Beverage

Tonight we sit down with Susan and Jeff Vandermolen of Shake the Tree - a consultancy that grew out of their sale of their major contribution to the Comox Valley food culture: Beaufort Winery. Tonight they regale us with the tale of how they traded in their corporate day jobs to pursue a career in their favourite hobby - winemaking! We get to learn a little bit about the process, the history, and exactly what happens next, now that the winery has sold. And of course, it wouldn't have felt right if we didn't at least a couple of bottles of wine to sample during the course of the interview...

Chef Jonathan Frazier and Darren Howlett catch up on the local food scene today. These episodes where we check in on what's going on with us and the Valley in food have become some of our favourites. We touch on upcoming events, what's inspiring us, what's new in our local food culture, and where it's all heading. 

In the studio today, Ben-zion Eni joined us to discuss his newest endeavour, the Hub Café in downtown Courtenay. Ben has stepped out of a 20 year career working with fresh produce and jumped into the service side of the food industry! We talked to him about the jump - the motivations, hesitations, and everything in between. But as we got to talking, the thing that struck us the most is his sense of community. It's obvious that it plays a significant role in his café. This great little spot has great food, a great atmosphere, a great location, and you just know it's going to succeed!   

On this episode, the ever eloquent Connie Earl joins Chef Jonathan Frazier and Darren Howlett to talk local wine. Connie is easily one of the foremost resources for the Valley on all things wine; her knowledge extending throughout Vancouver Island, BC in general, and worldwide. She brought her expertise and a few bottles of semi-local reds to discuss the first steps in evaluating a bottles' merits, triumphs and shortcomings. What a treat!

 Today we sat down with
the lovably quirky Allison MacKenzie of Dark Side Chocolates. Allison discussed how she sort of 'fell into' the business, the merits of good dark chocolate
over mass produced cheaper chocolate, and finding new flavour combinations. We
also touched upon the ups and downs of being a small business in the Comox Valley
and all that comes with it.Dark Side Chocolates
P.O. Box 1119, 
2722 Dunsmuir Avenue
Cumberland, B.C. V0R 1S0
Phone: 250-336-0126
Website: http://darksidechocolates.com
Facebook:
Dark Side Chocolates

On tonight's episode, Chef Jon and Darren got to sit down with Darren of the Cumberland Brewing Company (already affectionately referred to as the CBC). All I can say is 'Wow'. We really love the way they are moving here. It can be quite difficult these days to open up a new venue or restaurant and be unique enough to really stand out. But the CBC has done just that. In very imaginative ways, they have redefined what it means to be a neighborhood pub; by fully embracing the 'neighborhood' part! Cumberland is the perfect place to open such a community based pub, and we foresee nothing but success for them. Take a listen as Darren explains it all, it's impossible to not get swept up in it all!  2732 Dunsmuir AveCumberland, British ColumbiaPhone: 250-400-2739 (BREW)Open : 12:00pm - 8:00pm

 Today, we got to sit down with Layne and Brenda of 40 Knots Winery. We had a wonderful time discussing not just their wine making, but what lead them down the road to wine making as a career. But beyond that, we talked about their impressive community involvement - the 40 knots social calendar is downright exhausting! And as you know, we love getting a chance to speak with community minded businesses!  
Web: http://www.40knotswinery.com
 
Email:  infoat40KnotsWinery@gmail.com
Phone: (250)
941-8810
 
Address is: 40 KNOTS WINERY
2400 Anderton Road,
Comox, BC V9M 4E5
Open Thursday - Sunday, 11:30 am - 5:30
pm (and most statutory holidays)