster cereal I have ever had.  I don't understand why everywhere in the world doesn't do this.  It's cheaper, greener, easier, and let's you know exactly what you're getting when you buy your food.  Why is there so much evil in the world?

Peanut butter comes from peanuts!  This is probably the coolest thing at Seward.  I had no idea the process was so simple.  Seeing this makes things like Skippy even more terrifying than they already were.

  

Meat JUSTICE.  Brat JUSTICE: maybe the rarest type of JUSTICE. Maybe the best type of JUSTICE.

 Herban Cowboy, an awesome mens' (and now womens'!) grooming line, deserves a post of its own.  Seward's grooming section is filled with other great products as well, including the nearly impossible-to-find Burt's Bees lip balm circular tin. 

Seward's hot deli is fantastic too, and make one of the best burritos in the Twin Cities.  This isn't saying much, but if I were to rate it on a scale of good to great, I would give it a muy bien.

Short summary: Seward is awesome!  Co-ops are awesome!  Get on it, LA!  What are you doing with your life?  We had a state shutdown and two failed Republican candidates, and we have seven of them in a twenty mile radius! You guys passed the Dream Act!  You elected Jerry Brown!  Surely you can pull together a co-op or two...

Oh, neat!  Arroyo Food Co-op, founded in 2008, is trying to get enough membership donations to get a store opened somewhere in Pasadena.  This project has a lot of potential, and FOOD JUSTICE HOUSE advocates for their cause.  We encourage anyone who's interested in what they see here to join the fight toward a better LA, a better, California, and a better world.  Co-operative food: It's JUST the right thing to do.

Fight on!

-Ben "The Best" Tuthill