EP91: From Passion to Plate: Chef Kristen Watts Schumacher's Journey at Carnation Farms

In this episode of Voice4Chefs, Hosts Michael Dugan and Chef Steven engage with Chef Kristen Watts Schumacher, also known as Chef Shu, the Culinary Director at Carnation Farms in the Snoqualmie Valley, Seattle. Chef Shu shares her inspirational journey from cooking for friends in her teenage years to running the heirloom cookshop and leading farm to table feasts. The conversation delves into her early influences, challenges, and triumphs, highlighting her love for community, resilience, and food without ego. Chef Shu discusses the deep connection she feels to Carnation Farms, including the regenerative farming practices and the farm's mission to provide fresh, local produce. They explore her diverse culinary experiences, including starting a cooking class program at Carnation Farms, and how transitioning into motherhood reshaped her definition of success. The episode also touches upon her philosophy of teamwork and humility in the kitchen, the importance of local produce, and the unique experiences offered at Carnation Farms’ events such as farm dinners and feasts in the field, where guests connect directly to the land, the animals, and the dedicated team behind the scenes.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:46 Chef Shu's Culinary Journey Begins

02:40 Discovering the Passion for Cooking

05:30 From Culinary School to Professional Chef

07:46 Building the Heirloom Cook Shop

11:35 Challenges and Triumphs of Entrepreneurship

16:05 Transition to Carnation Farms

17:44 The Allure of Carnation Farms

19:40 Teaching Cooking Skills

20:23 Farm Dinners and Community Connection

20:45 Inspiration and Home Cooking

21:32 The Power of Local Ingredients

22:00 Feast in the Field Experience

24:17 Honoring the Source of Food

30:06 Leadership and Team Values

35:38 Upcoming Events at Carnation Farms

38:25 Final Thoughts and Gratitude

Website: https://carnationfarms.org

Email: kristens@carnationfarms.org

Season2

Welcome Chef Steven Leung as our new cohost.

IG: themindfulwok

Transcript

Host Michael Dugan: 0:52

I'm Michael Dugan and I'm here with my co-host, chef Steven. On this episode of Voice4Chefs, we sit down with Chef Kristen Watts Schumacher, known as Chef Shu. She is the culinary director of Carnation Farms in the Snoqualmie Valley out of Seattle, Washington. From teaching to running the heirloom cook shop to leading farm to table feast, her journey is all about resilience, community, and food without ego. Chef Shu, welcome to Voice for Chefs.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 1:28

Thank you so much for having me. Welcome. Thanks

Host Michael Dugan: 1:31

and welcome back, chef Steven.

Chef Steven Leung: 1:34

Thank you Michael. I'm super excited for today with Chef Kristin. Let's kick it off.

Host Michael Dugan: 1:39

I wanna start out, chef Shu with. We had a conversation not too long ago and you got really excited about food and the culinary arts and Yeah. Where does that come from? Like, is that in your childhood? A lot of chefs that I talk to and that we talk to, you know, it's, it always stems from there, like what is the origin?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 2:01

Yeah. I don't know if there's anything specific to pinpoint for my childhood, I would say. Food and cooking for others is my love language. And so that's the way I show my love and care for others. And I put so much effort and emphasis on having a meal together. And I did start cooking probably as a teenager for my friends. And certainly I think looking back, I'm like, I probably took risks that I wasn't necessarily comfortable with, but. Yeah. I think it's just the way I show my love for others.

Chef Steven Leung: 2:37

Yeah. that's awesome. It's beautiful. That's kind of how I started it too, Michael. I invited friends Yeah. To my house and then like cook. Terribly tasted food. yeah. But then I, along the way, I got better. And that you know, you get, you feed from that. Yeah.

Host Michael Dugan: 2:51

I remember doing similar things. I remember cooking for my parents, you know, and I was living at home, having a really hard time kind of growing up in the restaurant business. And I remember. Doing things like flipping frozen peas to learn how to saute. Oh. And they went all, all over the floor. All over the kitchen floor. I'd sweep 'em back up and I put them in the pan because we weren't gonna eat 'em. So it turned out, and it came out really tender and so I used to love to cook with my mom when I was going through cookie school and things like that. So we all kinda have those interesting origin stories, I think. Yeah. And it's part of what makes us up. What age do you think you were when you thought. That this was your calling, that you wanted to be a chef, that you wanted to be in the culinary arts,

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 3:42

I've always cooked as you do because you have to feed yourself and It sort of turned into like a little bit of an extra hobby, meaning like I put a little bit more time and effort into thinking about it. When I was in Chicago, in my twenties, I would regularly go to the farmer's markets and it felt like I was home. You know, it, it felt so good to explore. The things, the fresh vegetables and actually talk to the people who are growing it. I took a couple just consumer cooking classes and one of the classes we met at the farmer's market, we picked some things up, we went back to the place and we made it up as we went along and it lit me up. That school is called the Chopping Block in Chicago, and their original location was this adorable historical little house, and I still remember. The details within that kitchen. I remember the feelings I got when I tasted something new, when I was sharing food. I just, so I would say in my early twenties and I just continued to think, oh, this is just my hobby. I'm gonna make some money somehow, but yeah, I gotta feed myself anyway. And then I guess I had already moved to Seattle, but I thought to myself, well. I would go home and kind of de-stress unwind by Uhhuh running to the market and cooking for a couple hours, which sounds probably like a chore for a lot of people, but it would calm me down and yeah, sort of then I realized I should probably. Do this for a living. So yeah I have the luxury that I get to love what I do.

Host Michael Dugan: 5:22

And I see Steven nodding. Were you doing that too, Steven?

Chef Steven Leung: 5:25

I'm nodding because I kind of, you know, I never, I thought I was gonna be a chef. I actually went to culinary school because I want to, fulfill that the, my mom's, uh, wish of me graduating from school. Okay. And then, uh, I think I became. Like super passionate after I felt that I was good at it in school.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 5:46

Yeah.

Chef Steven Leung: 5:46

After I was way older than like a lot of kids. Sure. They were like twenties and I, oh, I attend when I was 23. Okay. So I wasn't like, as passionate as those kids watching, you know cooking shows and food channels and stuff with all the fancy quality returns. I didn't know nothing. Right. You know, I was making, made fun of too, so that pushed me to be better,

Host Michael Dugan: 6:08

okay. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. And so as you're kind of going through this transformation, this change and feeling that pull to the culinary arts, what would you say happened next?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 6:22

Well, I was able to quit my full-time job and go to culinary school. I went to the Seattle Culinary Academy and, uh, to honor my grandmother, her name is Sunshine. She. She funded the first few quarters of culinary school and allowed me to really,

Chef Steven Leung: 6:39

that's beautiful.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 6:40

Put all, yeah. Put all my efforts into learning, and I said yes to every volunteer opportunity. I said yes to anything I could to get more experience and cooking on whether it's like ships or catering jobs or anything I just said yes. So I think I leaned into it and. I think that's where it started. And then after culinary school, I just, I had sort of like a non-traditional. Trajectory, but it's gotten to me where I wanna be.

Host Michael Dugan: 7:12

Well, let's take it up a little bit. And so when you moved to Seattle you were cooking in different restaurants. Are there any that you wanna call out? I'm curious because which ones did you work at? I worked at a few myself.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 7:27

Yeah. One of my favorite places that I worked in, I got a lot of experience was Les Pichet, so that's in, in Belltown. I think the staff photo is still on the bathroom wall. Oh, it looked like a ba a baby. But, so I really got to lean into French cuisine and technique and working in a, a tiny, very hot kitchen. I also did. It's a lot of catering jobs and cooking here and there and saying yes to whatever I could. Yeah.

Host Michael Dugan: 7:56

It's funny because I worked in a tiny. Hot French kitchen too. Called Le Courryard. Oh. And that's where I figured it all out. You know everything from scratch. Yeah. The foundation. Yeah. Steven. The foundation. All the different things like fileting salmon, you know, from and deboning salmon, deboning chickens and ducks and yeah, making cheesecakes and just being in this small, intimate space where you learn everything. Yeah, like not a few things. It's like everything start to finish. Yeah. And the foundation, I mean, I

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 8:30

still make a lot of those recipes. I still make a Wow mean roasted chicken because of that place. So,

Host Michael Dugan: 8:38

yeah. and as you were kind of going along that journey then you ended up. In Snoqualmie and tell us about the heirloom cook shop, because I know that lights you up when we talked about it and I'd love for you to share.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 8:52

I became a mother around those, the earlier years moved to Snoqualmie, I was commuting to the city to either Ballard or West Seattle, which is about 45 minutes on a low traffic day. And so having young kids and needing to. Be home by the time bus got home. That was really stressful and hard and I, I didn't feel like I was honoring them either, so I was racing one way and racing back and I didn't feel like I was doing anything at a hundred percent. So I decided I want to stay in the community where my kids' school was. So if they needed to get picked up from school, I was five minutes away. They were probably six and eight ish at the time. I worked with some friends that really. Boosted my confidence about how I can excel in maybe being an entrepreneur and this friend just. She helped me brainstorm to then moving through the process of designing a space. So it happened that I found an old historic bank in downtown Snoqualmie. I did that Kickstarter, and so I had to put in plumbing and electric. The old bank vault was my pantry, and it really, the building really wasn't supposed to. Be a restaurant. I retrofitted it and

Host Michael Dugan: 10:12

Wow.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 10:14

It was magical and it was the most creative I think I'd ever been.

Host Michael Dugan: 10:21

Yeah. What, how would you describe, like when, if you could paint that picture for us, right? For people that are listening, how would you describe what it was like when people were coming in? To connect with you Yeah. And to connect with this vision that you had to create this community, which is what you really did.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 10:42

Yeah. I was so humbled. So honored that I had, I created a space that fosters that kind of connection. Yeah. I it fed my love for collaboration because I. I know I, I wanna collaborate and connect with people who are also best at their craft. I'm not, you know, I don't make wine, I don't make beer, I don't make cheese, but there are people who are best at those crafts. And so if we come together and create a community, it's, you know. It's boundless. So just like a place together, we hosted Friendsgiving and. And rose tastings and classes and kids camps, and we had a wedding in heirloom and we decked it out for Christmas and it just, it was a place that people wanted to go. And yeah I didn't really need any like social outlet outside of my work because I got to see people all the time and it was. Humbling, and I was super honored to be able to be part of that, that Snoqualmie downtown.

Host Michael Dugan: 11:50

Yeah. That's beautiful. Steven, do you have any questions? Yeah, I in entrepreneur, I thought this might resonate

Chef Steven Leung: 11:56

with you a little bit. No, actually yes. I, what I just heard is like, I felt like motherhood really reshaped your definition of success along the way, but, um. Yeah. About the, like the business model, right? You combine cooking classes, Togo meals. Yeah. Brunches, retail, seasonal market. Like how do you decide to include like all those layers? Yeah. I, one roof and like what challenges did you face? Like management such a di diverse you know? Yeah. Offerings.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 12:27

Yeah, I went in I'm glad I was as naive as I was, but I went in not knowing exactly what would, you know, hit the ground running. So I wanted to just diversify my revenue and see what people would come back to me and say, I really love this. Let's have more of that. And I have a lot of confidence in my flavors and the food and the way I teach. But it was also, you know, a back and forth with my guests, everyone seemed to like it all. So I think that was the challenge. You know, I spent a lot of time there. The challenges that I think I faced was feeling like I was actually attending business school by running a business. Yeah, being an entrepreneur, I think I've always had that spirit, but. I don't think I knew how to read a p and L until after I opened my business. And then I realized like, okay, I actually took business courses while I was doing that just to hone in those skills because just 'cause you're really good at cooking or any craft, that doesn't mean you're good at math. So I had to, yeah, and it felt like swimming upstream a little bit, like learning those skills, but I'm so glad I did. And of course. The hardest challenge of them all is staffing.

Chef Steven Leung: 13:44

Staffing, training, staff retention, culture building.

Host Michael Dugan: 13:48

yeah. How did you navigate it? How did you keep people motivated? Yeah. Because you can't pay'em that much, right? So they gotta be into the craft, right?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 13:57

Yes. They had to be in the craft. Either they were friends of mine that absolutely supported what I was doing. I had a friend who took a hiatus from her job for six months, and she wanted to spend her time at Heirloom. I brought on interns and students, and I have to tell you, and Steven, you mentioned it before, I really enjoyed, in particular the women that were mothers, because mothers kind of. They get it done.

Chef Steven Leung: 14:27

Yeah. Wow. they

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 14:28

They have that sense of urgency. Yeah. And I think that they understand, they understood like where I was coming from as well. I also had a lot of volunteers, which was incredible. The support was incredible. So people would wanna volunteer. I had a dear friend who was on the. Police force and Fridays, he would come and cook at heirloom because that was exactly opposite of what he did on his daily basis, and it filled his cup

Chef Steven Leung: 14:55

wow.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 14:56

That's really great.

Chef Steven Leung: 14:57

That's a beautiful angle to look at it like mothers get things done yeah, what a tagline.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 15:02

I think I need to make sure it's right. Yeah.

Host Michael Dugan: 15:06

Oh my gosh. What about the. The funding project? How would you describe what it feels like when you get that funding from the community? I mean that's what, 20,000, something like that?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 15:18

I max it 25,000. 25. The thing with Kickstarter is if you don't reach your goal. It all gets given back.

Host Michael Dugan: 15:27

Okay.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 15:27

So it was terrifying.

Host Michael Dugan: 15:29

Oh my gosh.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 15:31

And I think you, I did not

Host Michael Dugan: 15:31

know that. Wow. Yes.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 15:32

And I think you have 30 days. So you have a timeline. Yeah. And you have a goal that you have to reach. And so yeah, it was very nerve wracking. You know, you're checking that level every day. But a lot of people supported me and it was. And this sense of accountability, I felt to them I just wanted to do my best and Like I said, I had a lot of confidence in my flavors and my food and my ability to entertain, but could I do it on this scale? I had to ask for that money first before I put in the plumbing and electric and the wow in the tile and the floor. And so I also borrowed a lot of money for myself and I'm, I. You know, I bet on my own self and,

Host Michael Dugan: 16:13

Yeah.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 16:15

I'm glad I did.

Host Michael Dugan: 16:16

Yeah, it's a great, it's a great inspiring story for entrepreneurs, especially for entrepreneurs in the culinary industry. Yeah.

Chef Steven Leung: 16:24

Yeah, because I know there's a. A data rate of, failures with, like chefs opening a restaurant because all they want to do is to show off their skill, put everything they know and it's all over the place. It doesn't have a theme. And yeah, and eventually with like, uh, not knowing how to manage the P&L and stuff like that, and. Yeah. 60% plus failure rate.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 16:49

It was a hard and fast few years of learning, but I have so much gratitude for it.

Host Michael Dugan: 16:56

Yeah. So as we move on from heirloom, now we're moving into Carnation Farms.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 17:03

Yeah. Yeah.

Host Michael Dugan: 17:03

What was that like? What was that invite like to be part of how did that transition happen?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 17:09

Well, the interview process was like. Two months long and Wow. Eight different interviews. And then it, the culmination was me putting on a farm dinner for the board. Oh my gosh. Nerve wracking. I guess it was more about, I know it was more about selling myself. I knew the food I was putting in front of them was delicious. I still love what I served, but then it was about this selling myself of what else can I do? What else am I capable of? And I think I've already exceeded what my job role. I like challenges. Uh, I get to yeah, meet a lot of different people and yeah, it was great.

Host Michael Dugan: 18:44

Did your role start out as the culinary director or did you start at a different place and then work into that role?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 18:51

Culinary operations and also education, they wanted to make sure that I was interested in doing the educational aspect of Carnation Farms within my role. I think that's still growing. And it's still happening. I like I said, I've learned so much more. Um, yeah, I feel like I'm going to business school again. Now I'm getting my MBA Wow again,

Host Michael Dugan: 19:14

that's fantastic. What was it that really drew you to Carnation Farms? Because, you know, my wife and I attended one of the farm to table meals and it was incredible, just the whole experience, but yeah. But to work there. Yeah. And to be part of that what drew you in?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 19:32

When I originally got hired, I was a staff person of one in my kitchen. Okay. Oh my gosh. Um, shortly, very shortly, I hired Chef Kristen. She's, we call her Chef kb. And what I think, and maybe I didn't know at the time, and you probably can relate when you're coming around that bend and you see that vast field . You can see that treeline Street and you see these historic white barns with red roofs. They're just, it speaks to you. Oh yeah. it's very difficult to describe it unless you've been there the vastness, the lushness of the space. I think what drew me. I think it was the job description and what it all entailed. I did feel like it was a challenge from where I had been before. But I liked the direction they were going in the regenerative farm principles. That then I can, you know, I, I then created principles for my kitchen and how. All of those principles sort of reflect how we're doing and how our mission is. And so I think that's what drew me to the farm initially was that mission and that what they were hoping to. To get outta me.

Host Michael Dugan: 20:48

Steven, you got anything there? I just wanna kind of tag team a little bit.

Chef Steven Leung: 20:52

No, that's beautiful. But I actually have a question about the cooking classes because Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, because like, uh, did you start the cooking classes just to bring an extra stream of income to the revenue? What goals do you wanna reach by hosting cooking classes?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 21:07

Yeah, I think it was just another market to, to connect with as consumers. Some people are farm stand consumers. Some people come to farm dinners, some people buy beef, or lamb shares, or CSAs. This was a way to get people to the farm physically and. Cooking's a lost art, so I've always enjoyed teaching, and so I brought that along with me. It wasn't certainly a requirement for me to get hired, but I think they appreciated my interest in doing that and continuing that. Initially the classes were. Definitely leaning towards the home cook, like preserving the season or cheese making at home or now we've gotten into butchery and some more high technical skill work and certainly that pool of customers is smaller than someone who just wants to learn how to bake. And so I think there's a space for everything and everyone has a different skill level. Yeah, I think. It turns out that the people who go to the class felt that connection and all of a sudden they now wanna come to a farm dinner. I love it. Oh my gosh. And once you go to a farm dinner, you're like, oh, I didn't realize I can also get this fennel salt in the farm stand. I'm gonna sign up for the CSA because you get a kitchen added value product every time. So it's, I love that. Yeah.

Chef Steven Leung: 22:28

It's very resourceful for the whole picture. I think. Yeah. and I was inspired by you telling, you know. Teaching how to make cheese at home and stuff like that. It inspired me to think about an idea is there's a lot of like simple sauces, uh, foundation sauces that, uh, home cooks can prep and make at home. Just like we can use healthy ingredients to make ketchup instead of buying, you know, all right. Processed. You know? Yeah. Foods that are. Killing us and stuff like that, right?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 22:57

Yeah. Well, and for people who enjoy that craft of making things, I mean, obviously there's people who find it to be a chore, and that's not Where they're gonna, that's not what they value. Yeah. But people who actually love, well, I would say cooking is their love language too. It's like putting in that time and effort preserving and canning. I mean, I love it. And so there's definitely. Especially here in Seattle land area, people really are getting interested and care about where their food is and they have so much abundance.

Host Michael Dugan: 23:26

Yeah. So, yeah. That's amazing. I just, yeah, just even being connected to the land around you and the farmers and making that full circle. Right. Yeah. Sometimes you go out to eat and we don't think about where it comes from or how it comes from. Yeah. But it's really powerful. So I wanna get to a little bit that what really inspired me personally to connect with you was actually my wife, because we were sitting

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 23:56

tell her thanks.

Host Michael Dugan: 23:57

Oh my gosh. But we were sitting at this incredible feast in the field, I think it was called Feast in the Field. I know you have different ones and oh my gosh, we're around all these people that are so passionate about food, so passionate about farming, so passionate about. This concept, and we'd never experienced this before. Oh. And we just signed up and it was like she signed me up and I was so excited and it, I just was like, I'll probably meet a really cool chef. And sure enough, there you are. But she's sitting there going, you should interview Kristen. And I'm like, I know. I know. I already know. I'm gonna go reach out to her and see what she says. and you were just glowing, you were like on this high that it's, yeah. It's hard to describe, but you were so in your niche. Yeah. Completely in your element with the food, with the conversations, with the connection to the communities and bridging everything together. And it's so powerful because, you know, chefs, I feel like a lot of chefs have a real struggle with communicating. They have a real struggle with, you know, they're in the kitchen and then they gotta go out and speak to people in the dining room or in the community or whatever that is. And I'm a huge advocate for Toastmasters. People hear it on my podcast all the time 'cause that's how I launched this podcast and getting over that imposter syndrome. But I see you up there and I see you describing the dishes to us and. You could just feel it coming from really deep inside you how this connection happened. Yeah. That's nice of you. Thank you. Well, it was so powerful to me because I feel that way and I know Chef Steven does too.'cause we've had these conversations and it's just. It's really special. But what I would love for you to share is what is it like to experience that? What do people come back and tell you? Or can you just walk us through really quick? What is it like to walk into Carnation Farms and attend Feast in the field? Yeah. I think it connects the consumer from our community directly to the land, the animals, the people. I was wanted to honor all the hands That it took to put, I love that, put that meal on the table. So it, the sense of connection, it's easy for me to talk about what we do at Carnation and what we're cooking and how we're inspired because we're sort of, we're around it all the time. There is no, there is nothing fake about it. Like I Right. I'm ordering produce from directly to the director of regenerative agriculture. My coworker Eric Pop, I'll call him up and say, I need this harvested for Friday. And I mean, my God, those cherry tomatoes coming off the vine right now are like candy. It's just, you are talking about that. Oh my gosh. Oh my

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 26:54

God. I, you know, it, that makes it easy. And I, I think honoring animals is also. I'm such an animal lover, but I'm also not a vegan, so I make sure I am part of the process of I've seen them birthed at the farm. And I've also seen them harvested and yeah, I can honor that animal fully. We even know its name. And so, yeah, I think it, it makes it easy for me to talk about what we're doing because it's real. Yeah. And I really, truly believe in their mission and, you know, regenerative practices. It's not a new concept. It's actually an old concept. And we're just, it's not innovative for us to try and like do less, add less chemicals to the soil or even less tillage. Like that's an old concept. We're just, we're trying to figure out ways to do it better. So, yeah. Yeah. It takes a huge amount of people and a lot of passion to do it, so

Host Michael Dugan: 28:01

Chef Shu. I wanted to move along and describe our experience of Feast in the Forest and talk a little bit about the menu. Start out with a steak bite, which was from the beef short loin, and it was really tender and delicious. Came with garlic scapes and chimi, and then tall fried potato. The black cod was so tender, the texture was incredible. With the watercress creamy shallot Vinagrette. And the greens came from the farm, and the next dish was braised lamb. It was a lamb shoulder is how Chef Shu described it with some pasta and oh, the smoked tomato and chili pepper relish was incredible, like the flavors and the intensity. And then she finished off with a strawberry ice cream. And it had a hazelnut pre lean, and the hot fudge was really good with strawberry whipped cream. The whole meal was amazing. Chef Shu.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 29:20

The sablefish that dish I had. I was bursting outta my seams trying to like, tell people where this came from.

Host Michael Dugan: 29:27

Yeah.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 29:27

Chef KB had a contact. They, it's a fisher, it's a boat. And it's called You are what You eat Fish Company. Oh, nice. And so she had worked with them in the past and she said, this family's wonderful. The product is spectacular. Let's put it on our menu. And so in, in the kitchen, in my kitchen, I gather everyone, whether they're. New. Or if they've been, you know, in culinary school or if they've been at the farm for years. Like, we come together and we write menus because that's what inspires us. And so we I give people the opportunity to, you know, I'm not just gonna say, here's the menu and this is what we're doing. Like, wanna see what other people are inspired and what are their first thing we do is look at what's coming outta the. The fields at our own farm, and we talk about what's our inventory for our lamb and beef? What can we highlight? What can we show off? And then outside our farm, it's what other farms can we collaborate and show off and tell their story. We can tell the story of the fishing boat. We can tell the story about farms among us who provided the edible flowers or the herbs. And so I think it's, you know. Sharing knowledge, but I'm also, I always have that sense of curiosity about what other people can do and how we put it together. I think at Dish, I'm not even sure if I remember. It's okay.

Host Michael Dugan: 30:55

It was really big. The

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 30:57

perfection, I remember.

Host Michael Dugan: 30:58

I just know that I loved everything. We don't drink alcohol, so, you know, it's kind of expensive when you're pairing with alcohols, but we came for the food and the experience and everything else, and yeah, it was, yeah, it was amazing.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 31:10

Well, and even now, in particular, the feasts in the field, we it's a flat rate because We want to curate non-alcoholic beverages along with that food, along with wine or beer or anything from distilleries, right. Because. It's equally as creative. Making beverages is actually really fun. I love it. Oh, cool. We have put a lot of effort and time into those pairings as well. just because you don't drink wine doesn't mean you shouldn't have a

Host Michael Dugan: 31:39

Yeah. Drink. So I. You know, it's funny'cause I'll go out to a bar and I'm like, do you have anything non-alcoholic? And the first thing they come up with is like, odos or some, you know, right. Non-alcoholic beer. I'm like, I don't want that. I just want know ginger beer. Right. I love ginger beer. I do. So, and when it's made from scratch in a brewery, oh my gosh. Knock your socks off. Okay. So as we go along now. The other things I'm thinking about, one of the things I love that you told me, I was having a conversation and Chef Steven, you know her chef Abby, who's in Alaska right now, incredible person. She's such an advocate for mental health, and we were having a conversation about how. In some places she wasn't treated very well, you know? And she struggled with that, but she's very strong and you're like, there's no ego in my kitchen. Can you share what that means to you and how you lead in that way?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 32:35

Yeah. To me, the focus is on the food. The story the sort of stewardship of our farm. And it's a team effort and. I'm never gonna say I've, I'm done learning. I'm never gonna say I've known every, I know every combination of food and food flavors and I'm done. You know? Right. That's never gonna happen. Everyone comes with a different background and skill and honestly, a sense of curiosity and also like childhood experiences, like, it just, there's, that's close-minded to, to think that you have nothing else to learn. And so I really. Emphasize sort of team practices. And at the farm we, we have core values as a farm, and then we're gonna have a core values as in our own team and our own culinary mission. So we're sort of moving towards our goals together instead of individually and. Yeah. I don't like that ego. I don't, I think everyone deserves respect. Everyone was working really hard. Everyone's working long hours and they're here because they're passionate.'cause why else would you do it? Right? You portray yourself. No.

Host Michael Dugan: 33:54

There's a chef, Melissa Miranda, and she goes by Mel. In my opinion, she brought her cuisine to life here in Seattle. She's incredible. Yeah. The, you know, the Philippine culture. The Philippine cuisine, but. I don't know if you know, but she has a TED Talk and what I loved about this TED talk is that she talked about a lot of chefs think they're big C but what they should be is little c. Yeah. And it was a very powerful 15, probably 15 minute Ted talk. Um, I've listened

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 34:36

to it. It's magnificent. Yeah. Yeah. I do think so as the culinary director to me. I am in a service position To the people who work for me. I wanna make sure they have what they need. Their station is set physically, their mind is ready. they feel appreciated. So I am of service to them to make sure they have what they need to do, what I'm asking them to do. And so. That's why I'm always filling in, you know, if I, if they are feeling like they're drowning in tasks, like I'll step in and I want them to know that they can ask me or rely on me for that if they have to.

Host Michael Dugan: 35:22

Yeah, I think it's really powerful. And I also know that Chef Steven's philosophy on leadership was very similar when we had a conversation. In Clubhouse a couple years ago. I was really impressed with how he managed and led and it was very similar to your philosophy, which

Chef Steven Leung: 35:39

yeah I agree with love what, uh, chef said, because I feel like, yeah, we were all, we're all here for one passion, and then everyone's trying to be their best self. We're in a position to help them. And so I was saying when I create recipes, I don't make it too complicated with how many grams of water. I always use volume because I feel like the easier you make the task is the more passionate I the more, uh, a sense of successful fulfillment for the staff and they would be self-motivated to come to work every day and feel good about it.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 36:15

Yeah. I've never thought about it that way. Yeah.

Host Michael Dugan: 36:18

And then, you know, as we wrap up, is there anyone that really helped you along in your journey that you'd like to share just a minute or two about? Because you know, for me, there are so many, but every once in a while somebody really stands out for me.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 36:34

There's probably a lot of people I know. I wish I could name them all. This is, it might sound cliche, but I'm really grateful to my own kids. There are 15 and. Almost 18 now, and they've seen my trajectory from, you know, when they were very young to what my work ethic and my dreams and what I go after. And I hope that I'm a, an example to them for that. I think they keep me, they kept me pretty rooted. Maybe when I wanted to add one more cooking class, but I was like, you know, I have to remember I also have another job, which is them. And so I'm, I will say I'm pretty grateful for the pure feedback they give me when I don't make something perfect. Believe me, they'll tell me, but yeah, I just, I feel like. We've been on this journey together.

Host Michael Dugan: 37:32

Yeah. Nice. Yeah, that's fantastic. The last thing, well, there's one or two things, but I know you just had. A planning meeting. Can you tell us about some of the events that are coming up and how we can connect with you, how people that are listening in the Seattle area or maybe they're traveling to Seattle, they can find out more about, yeah.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 37:56

Here's our plug carnation farms.org. We our website should have all of our events on there that, that are coming up. We did just have a 2026 planning meeting and so we'll have farm dinners. I. Markets, spring market, holiday market plant sales. We have history tours. We've got popups at the farm stand, and this is across the whole farm. This is not just culinary department. We host barn dances that are very popular. But the farm dinners are really what's like dear to my heart. We have a lot, we're super. We are so lucky to have the infrastructure we have, and it's rooted in history, but we've got a renovated dining room that's attached to a teaching kitchen and that'll host 40 and it's intimate and beautiful. The best view on the, in the farm, we call it farm view kitchen. Um, then we have another space that we can host up to 400, or we have a. An outdoor space. We renovated an old tennis court and put a tent over it and now it's where you had your meal. Yeah. And then my very favorite dinners are feasts in the field where they're down. Your feet are sort of dangling in the. In the grasses, and that's where we really get to play. We have a woodfired oven down there, and that's why I really love to bring in guest chefs too. So if other chefs, a lot of chefs don't get the opportunity. Yeah, come on over, Steven, even. That would be amazing. We have all the dates ready to go now. I mean, I'd be down for Bentos.

Chef Steven Leung: 39:29

It sounds like.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 39:31

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, our website will continue. We have great marketing team. We're continuing to also develop, you know, CPG products, potentially getting some to market, really highlighting some of the things that we do and edits that takes branding. We're relationship building and, but I don't wanna end this podcast without honoring the agriculture team, the crops and the livestock team. We also have facilities who, as Steven knows, like things break on a daily, so Yeah. Yeah. We have a team that will run to our service, so we can't do what we do without them. We have an admin, a whole admin team. And so the farm stand, it's like everyone is working in tandem. We'll have our, we'll have our hard days, but I think we all care about our mission. So I just wanna honor everyone else who

Host Michael Dugan: 40:23

works in the farm too. So, and the last thing, I wanna just get your perspective. When guests leave a Carnation Farms dinner, what's the one feeling you hope they will carry away with them?

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 40:38

I think hopefully they'll feel the gratitude we have for the community and the support and. Us doing what we're best at, connecting them to the land and the source of their food, and really how deeply we are connected to each other in our food. I'll say I wanna leave a lasting impression on someone's palate, but also someone's like sense of gratitude and in connection with others.

Host Michael Dugan: 41:06

Oh, fantastic. Beautiful. Well, chef Shu, thank you for being our guest. Thank you.

Chef Kristen Schumaker: 41:12

Thank you so much,

Host Michael Dugan: 41:14

Chef Steven. Thanks for coming along for the ride.