#75. Community, Coffee, and Cookies: How Berit Meyer Built a Humboldt County Institution

Berit Meyer never planned to become a baker. After graduating from Humboldt State with a wildlife management degree in 1981, she was set to explore Alaska's wilderness when a surprising proposition changed everything. A fellow restaurant worker approached her about joining forces with her former boss to open a new venture. That decision launched what would become one of Humboldt County's most beloved institutions: Ramones Bakery and Cafe.

Over coffee and freshly baked goods, Berit shares the fascinating evolution of her business - from the original Opera Alley Cafe to their expansion into five thriving locations across Humboldt County. The name "Ramones" came not from the punk rock band but from a local street character, chosen to evoke an international feel for their "international cuisine with a California twist." What began as a simple cafe transformed when they started baking their own bread rather than sourcing it from San Francisco via Greyhound bus, and later when they began roasting their own coffee beans - a move Berit identifies as the true turning point for profitability.

Between stories of chocolate cake recipes and artisan bread development, Berit reveals her parallel passion for endurance horseback riding, competing in grueling 100-mile races across challenging terrain. This connection to Humboldt's natural beauty resonates throughout our conversation, as she expresses deep appreciation for the county's green spaces, trails, and beaches that provide balance to her entrepreneurial life.

While sampling the day's offerings - including gluten-free double chocolate walnut cookies and innovative cheddar jalapeño scones - Berit reflects on what makes Humboldt's food scene special. She celebrates fellow local producers like Dick Taylor Chocolate, Larrupin sauces, and Tofu Shop, acknowledging the unique ecosystem that allows passionate food entrepreneurs to thrive here without big-city pressures.

As we wrap up, Berit shares exciting news about a recently purchased building at 7th and E in Eureka, where her daughter plans to join the family business. Forty-four years after choosing baking over wildlife management, her greatest pride comes from creating spaces where community connections flourish and where thousands of employees have launched their own working lives.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:30

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond on the 100% Humboldt podcast with my very amazing producer, nick. Never give him credit, he got it right away. And my new best friend, barrett Meyer. Hi, barrett. Hi there, scott, how are you? I'm doing great. Tell us who are you, what are you known for? What do you do?

Speaker 2 0:48

That's such a funny question, because I show up in the community in many different places and people say oh, I know you, I know you Wait, aren't you? A friend of mine came to visit a long time ago. I was a high school buddy and she said we're at the co-op shopping. She said, barrett, you're the pillar of the community, because I could say hi to so many people. It's just unheard of when you're in a bigger city, so I just love that about Humboldt.

Speaker 1 1:12

You don't know everybody. You know every other buddy.

Speaker 2 1:15

Every other buddy.

Speaker 1 1:16

Which is a lot.

Speaker 2 1:16

Yeah, and then I go places and I don't see anybody. I know I'm like wow, look at all these new people here in town. I haven't been getting out.

Speaker 1 1:23

So tell us what you. So those of us that don't know you and wouldn't know you to see you on TV now or the internet or wherever. So what are you known for here in Humboldt?

Speaker 2 1:35

I'm known for baked goods.

Speaker 1 1:37

Oh yes.

Speaker 2 1:37

Places to come hang out. So Ramones Bakery is my business.

Speaker 1 1:43

Tell us about the history of Ramones.

Speaker 2 1:45

Let's see. Let's see how far back should I go? I would say 81 is when we opened the doors and so I graduated. I came up here to go to Humboldt State, graduated in 1981.

Speaker 1 1:55

Not Cal Poly, Humboldt State.

Speaker 2 1:56

No, it's Humboldt State. That's how I know it, I know.

Speaker 1 2:01

It's a running joke it is I bet? Cal Poly, Humboldt.

Speaker 2 2:03

Yeah, so I came up here to get a degree in wildlife management, which I did and graduated in 81. Wow.

Speaker 1 2:13

Okay.

Speaker 2 2:14

Came up from the Bay Area. I grew up in Berkeley, went to school at Davis for a couple of years, took a year off, traveled around the country in a VW bus. Had a great time. How cool are you? Visited national parks In a bus, in a VW bus. In a VW bus?

Speaker 1 2:29

Yeah, so, Joni, my wife has a 67 Beetle that kids rebuilt for her. It's beautiful.

Speaker 2 2:34

I think ours was a 67 bus. Wow I think it was Huh. A friend of mine in college and I decided to just hit the road for nine months. It was a blast, a blast.

Speaker 1 2:44

So you did your first couple of years at Cal and then finished at Humboldt State. Yes, I did, yeah, wow, I came up as a liberal arts degree and a podcast 50 years later.

Speaker 2 2:59

Okay, okay. 78 is the year I landed, okay, in Humboldt County.

Speaker 1 3:05

Oh, really Okay. What year did you graduate high school?

Speaker 2 3:08

75.

Speaker 1 3:08

75 from From.

Speaker 2 3:10

Berkeley High.

Speaker 1 3:11

Wow, okay, yeah, home of Chez Panay restaurant. Yes, indeed, our son took us there. It's amazing, it was still pretty good. I'd never been. It was tasty.

Speaker 2 3:19

We usually go to. Well, usually it's not like we go that often there's the upstairs and the downstairs, so the upstairs is more manageable as far as being able to get in.

Speaker 1 3:28

Yeah, that's where we went. Nice, nice For the send everybody.

Speaker 2 3:32

Yeah, almost in the neighborhood I grew up in. I grew up just a little up the hill from there.

Speaker 1 3:37

So wildlife management to artisan baking. How did that happen? Okay, did it start with Ramon's Restaurant in Opera Alley, or am I getting ahead of us?

Speaker 2 3:49

You're getting a little ahead. Okay, let's see. So I worked at Tommaso's when I was in college.

Speaker 1 3:55

For Tom With's see. So I worked at Tomaso's when I was in college For Tom With Tom Pagano Wow.

Speaker 2 3:57

Hey Tom. Shout out to Tom. Hey Tom. Thank you, tom. Is he still in the area?

Speaker 1 4:00

Yes, he is Tom, if you're here raise your hand.

Speaker 2 4:05

So let's see, worked for Tom and I. What did I start doing? Oh, the chocolate cakes, the humongous triple layer double high chocolate cake.

Speaker 1 4:17

I'm looking over at your Ramon's box right now on the table going.

Speaker 2 4:21

And I learned how to make that cake. Tom said, OK, well, the gal that makes it makes it in her house. So you go to her house and you get to find out what she does to create these.

Speaker 1 4:31

So they serve that at Tommaso's restaurant. Yes, they do, I remember it now. Yeah, create these. So they served that at Tommaso's restaurant. Yes, they did, I remember it now. Yeah, with a big. It was a cake stand and a huge plastic cover, and it was always you know at the hostess station and they would slice it, slice it, yes, and those were all your cakes For a brief amount of time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he made the amazing calzones. Yes, yeah, yeah, he made the amazing calzones.

Speaker 2 4:54

Yes.

Speaker 1 4:56

Yeah, it was affordable and delicious.

Speaker 2 4:58

I know, and so I used to mix up the tomato sauce in the back in huge 10-gallon buckets. Wow, Tom said hey, okay, I want to open for brunch and I want you to be my sous chef, so to speak. I said you've got to be kidding, I am not going to do this.

Speaker 1 5:15

I'm a wildlife major.

Speaker 2 5:16

And he said oh, come on, you can do it, I'll be there with you every step of the way. I'm like okay, tom, okay, If I mess up, it's your fault.

Speaker 1 5:24

It's on you.

Speaker 2 5:25

Anyway, it was great. So every Sunday afternoon, after we were done with the brunch it was really a fabulous brunch we made hollandaise and, you know, florentine spinach with English muffins, and so all of those things couldn't be held over till the next week, so I got to take home all these leftovers and so we had the Sunday. Not surprise, we called it with my roommates. I lived with, I think, six other people.

Speaker 1 5:50

In Arcata.

The Birth of Ramones Opera Alley Cafe

Speaker 2 5:52

In Arcata. Yes, and I would whip up these In Arcata In Arcata, yes, and I would whip up these. It was like a souffle, so all the egg whites from the hollandaise. I'd make a like a I guess you wouldn't say a meringue, because there's no sugar in it, but anyway, it was a souffle, egg-based thing All the leftovers from the omelets and the different things we made for brunch would go into that it was so fun.

Speaker 1 6:10

What did you call it?

Speaker 2 6:12

I called it a souffle surprise.

Speaker 1 6:14

Surprise, so it could be anything.

Speaker 2 6:23

Yeah, exactly, that's delicious, oh yeah. So yeah, I made those cakes, did a few other things at Tomaso's, and then Tomaso's Tom sold it to somebody else and I finished college. And let's see, when I was finished college in 1981 and I thought, okay, I've got a degree in wildlife.

Speaker 2 6:38

I think I should go to Alaska. That's where the wildlife is, and I had two friends that lived up there, so I thought I bought a plane ticket and I was set to go within a week. And then Barb Berkemeyer, she said Barrett, tom just caught a hold of me and I've got a proposition coming from Tom we got to talk about.

Speaker 1 6:57

Wow.

Speaker 2 6:57

So she came over to my house and she said you know, tom is wondering if we'd like to join him in a new venture. He wants to open up a new restaurant.

Speaker 1 7:06

Wow, wow, wow.

Speaker 2 7:07

And so I said, oh my gosh, this is an opportunity I will never get again.

Speaker 1 7:11

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 7:12

So cancel a plane ticket.

Speaker 1 7:13

Buy Alaska.

Speaker 2 7:15

Buy Alaska, buy Alaska.

Speaker 1 7:16

Wow.

Speaker 2 7:17

And Barb and I and Tom spent that whole summer putting together the Ramones Opera Alley Cafe in Opera Alley.

Speaker 1 7:25

This is Barb that's married to Michael.

Speaker 2 7:27

Yes, yeah, who now has Jewel Distillery?

Speaker 1 7:30

Barb and Michael, we know you. They were in the office the other day hanging out. Oh were they. They're great, barbara, and Michael, we know you.

Speaker 2 7:34

They were in the office the other day hanging out. Oh were they. They're great.

Speaker 1 7:36

Oh nice, love those guys, I love their operation. So you and Barbara were partners for a minute.

Speaker 2 7:40

Yes, we were At the restaurant. Yes, we were it was an amazing restaurant. Yeah, and so we did that. 81 opened up After two years. Tom said you know I love to start businesses, but I would rather move on. How about you guys would like to buy it from me? Because he was a little bit more of an owner than we were. He decided well, I've got all the money to put it together, so I'm going to be 52%, and Barb and I reached 24%.

Speaker 1 8:07

Wow, smart guy.

Speaker 2 8:08

Yeah, I said okay, he's done this before.

Speaker 1 8:11

Not at the first rodeo.

Speaker 2 8:13

Exactly. So we thought, well, we've got to give it a go without Tom. I mean, he's had a restaurant before and we've done this under the wings of him. Let's see what we can do. So that took a little while to figure out what it was worth. And we finally found a couple of accountants that we did the book work and came up with a price and bought a restaurant. And bought a restaurant. And our guidance was you are never going to make it rich in this business, but you will be working for yourself. And I said that sounds great to me.

Speaker 1 8:48

You know the joke right, you can work half time, just choose the 12 hours you want to work. I love that. That's ownership. Oh gosh so how long was Ramones around, because it seemed like through the 80s.

Speaker 2 9:01

So yeah, we opened in 81 and we closed it in 1990. Okay, Wow.

Speaker 2 9:07

And Barb. You know, barb and I ran it for quite a while together and then she thought you know, I'm not really into coffee anymore, I'm not really into sweets. Oh, I think I jumped way ahead. Anyway, we opened up the place in 81. We bought Tom out in 83. And then I think it was a couple of years later, maybe 85, 86, we thought, and I was doing the desserts for the cafe, we bought bread from San Francisco. We got brought up on a Greyhound bus. We'd run down a couple of days a week to the Greyhound bus station and get these boxes of baguettes. Score. I think back about how these things started. Transport, it's crazy, it's good. So we had a bread warmer and anyway, that was great. So we served our customers with bread from San Francisco. And so when we had the opportunity to rent what is now Ramones in Old Town, that used to be the kitchen of Fogg's Fish and Chips on the corner, do you remember that?

Speaker 1 10:13

I do remember Fogg's. So Fogg's was somewhere else though right, Was it where Seagrill is? No, that was Fat Albert's.

Speaker 2 10:19

That's a good question.

Speaker 1 10:21

Was Fogg's at where the bakery is now.

Speaker 2 10:23

Fogg's was where the Booklegger is.

Speaker 1 10:26

Okay, that's right, it was on the corner. Yeah, booklegger's.

Speaker 2 10:29

Oh, I know Institution.

Speaker 1 10:31

But that was the kitchen.

Speaker 2 10:33

Yeah, ramones was the kitchen, and then the dining area was the booklicker.

Speaker 1 10:37

So you guys bought that space or renovated it. So we rented it.

Speaker 2 10:40

Yeah, and John Jaramillo was the owner of the whole building. He said oh, I don't know, I don't want to put another food business in there, and we were already renting him from around the corner, opera Alley Cafe. Oh yeah, how did the name Ramones come about? I never even touched on that one.

Speaker 1 10:58

That's right. Yeah, was there a Ramone.

Speaker 2 11:00

There was not a Ramone involved in the business.

Speaker 1 11:04

Okay, was there a Ramone family?

Speaker 2 11:06

No.

Speaker 1 11:06

Okay.

Speaker 2 11:07

There was an old town street character named Ramone Ramone. And his real name, we found out later, was Remo.

Speaker 1 11:16

Remo.

Speaker 2 11:17

But we thought we need a name that is going to be somebody's place. So it was there's Maxwell's, there's Youngberg's, there's Bergey's, there was it was all like, okay, that's the ticket to success.

Speaker 2 11:29

So let's think of somebody's name that would be like an international sounding name Gabriel's. Because we thought, yeah, gabriel's, exactly, I'm Just think of somebody's name that would be like an international sounding name, gabriels. Because we thought, yeah, gabriels, exactly, I'm sure we could come up with some more. And let's see. So we wanted our little tagline was international cuisine with a California twist. So we thought, okay, ramones, we can't have it, can't be Tom Barber, but Ramones sound like a fun name to attach to our business. So that's what we did.

Speaker 1 11:59

And so attached to the bakery then, and it's still.

Speaker 2 12:02

Yeah, it's been the same name throughout.

Speaker 1 12:05

And so that was your first bakery. Now there are how many in Humboldt?

Speaker 2 12:09

Now there are five.

Speaker 1 12:10

Oh, this is where I'm a whole bunch of fun. This is where I do my prop Ready.

Speaker 2 12:13

Okay, you're going.

Speaker 1 12:14

You don't know what's going to happen here. No, I don't. She hasn't seen the show yet.

Speaker 2 12:19

No, I haven't.

Speaker 1 12:19

Nick however, has seen 75 of these, so in Humboldt County there are five locations. So you have McKinleyville Bakery, we do you have the first one yes, what's the address in Old Town?

Speaker 2 12:33

209 E Street.

Speaker 1 12:35

Corner of what 2nd and.

Speaker 2 12:36

E 3rd and E 2nd and E we're doing 2nd and 3rd. Anyway, yeah, it's one of the third, and then you're at.

Speaker 1 12:40

Pearson's, which is brilliant, yeah, and then Wildberries in Arcata yes, it's right over there. Did I miss one?

Speaker 2 12:52

Let's see, there is no Fortuna. We got McKinleyville, the one on Harrison Avenue.

Speaker 1 12:56

Thank you. Oh, the hub, the hub, that's where you bake right, that's where it's all happening. Right, and they have delicious food, kind of like Ramones, thank you. Wait, it is Ramones. No, the food's really dynamic here.

Speaker 2 13:10

Oh, thank you.

Speaker 1 13:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2 13:15

Dynamic. Oh, thank you, yeah, thanks. It's located so perfectly with all the hospital medical community. We rented the building next to us in 1990. We opened up a bakery location there and the only reason we picked that spot was because somebody told me that there was an oven for sale inside that building. Oh, and I thought, okay, I don't anticipate buying this oven, moving this oven, but I should go look at this oven to see if I can learn anything about a bakery oven. So the woman there said well, actually this whole space is for rent. I thought really, oh, weird, okay, maybe we ought to turn this into a location, not only just have it for baked goods, but just to make it into another retail spot out front.

Speaker 1 13:56

Love it. When did that open?

Speaker 1 13:58

1990., Gosh, that's been there that long, yeah, huh, this is where I do kind of a little break. If you're just joining us, this is my new best friend, barrett Meyer, from Ramones, formerly Opera Alley Cafe, alley Cafe, now Ramones Bakeryery Is it Ramon's Bakery? Is that enough? Bakery and Cafe and Cafe. Okay, good Home of the one of the drinks I really liked in years past I don't know if they still make it was a really small mochaccino, it was a really strong mocha with two or three shots of amazing magic and I get that extra hot, nonfat and my day was better.

Speaker 1 14:34

Okay, and you guys were one of the first guys that mastered that mix that I really liked. Oh, good Thanks.

Speaker 2 14:41

Yeah, I should go back and get one. There you go. I bet they could do one.

Speaker 1 14:43

I hope so. Some barista could pull that together pretty easily.

Speaker 2 14:47

Describe it like how you remembered it and hopefully, oh no.

Speaker 1 14:50

I think that's the impact of food and local. So do you guys source locally too in terms of ingredients?

Speaker 2 14:59

Well, let's see. Well, if we can get some, we get basil which is grown. It's amazing. I hope I get this correct. There is a program to grow. There's a greenhouse out at Redwood Acres.

Speaker 1 15:16

Oh right.

Speaker 2 15:17

And so there's hydroponic things going on in there. That's incredible quality.

Speaker 1 15:21

Wow.

Speaker 2 15:22

So we got hooked up with them at one point to purchase their basil to make pesto out of and also to put it on our pizzas, for our margarita pizza.

Speaker 1 15:31

Also delicious.

Speaker 2 15:32

So that was wonderful and that's what we primarily get from them. But then during the summer we also get vegetables that they grow. They're not there year round, although I think they're doing more year round than they used to. Who runs that? It's part of the. I was going to say HCOE, maybe Mm-hmm. And the I was going to say HCOE maybe, and it's a program that got started to introduce kids to growing and harvesting and marketing and selling, so I thought that was awesome.

Speaker 1 16:06

Kind of farmer's market stuff. Yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 16:09

And you know who was instrumental in that was Karen Brooks. Really, I know that, you know Karen.

Speaker 1 16:14

She's a very good friend of mine. Hey Karen, hey Karen, does she horseback ride or two? Oh yeah, oh, we'll talk about horses in a minute. Okay, we can probably do that. And then I also want to talk about other local food producers and products like larapen and sauces.

Speaker 2 16:30

Can we do all that, can we get as much as I know about those other people? I don't know how? I mean, I know the people, I know the products. I don't necessarily know how they make them, how they got to where they are.

Speaker 1 16:38

Let's start with Tom and his marinara sauces. So there's a guy. So for a small area, food production and also finished product is a big deal. I mean, there's a lot of things right.

Speaker 2 16:52

Oh, and then think of natural decadence that has now moved in New York, but for a long time they were here.

Speaker 1 16:59

And they were unique because they were gluten-free, mm-hmm Ah, and did not taste gluten-free. Which is the magic of doing that right? Yeah yeah, the problem with gluten-free things is they taste like gluten-free Anyway, so not always. There's an exception. Joni buys bread for her son, gabriel, which is he's gluten intolerant.

Speaker 2 17:19

Okay, it's okay toasted. Yeah, okay, there you go. Jam always helps.

Speaker 1 17:25

Are you anti-gluten-free, Scott? Well, not really Sometimes, Anyway. So who else? Tom has done his marinara.

Speaker 2 17:33

Oh he's, yeah, he's got a big lineup.

Speaker 1 17:35

Yeah.

Speaker 2 17:35

But he's now sold the business. He sold that yeah.

Speaker 1 17:38

And he also distributes Larapin mustard or mustard dill Correct and Larapin barbecue.

Speaker 2 17:44

Yeah.

Speaker 1 17:45

Which Larapin seems to come up a lot when we do the quiz later and I ring the bell.

Speaker 2 17:50

Okay.

Speaker 1 17:59

When you hear the bell we'll ask you some questions about Humboldt County, but I'm jumping ahead already Bringing back Scott. So, yeah, everybody talks about Larapin and then her sauces, and you probably knew Dixie.

Speaker 2 18:06

I did.

Speaker 1 18:07

Or do Dixie and Pear. So it seems to me like there's a lot of local product that we get to take advantage of as residents and come and eat at, but also trans like natural decadence in New York, wow.

Speaker 2 18:25

Yeah, they moved their operation over there.

Speaker 1 18:27

And all the food works people in Arcata that come.

Speaker 2 18:29

There's just so many Humble. Harvest is just. There's so many local food.

Speaker 1 18:33

What's Humble Harvest? Do Remind me.

Speaker 2 18:36

Well, it's an umbrella for food producers in the area. And they do have. I think it's a way to collaborate and market and there's usually at the Redwood Acres Craft Fair there's a nice booth where you can see really nice offerings of who's all involved. I know there's the Mercantile down in Old Town, humboldt Mercantile and they showcase for the holidays lots of local products.

Speaker 1 19:02

The North Coast Journal has that shop down in Ferndale. The shop I should probably know the name. I'm really sorry, Sorry, Melissa. They feature local products.

Speaker 2 19:11

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 19:23

And the old bank, the old bank of Lolita, oh yeah, yeah, if I remember right. That's nice, that's a nice looking shop. I saw it recently. Oh, it's cool. They have a lot of cool stuff they do. And so when you think about our area, it's like I'm so proud of the areaattanooga or Boulder or San, whatever California is that people follow their passion, and that's you and me too, I believe that it is.

Speaker 2 19:44

I know I mean, if you want to make it here we can't always come up with something that's going to survive for sure, but I feel so, so fortunate that I'm still doing it.

Speaker 1 19:54

Yeah 44?.

Speaker 2 19:58

That's amazing 44 years later, still at it, that's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 20:01

I like it and doing it well. I mean, things are still delicious. Yeah, talk about the Irish soda bread, since we just came out of St Paddy. Why would you be famous for that?

Speaker 2 20:13

I'm not sure I've ever had yours, you haven't had ours. We have an updated version. I am really happy with their new version, which we did switch it up a couple years ago. Now it has some fennel in it and it has, let's see, there's always currants in there, I think. We used to make one and we had one of our employees do an ad and he called it the Spotted Dog. I guess it could be. Spotted Dog because of all those little curtains inside.

Speaker 1 20:44

Sure, which probably make it delicious.

Speaker 2 20:45

Yeah, it's great. It's great toasted. I would have some every day.

Speaker 1 20:50

I can hardly wait on this one, nick, can we just can you pull those in front of you, and can we just look at the food for a second?

Speaker 2 20:57

Sure, we can look at this little box.

Speaker 1 20:58

What did you bring?

Speaker 2 20:59

Well, I said I had to bring something.

Speaker 1 21:01

Oh, look at this. So you know, speaking of gluten-free, tip it up here, okay, oh, look at those.

Speaker 2 21:07

Well, it's just a little thing One's are. We've been doing this cookie forever. It's double chocolate walnut.

Speaker 1 21:15

Wow.

Speaker 2 21:15

And there's so little flour in it, I decided that why don't we make that gluten-free? Because there are many things that you could add in there, which is just a small amount. It's not going to change it much at all. I don't think it changed it at all. Wow, so we have a little bit of gluten-free flour mix and they're chocolate and and their chocolate.

Speaker 1 21:33

And their chocolate, mostly chocolate. Here's that, joni Hammond. Oh yeah, Mostly chocolate and butter have you guys ever done anything with Dick Taylor chocolate, or do you guys ever do that? We haven't At one point.

Speaker 2 21:41

we were looking at getting their cocoa nibs. I'm forgetting what we were putting those in.

Speaker 1 21:50

Could be a lot of things.

Speaker 2 21:51

Oh, I know, Little Rocher, it's a little meringue-based little giant kiss, and we put those inside.

Speaker 1 21:58

Oh, that's cool. Yeah, Are those umbrellas that blue?

Speaker 2 22:01

thing. Oh yeah, we have cutouts. So we have a little umbrella cutout and a little cloud cutout for the rainy season. Our cake decorators not cake decorators our cookie. Yeah, we call them cookie punchers, glazers, decorators. They do an amazing job and they come up with all kinds of designs, depending on, hopefully.

Speaker 1 22:21

Can I hold these up?

Speaker 2 22:22

Yes, you can. Is there a camera in here?

Speaker 1 22:23

There's a camera looking at me, there's two. So I figure if I grab these and start touching them and holding them up, that I could take them all. But I won't do that. But you can see, I guess I'd do one. There you go. It's raining folks in Humboldt County. Weird, the perfect cookie. I'll just set that sideways.

Speaker 2 22:42

There, you go.

Speaker 1 22:42

Thanks, those look delicious. And some chocolate chip just for, just because I had no idea that I would be hungry being here, but you're the very first somebody with coming in with food. Oh really, I bet, if we played our cards right, nick probably get a cookie out of this deal. What do you think?

Speaker 2 23:01

Nick's smiling, so he'd probably have one Anyway, and then I also want to bring a new thing that we're doing.

Speaker 1 23:09

Oh, what's that?

Speaker 2 23:10

This is a cheddar jalapeno cheese scone.

Speaker 1 23:14

No way.

Speaker 2 23:15

And anyway.

Speaker 1 23:18

Nick, look at that, what's going on?

Speaker 2 23:19

here it's delicious.

Speaker 1 23:21

It looks really. There we go the color and everything we don't mind.

Speaker 2 23:23

Yeah, we decided to finally.

Speaker 1 23:27

Jalapeno.

Speaker 2 23:27

I'm embarrassed to say we didn't have a super good cheddar cheese for a while when we did our bacon cheddar cheese scones. So now we've upped the game More cheese, sharper tang, yeah. And now we're making it with jalapenos and it's delicious.

Speaker 1 23:42

Wow, is it spicy jalapenos. A little bit of spice, just a little. Just a little heat, yeah yeah. Just to perk it up a bit Like the Lost Bagels oh yeah, it's quite a bit. I had Dennis on the show.

Speaker 2 23:55

Have you.

Speaker 1 23:57

Dennis and Peter too Nice, First time I ever did two people. They're fun.

Speaker 2 24:00

Oh, how great.

Speaker 1 24:01

Yeah, they have a lot of stories and they've been at it like as long as you probably.

Speaker 2 24:05

Just a couple years after us.

Speaker 1 24:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2 24:08

It's right at the same time.

Speaker 1 24:10

So what do you? How do you figure? A lot of people came into this from. They were probably Humboldt guys, I think, if I remember right, and they were probably wildlife majors or ocean or something. And then people go into food and he what's?

Speaker 2 24:26

what's that about? What is that?

Speaker 1 24:28

Just found a passion.

Speaker 2 24:30

I guess. So yeah, I got disillusioned with the wildlife major right toward the end. So I'm like, okay, right, I got to go to Alaska just to see. But now I'm like when I was in college I would bake for my roommates and I would bake croissants and bread and cakes, and I would just just because I love to bake, and I would go into the library and look at Bon Appetit and gourmet magazines just to like, okay, I'm done studying, for now I got to go take a break, otherwise I'll go crazy and I would just look at food magazines.

Speaker 1 24:57

That was the therapy.

Speaker 2 24:59

Yeah, and then when I graduated actually I'm going way back in time again, but my roommate's father gave me a book on chocolate desserts and so I worked my way through that whole book, making desserts for the Ramones Opera Alley Cafe. So that's just jumping back in time, but yeah.

Speaker 1 25:16

I was interested in food while I was but you had a lot of friends in college Going to Barrett's. We had a big household, a lot of potlucks. She was making breakfast.

Speaker 2 25:22

A lot of potlucks. That's cool. Those are the days.

Speaker 1 25:24

Yeah, those are the days I remember all the potl and I was in a program called Cluster at Humboldt State which was a general ed program Real, progressive, no tests, no grades, I know show up same 50 people for a whole school year and collaborative and so fun, so educational. And if you're a deadbeat you didn't get anything out of it. So you get in what you put in Excellent. Or you get out or whatever. I'm saying so yeah, a lot of local food.

Speaker 2 25:53

So I can go on and on. Yeah, we have just tip of the iceberg on the food producers. What?

Speaker 1 25:59

about the one Lacey's, the Lacey's cookie guy. Oh yeah, those are great. Yeah, that's crazy. He's done very well, right? Yeah, huge operation. You know who I really like? Matthew from the tofu shop. Oh yeah, matthew. You probably know Matt, I do. What a nice guy.

Speaker 2 26:15

Yeah, there's another one.

Speaker 1 26:19

I guess he's retired or retiring and I hadn't seen him in probably 20 years.

Speaker 1 26:25

And Joni and I have soup for breakfast at the co-op in Arcata outside before we go to church next door at the Catalyst Church, which is right there, and so I'd seen Matt a couple of times and I don't know if he recognized me, but I went up to him in the line and I said you know what? I want to thank you because you've done this for about guess what 40 years Probably longer than me and you've kicked out killer tofu and made it palatable. Is not a very nice compliment. Made it delicious, made it delicious, and it's in all the stores. And he used to do a tofu turkey for.

Speaker 2 27:03

Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 27:04

Yeah, and I said kind of a thank you for your service.

Speaker 2 27:08

And it was really a cool moment it was sincere and heartfelt.

Speaker 1 27:12

It was cool.

Speaker 2 27:12

Thanks, matt, for your service. You're amazing.

Speaker 1 27:14

That's great Anyway so yeah, a lot of food folks.

Speaker 2 27:18

Oh, and Casaro's. She makes a really delicious like a green onion vinaigrette. Have you had that before?

Speaker 1 27:25

I think I have yeah, there was Sweet Mama Janice. She did her stuff for a while. Who makes all the pasta? Mama Noni.

Speaker 2 27:35

There have been a few pasta makers over the years.

Speaker 1 27:39

And sauces. And we didn't even talk about the wine people. Yet you know Fieldbrook and Iceland.

Speaker 2 27:45

So, yeah, when we started the cafe on Harrison Avenue, brian, my husband, loves wine. Okay, I love wine also.

Speaker 1 27:54

Hey, Brian, shout out.

Speaker 2 27:55

Hi there, Brian. Too bad you aren't here with me today, but maybe next time.

Speaker 1 28:00

Yeah, you didn't get any cookies, bro. Wait, you're around cookies all the time.

Speaker 2 28:06

So, brian, let's see how did? We knew that we would be selling wine at the new cafe. So, brian, let's see how did we knew that we would be selling wine at the new cafe, so Brian jumped right on. Let's you know and I had the experience prior with Ramon's Opera Alley Cafe we had a really nice wine list. Thank goodness Tom knew what he was doing and how to bring in some different wines and we tasted so much wine and all those guys used to come up all the time.

Speaker 1 28:30

They'd come up and they'd take bottles of wine home, Napa Sonoma.

Speaker 2 28:33

Uncorked it and I can only sell so much or I only taste so much of it. So, anyway, Brian does that now for our business.

Speaker 1 28:42

It's a rough job, you know being a wine guy.

Speaker 2 28:43

It's a rough job.

Speaker 1 28:45

Is it different today? Do the wine sales folks come up and still do tastings?

Speaker 2 28:50

They do still do that.

Speaker 1 28:52

And do hair. Here's a complimentary case because we like you.

Speaker 2 28:58

I mean, it's not that great, it's not quite that, and maybe they're not quite as generous as they have been, but it also depends on how many different people they need to taste on. So they open up a bottle in the morning and then they taste it throughout the day, and if you're at the end of the line, you may get the rest of it or whatever.

Speaker 2 29:14

Anyway, it's really nice. So I was gonna say oh yeah. So when we first opened the cafe we thought oh, we're just, we're not going to go full hog on with a huge menu. That's just complicated. You know, you have to make sure you have a chef that's going to stick around and we'll just do quiche and soup and salad. That'll be good Right, and that anybody can just pull it out of the display case and warm it up for you. But it was not soon after where one of our bakers in the evening said I can run that kitchen for you. I've worked at a few different restaurants. Oh my gosh, Okay.

Speaker 2 29:50

If you want to oh my gosh. Okay, If you want to take this on, we'll support you. So I forgot all the little steps that it took, but it seemed like right away we were selling food.

Speaker 1 30:01

Entrees.

Speaker 2 30:01

We had pizzas and we had beer on tap and breakfast, lunch and dinner yeah, wow, it's really been a fun ride.

Speaker 1 30:11

Yeah, it did so. For those that don't know, that'll watch later. We're not really that far from Napa or Sonoma or Geyserville and Dry Creek and all the magical places there that they create wine, world-class wine, true. Yeah create wine, world-class wine, true, yeah, and I want to rib Brian a little bit about being a wine guy, because I really like good wine too Do you, yeah, and as wine guys, we've got to stick together, yeah.

Speaker 2 30:40

Yeah. So we have a couple of customers that come in and buy wine bottles to go. They'll even he'll put together half a case or more because he picks all these amazing wines. He does research. Half a case or more because he picks all these amazing wines. He does research. I would say daily. It's his passion. Daily he's looking at wine. I got to get that one in here. We go out of the area, drink a bottle of wine, look on the back of it who's the distributor? How can we get that up?

Speaker 2 31:04

here, yeah, that's fun. It is really fun. So, yeah, we have a couple of customers that buy wine right out the door from Brian, because that's cool Because he knows what he's doing. He knows what he's doing. He wouldn't sell it unless he liked it.

Speaker 1 31:20

The sommelier of Vermont, right on.

Speaker 2 31:24

Oh, we thought about doing like wine dinners or wine tastings. We just haven't kicked our butt in gear to pull that off yet.

Speaker 1 31:31

Yeah, I know Dick Taylor has done a lot of that pairings with wine.

Speaker 2 31:35

Chocolate and wine.

Speaker 1 31:37

Beer, chocolate tasting. Oh, we did a pairing with what's that kind of beer they make? That's weird. Oh, barley John, barley wine, barley wine, it's a beer. That's English and weird Anyway.

Speaker 2 31:54

There's also like honey mead.

Speaker 1 31:56

Wasn't there somebody down there at the?

Speaker 2 31:58

Dick Taylor location that made a honey mead wine. Yeah, there's some mead guys locally.

Speaker 1 32:06

I forgot their names. I did too. There are a lot of fairs and Friday night markets and stuff.

Speaker 2 32:11

So are you open? For Friday night markets, when it's happening, you know we started out being open on Friday nights, but it's like it's a street party and people really wanted to hang out and walk the streets.

Speaker 1 32:23

On the street.

Speaker 2 32:24

So we thought you know what, we don't need to do everything Right and Fair enough. It just if it was cold and windy and people need a place to sit or come in and get a hot coffee. Yeah, they'd come in, but it was. We were open for arts alive on the first Saturday.

Speaker 1 32:38

Ah, segue to coffee. Uh, your coffee's been great forever. So what? What's your secret to the Ramones blend? I'm glad you asked. Yeah, yeah, funny that we'll talk about wine later, brian, we're going to coffee now.

Speaker 2 33:12

Yeah, we roast our own.

Speaker 2 33:12

And that was, I would say, the turning point of our actually making some money versus just running the business. Okay, money in, money out, pretty much a stable line. Brian contacted somebody down in the Bay Area to find out about getting some coffee brewing equipment and this was down in Redwood City and the guy said oh well, are you roasting your own coffee? No, didn't even think of it. He said oh okay, how much coffee did you say you're going through, because we're looking at some bigger urns of coffee. And so when Brian came up with some numbers for him, he said oh, this is a no brainer, you need to roast your own coffee.

Speaker 2 33:46

Wow, roasting coffee, I mean on the level that we're doing at, I mean you could really go fancy. I mean, there are some other coffee roasters around here that I'm sure have much higher I wouldn't say higher quality equipment, because our roaster is a really good one. But we ended up buying a roaster from him and then later on we replaced it with another one and we went out to Idaho that Dietrich is the name of the coffee roasting business that makes these machines.

Speaker 2 34:13

It's in Idaho. We went and visited them.

Speaker 1 34:15

Are they in Boise up that way?

Speaker 2 34:17

Oh gosh, I do. You're going to ask that. I don't think it's Boise. Where would it be?

Speaker 1 34:23

It'd be Coeur d'Alene, to the north.

Speaker 2 34:24

It could be, could be, coeur d'Alene.

Speaker 1 34:27

Eagle. My daughter lives in Nampa.

Speaker 2 34:29

Okay.

Speaker 1 34:29

Yeah, we like going there. You know what? The people are super nice. You know what is not nice. What? People in cars. It's like insane. The nicest people everywhere in stores but you put somebody in a car. You Idaho people got to work on that. Oh wait, half of you are from California, rant over.

Speaker 2 34:51

So you roast your own coffee, we roast our own coffee and Brian's the roaster. He was for many years, and now we have somebody else doing it for us Cool. And we buy organic beans but we didn't go through the process to be certified organic. But we do. All of our beans are organic.

Speaker 1 35:02

Wow.

Speaker 2 35:02

But we don't have the sticker on there. We just didn't want to go through the rigmarole.

Speaker 1 35:05

So you must have different roasts. And do you sell the coffee in bags, uh-huh.

Speaker 2 35:09

We do oh Yep on the shelf. I should know that.

Speaker 1 35:11

Actually it's kind of weird to ask that I should probably go to the store and go look around.

Speaker 2 35:18

It's on a shelf, that's maybe not always that apparent. I'm usually eating things Because you're looking at the other things.

Speaker 1 35:22

I'm buying items, but I like the idea of looking at some of his wines. Can you check that out? Oh yeah, so yeah, we have a wine list, so cool, let's talk about horseback riding as long as we're talking about wine. Oh, don't you see that smooth segue? Hey, if you're just joining me, it's my friend Barrett Meyer from Ramones Bakery and Cafe and you're a horse horse. What would you call you? An equestrian? Definitely horse lover.

Speaker 2 35:46

Horse lover. I like that, been that, since I was in second or third grade, I don't want to crack a joke about a horse right now.

Speaker 1 35:53

You know what they call a horse that like a money pit. They're expensive, right?

Speaker 2 35:58

I don't do it that way. Do you own horses? I own three, oh rad, but I do have one that's becoming expensive.

Speaker 1 36:04

Aging or just.

Speaker 2 36:06

No, he's got some interesting little quirks.

Speaker 1 36:09

Oh. Some of it's training, some of it's rehab, some of it's vet, oh yeah, All girls were raised at Field of Dreams in West Haven, which is right over here on the map folks over by Trinidad. So you know, corey.

Speaker 2 36:21

You know, I wish I could say I did, but I do not know, corey.

Speaker 1 36:24

Trine's a lot of young women and guys.

Speaker 2 36:29

And I've been meaning to go check that operation out.

Speaker 1 36:31

That is so wonderful. Thank you, corey, for not ever letting me need to buy a horse for my horse-loving daughters. Love you, mean it.

Speaker 2 36:38

Oh really, they decided they didn't have to have one anymore.

Speaker 1 36:41

Well, it was weird. By the time they were older it was like oh, brianna got married. Oh bye. Matt's an amazing guy. They live in Oregon now and they have three kids. Oh, look at that.

Speaker 2 36:57

Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 36:59

So why do you love horses and horseback riding?

Speaker 2 37:04

Well, you know, I've learned a lot about horses over the years and I'm even learning more now than I ever have having to do with how smart horses are and how the communication between a person and a horse is. People are finding out more about how much they can sense about a person. I mean, we always heard oh yeah, if you're, you know, not very secure up in the saddle, they can tell and they're going to take you for a ride, you know, so they'll take you off on a to take you for a ride.

Speaker 1 37:31

They'll get you.

Speaker 2 37:32

They'll take you off on a tree branch or something like that.

Speaker 1 37:35

Have done that. Yeah, that's so fun, you feeling me horse. Yep, take you under that oak tree.

Speaker 2 37:42

Yeah, so yeah, I think this horse came to me because he's a challenge and it's been a learning experience. I can't take him for granted. He's a little bit more flighty and anxious and just trying to dial him down constantly. But my passion with horses is endurance endurance riding, which can be 10, 25, 50 or 100 miles in one day.

Speaker 1 38:12

And they have races for that right.

Speaker 2 38:13

Yes, and leagues and events yes, they do.

Speaker 1 38:17

So is it just straight. Are you the racing where they run and ride?

Speaker 2 38:21

That's called a ride and tie.

Speaker 1 38:22

Do you do that too?

Speaker 2 38:23

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 38:24

Wow.

Speaker 2 38:25

Let's get started. So let's start with the racing Tell us the difference. Ride and tie is. The first one I did was in 1977, when I was in college. That will date me and it's two people, one horse, and apparently it used to be how people traveled, like getting from A to B I wouldn't say it was the Pony Express era, but it was some time where two people had one horse.

Speaker 2 38:59

One would ride it ahead, tie it up, hopefully to something more than a sagebrush, and then the person behind would come along and find the horse tied out there by itself, untie the horse, get on and then pass the former rider who is now out there running or walking in front. So it's a two person, one horse team.

Speaker 1 39:13

And it's designated distances right? Yes, Okay.

Speaker 2 39:17

Yeah. So now it's a race. I mean now it's a competitive event. I wouldn't say it's a race for some people, kind of like endurance riding is a race for those that really want to get out and show their friends, companions, what their horse can do, how well their horse is trained. And I just go to finish the ride. I'm usually in the back because I like to spend time on the trail visiting with my friends. I've never had a fast, fast horse, so I'm like I'm going to take care of him and we'll just hang out, and there's vet checks along the way and you camp. We'll just hang out and there's vet checks along the way, and you camp, you go to a ride camp, it's called, and you camp out with a tent, a pickup truck, a camper or a big LQ living quarters.

Speaker 2 40:01

So some people have a house on wheels.

Speaker 1 40:03

Beds.

Speaker 2 40:04

Beds. Yeah, I was so happy when I wasn't doing it in a tent anymore and I graduated to a camper, so that was great. And then Brian would come along with our two daughters and he said oh, this is wonderful, I don't have to make coffee out in the wind, I can make coffee in our camper.

Speaker 1 40:21

The kids- have a table, they can draw pictures on. This reminds me of Dwayne Flatmo going to what's it called out in the desert Burning man, okay, and he's got the whole setup. He puts a bed in the back of the thing and he's got like he's got it all dialed in.

Speaker 2 40:34

I bet.

Speaker 1 40:34

So camping comfort yes that is great. Maybe a lot of hunters do that too Drink beer, shoot the guns.

Speaker 2 40:40

Oh yeah, have a good time. Yeah, yeah, fishing.

Speaker 1 40:43

Yeah, you're Average endurance races, are they?

Speaker 2 40:48

There are 25 miles 25 to 35, which are called limited distance or LDs, and then it's 50 miles, which takes the you have 12 hours to finish the ride. And then there's 100 miles and you have 24 hours to finish that ride. Oh wow, and you ride by the light of the moon. Or if there's no moon, then you ride with a headlamp and glow sticks attached to the bushes. So you're out there at one, two, three o'clock in the morning, riding your horse. It is such an awesome thing.

Speaker 1 41:22

It is really really great. You can see all the stars. It's the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 2 41:26

It's the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 1 41:27

So Nevada, arizona, I've done.

Speaker 2 41:30

A couple of them I've done. I guess I would say it's the granddaddy of endurance rides. It's called Tevis. It's from Squaw Valley to Auburn. It's also the site of the Western States 100-foot race. Have you heard of that?

Speaker 1 41:46

My brother-in-law finished under 24 hours. That is outstanding. The belt buckle is this big. He finished. Scott Hanson, you're amazing. He finished it in 23 hours. 56 minutes 32 seconds just barely.

Speaker 2 42:04

So he got the silver buckle instead of the bronze buckle or one of those Under 24. That's great.

Speaker 1 42:10

Yeah, you got to be a stud, of whatever gender you are. If you finish that in 24 hours, you're totally the bomb. Yeah, I guess that's 24 hours is just how many? Is it a hundred miles? It's a hundred miles. How do you do that On trails?

Speaker 2 42:26

On trails.

Speaker 1 42:26

And there's hills. A lot of hills and canyons and rivers, so On trails, and there's hills, a lot of hills, and canyons and rivers. So is the trail run the same as the trail.

Speaker 2 42:33

It's really close. It's very close, but it's not exactly the same.

Speaker 1 42:36

Do the same folks do it, probably no different, yeah, the volunteers.

Speaker 2 42:40

I would tell you, the volunteers that come out to help put on the Tevis is like six to eight hundred volunteers and it's like it's a huge. You want to be a part of it. Once you're involved it's I've gone to crew for people. If I'm not riding, I'll go crew. I haven't volunteered for the actual event itself, but it's. It's just a. It's a gathering of people that have share a love and people want to help each other out. It's really, really great.

Speaker 1 43:11

I like it. What are they called Tevis? Let's see, there's a guy's name.

Speaker 2 43:16

Let's see Tevis. What was his first name? Lloyd Tevis.

Speaker 1 43:21

Huh, and he promoted it.

Speaker 2 43:23

And he, I think, decided you know what? I think I can ride a horse over these mountains For 100 miles Over these mountains For 100 miles For 100 miles, dang. And he did it with, you know, a canteen and a Western saddle and a cowboy hat, and you know, he and a couple of buddies I forgot what year they did it but then at the same then, a guy that said, well, I'm going to run that, I'm going to run it with the horses. And then he the Western States trail ride.

Speaker 1 43:47

These are the guys that ran in Converse Tenneys before there's Hoka's and Nike's. Can you imagine? It's like brutal, and probably there's race saddles and probably all kinds of gel saddles.

Speaker 2 43:56

There's all kinds of get-up-here stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there is.

Speaker 1 43:59

Wow, I can imagine so cool. So horses are brilliant.

Speaker 2 44:04

Horses are great yeah.

Speaker 1 44:05

They're a whole field.

Speaker 2 44:05

They really, really are it, they really are. It's amazing to see a well-trained horse and what they can do. I mean voice commands.

Speaker 1 44:13

they know what to do, what's the horse folks down in Fortuna that do therapy rides, ride something.

Speaker 2 44:24

Yeah, there's one I'm trying to think.

Speaker 1 44:25

She runs that deal. They take care of a lot of special needs people and the therapy of horse riding.

Speaker 2 44:31

Is it Kohlrabi?

Speaker 1 44:32

Might be.

Speaker 2 44:33

Kohlrabi.

Speaker 1 44:34

Could be.

Speaker 2 44:34

I think there's also Wild Souls. Wild Souls, wild Souls Is that the one.

Speaker 1 44:38

I think there's two maybe, but there's horse riding, horseback therapy, right yeah.

Speaker 2 44:43

Yeah, yeah, I think that's an amazing thing just to get people to feel confident, and I mean, I don't know what the program offers, but I can only imagine just how much I enjoy being around a horse. That it would just help people kind of like think outside themselves and think about being with another animal, and yeah, I think it's great.

Horses, Endurance Racing, and Trail Rides

Speaker 1 45:03

I was a camp counselor in Redwood Valley and I was on the back of a horse, shirt off, with hair flying in the breeze, big, long hair, longer than yours. And then that horse read me and took me right under an oak tree and shredded my back. Oh dear, so they're really smart. So watch out, oh dear, I think it was my last time I ever rode, probably. Anyway, oh, oh, that was whatever. Different person, different horse. So let's talk about what you like about Humboldt, and we'll just make this the quiz part, since I have a bell, if you're just joining me, oh boy a quiz.

Speaker 1 45:37

Barrett Meyer from Ramones Bakery and Cafe Quiz. Number one question for all the prizes Okay, Well, we'll see. Question number one what do you like about this place called Humboldt? We'll see.

Speaker 2 45:52

Question number one what do you like about this place called Humboldt? I like that it's lots of green, lots of open space. There's a lot of different people that live here, which is wonderful. I used to milk cows in the bottoms. I used to.

Speaker 2 46:07

You know, there's so many opportunities here that have to do with I mean, you can create your own. Well, you can't always make your own livelihood because that's very complicated, but you know, you just got a shot. You do have a shot, I mean, and you can ship stuff out of here if you. It seems like rent is low, so there's, but of course shipping. It seems like rent is low, so there's, but of course shipping. I don't know the whole shipping industry. That's not really why I'm talking about Humboldt, but it just seems like there are a lot of opportunities here and I love that it's not filled with cars and noise and pollution, and I love the beaches and the forest and I do a lot of hiking, running on trails. I used to row on the bay. Were you a rower? I was a rower for a little bit, still a runner. I used to run a lot, but now my knees, you know, it's that getting old thing.

Speaker 1 47:03

I think Joni knew you from races at Six Rivers Running Club. Yes, that's right, did you used to race a lot?

Speaker 2 47:07

Yes, I did. I used to really crank it out.

Speaker 1 47:11

Wow I used to.

Speaker 2 47:12

I was on the track team at Humboldt when I was there, oh really. And the cross country team.

Speaker 1 47:15

Who was the coach? Was it Hunt? Was he just men's? He was for the men's.

Speaker 2 47:20

Yeah, it was. Jackie Yap was there for a brief amount of time.

Speaker 1 47:25

I remember that name.

Speaker 2 47:26

Floyd. Floyd was his name, okay. And then there's.

Speaker 1 47:34

James Washington.

Speaker 2 47:35

James Washington.

Speaker 1 47:36

He's still. James is still 40 years old. Yeah, he's still around out there and Scott Pesch was. Scotty boy.

Speaker 2 47:44

Was involved quite a bit.

Speaker 1 47:45

Hey Scott, what's?

Speaker 2 47:46

up Dave Wells. Right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 47:54

Rich athletic heritage up at Humboldt, you know, especially with the I mean with football gone, but the running heritage yeah, and Mike. Williams at the Jogging Shop just did a big thing and I forgot what it offhand. I don't know, but all the guys came back. Mark Conover, oh, yes, yeah yeah, for Clam Beach Run.

Speaker 2 48:08

Yeah, did you? All the guys came back, mark Conover, oh, yes, yeah yeah, for Clam Beach Run.

Speaker 1 48:11

Yeah, I was there. Did you run that last?

Speaker 2 48:13

I didn't run it this year, I've run it many years.

Speaker 1 48:16

Yeah, that was my first race I ever ran. I did five miles the day before First time ever Good going At the track. I'm ready for eight and a half miles.

Speaker 2 48:25

Yeah, I can't Piece of cake.

Speaker 1 48:27

Oh dear, it was fun All that momentum because all the love and all the adrenals.

Speaker 2 48:33

Isn't it something? It'll carry you at least the first two miles. Yeah, you won't even know you did it, and then those darn little hills, hate those hills.

Speaker 1 48:41

So question number two Okay, what would you change about Humboldt if you could wave your magic wand and go? Hey, a couple of things I'd like to see different.

Speaker 2 48:50

God, these are things I haven't thought about. They change. Looking at the map as if that's going to help me, it might. I'm just like, yeah, there's the highways up there. I think you're right about the beaches and the forest.

Speaker 1 49:06

Yeah what would I change? We've rediscovered that, after COVID just being out, a lot Trails, yeah, so many trails and places, magic places.

Speaker 2 49:16

Yeah, I mean not to step backwards, but it was kind of odd that during COVID that you would have like they closed some parks and things. I mean there's some ridiculous things.

Speaker 1 49:26

Didn't make any sense. Didn't make any sense. We did a lot of stupid things during COVID. Yeah, I know. And we don't even need to go there. We did know what we were doing. Yeah, let's talk about that for a while. Let's not talk about that Good going. What would I change?

Speaker 2 49:39

though, gosh, nothing is jumping out. I mean, there's been a lot of effort of gathering people together for various community events.

Speaker 1 49:50

I like that.

Speaker 2 49:50

I mean I do like that's one thing I like about Ramon's like our big farm table at Harrison Avenue. It's just a place where people can gather up and it's sort of you can have different people at the same table because it's big enough. It's like a community table, and that's what I really like about Humboldt County Seems like people are interested in getting to know one another. We could do more of that.

Speaker 1 50:14

That'd be a change.

Speaker 2 50:16

Yeah, we could do more of that yeah why not?

Speaker 1 50:17

I think there's enough divergence and division that we could probably improve on some of that.

Speaker 2 50:23

Good yeah.

Speaker 1 50:24

We'll do that, all right. Next question Besides Ramon's coffee, whose coffee do you like in town?

Speaker 2 50:34

Well, recently I had some kinetic coffee that was really delicious, okay, and that.

Speaker 1 50:40

Hey Mark, hi Charlie, yeah, good Mark and Charlie.

Speaker 2 50:42

Some more local producers Again. And that, hey, mark, hi, charlie. Yeah, good, mark and Charlie Some more local producers. Again, I know.

Speaker 1 50:47

We didn't even say Haleashi.

Speaker 2 50:48

Oh my, we haven't even Jewelry, like I said, we are just barely Yakima Racks. Yeah, wing, wing Inflatables. Oh good, one Cocotat.

Speaker 1 50:58

Did you know Steve Cole?

Speaker 2 51:01

Not personally.

Speaker 1 51:02

Yeah, he was part of Yakima. Yeah, he and Don Banducci and all those cats and it's really interesting, though, just the thread of all these people did these iconic things after I'm going to say most of them went to Humboldt, but I don't know that. Probably, Probably, probably, yeah I wonder how they landed here.

Speaker 2 51:24

That's a good question for a lot of those folks.

Speaker 1 51:27

Back to your kinetic coffee compliment. They have good coffee. They do have good coffee. You like their coffee, I do yeah, there's a lot.

Speaker 2 51:33

I mean, I drink so much of our own coffee. I haven't drank a lot of other people's coffee. I'll just say that Fogline is good. I've had some good coffee from them.

Speaker 1 51:44

I've heard that.

Speaker 2 51:45

Yeah, they're out in the Foodworks area, out on Erickson Court.

Speaker 1 51:50

Right, I think they have a little. Am I thinking of the right one? They're next to the local, across from the co-op.

Speaker 2 51:57

They might have something in town, but I'm thinking of more that are out by the culinary program. I've heard that's really good. That's good coffee.

Speaker 1 52:05

Do you have Jersey Scoop yet their ice cream? No, I haven't. Supposedly pretty good, thomas. You said you'd be a guest on the show. I haven't heard from you, and that goes for you too, holly. Sorry, I would love to have you on the show. Cool, we're hoping to have Jerry Rohde too, the historian.

Speaker 2 52:23

Okay.

Speaker 1 52:24

Yeah. I never do this, where I kind of dream along with you. Hey Scott, if you could have a couple guests, who would you have on?

Speaker 2 52:30

Oh, the history of this area is fascinating. Oh, it's amazing. Oh, I love.

Speaker 1 52:35

Mixed and amazing and trippy it is it's wild.

Speaker 2 52:40

Okay, question number three. Okay, where do you go for dinner? Let's see, well, we've gone to Brick and Fire a few times and we've gone to Larapin a few times, and those are kind of old standbys.

Speaker 1 52:57

Does Brian like Two Doors Down? Perchance for the wine Does.

Speaker 2 53:01

Brian like Two Doors Down. Perchance for the wine. Well, he does drink some of those wines that they carry for sure. We haven't just gone over there and had a drink. Sure, we go, I tell you. We go home and enjoy a glass of wine and crash, and then we have nice bread and cheese, and then we do. Brian is a wonderful chef, so we actually eat a lot at home.

Speaker 1 53:24

That's beautiful. So he cooks and does this all day and then cooks them.

Speaker 2 53:28

Well, all day is not so much all day anymore, as in me, I'm not there very much anymore, which? Is great, but we've got some other things in the works. It's not like I'm retired. I can't say I'm retired, but I went through a semi-retired phase and now I'm— how did that go? Oh, I rode my horses a lot.

Speaker 1 53:43

Got it all out of your system. I rode and rode.

Speaker 2 53:47

Yeah, where else do we go out to eat? Where have we enjoyed some food? Gosh, I see—we got to go support our local food producers.

Speaker 1 54:01

I keep telling ourselves that we really need to get out more Brick and Fire is delicious we like sushi, we love sushi, so we've gone out for sushi once in a while.

Speaker 2 54:11

There's a few sushi spots we've gone to.

Speaker 1 54:13

Yeah, there's some good sushi. We like Mexican food Sure, we're getting better. I'm from San Diego, so a little bit spoiled. Oh yeah, Coming up to you know. Oh, that I know. Same with the.

Speaker 2 54:23

Bay Area, I mean Oakland, San Francisco.

Speaker 1 54:26

Amazing food.

What Barrett Loves About Humboldt County

Speaker 2 54:26

And we think why can't this be transported to Humboldt?

Speaker 1 54:30

It's really funny, yeah, as we wind down a question for you. So yes, you did win a Dutch Brothers card, so you can do whatever, okay, oh, let me present that, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Dutch Bros. You've won a lifetime supply of something Of a Dutch Bros. Thank you, dutch Bros, cool. And so if we talked about your legacy, what would you like?

Speaker 2 55:08

to be remembered for in the community. When it's time, on your gravestone, on your celebration of life, the book you're going to write, how would you like to be remembered? Well, I would say that I've pretty much always enjoyed what I've been doing and I really like I like it fuels my fire when I see people enjoying themselves at our shop. So I just love people. I like interacting with customers a lot. I like people coming in and seeing other friends of theirs. So it's just a nice hub of a place to kind of pull people together. So it's just a nice hub of a place to kind of pull people together and I like that we can offer, you know cut out cookies and a chocolate milk for a kid, or we can have, you know, pizza and beer on tap for somebody that wants to hang out on our patio.

Speaker 2 55:56

I came over here how sometimes the music that's played in our shops sometimes isn't appropriate. So if we have, I'll say, think of it as if your grandma was coming in for tea. Is this the music that your grandmother would like to enjoy while she's having tea here?

Speaker 1 56:16

Oh, good one, that was just what I would say.

Speaker 2 56:18

Okay, is this your grandma that would be listening to this, right? So, anyway, I do like to have some background music, but it can get out of hand. But anyway, I just I really I feel like we've given back to the community in having so many people have worked for us over the years I mean thousands probably. So I really feel good about having it as a launching pad for other careers that have gone out into the community and maybe their first job was at Ramones and got to interact with the customers that way.

Speaker 1 56:51

Yeah, there's a legacy statement. Thousands of employees Las Bagels echoed that. They felt like they were like a training ground. Yeah, just part of it people's journeys into the world of employment, and what a delight to see people being delighted in your product and the space that you create.

Speaker 2 57:12

Yeah, it's very uplifting and heartening to feel like. We've been successful and we still are known as a place that you can come get good food and you might see somebody you know there.

Speaker 1 57:26

I see that a lot in Old Town so I imagine that the medical community would be more of a stable over on Harrison.

Speaker 2 57:35

Yeah, a lot of people you know. And what's actually? Some people, if they're waiting for a friend that's in the hospital, they come over or grab some food to go and take it to somebody in the hospital or are waiting for some results for something. And so it's turned out to be a good location A little respite for folks yeah. Yeah, people always complain that there's not enough parking, but somehow they get there, rain or shine. You know, it's okay to walk. It is okay to walk.

Speaker 1 58:00

When we go to Costco, joni says I go, we're parking way out here the back 40. She goes you can walk. What's wrong with you? It's good to walk Then you got to schlep it all back. Certainly is. Anyway, she's right again, yeah, anyway. So hey, delighted to have you.

Speaker 2 58:17

It's been fun Scott.

Speaker 1 58:18

Yeah, it's been fun, Scott. Yeah, it's so cool to be part of a community with people like you that have built something magical and you know lasting and have such a great story.

Speaker 2 58:30

Thank you.

Speaker 1 58:31

And you did it today. One thing that I kind of caught maybe I caught it wrong, okay, and that was something new coming down the pike. I mean, I don't know what I would be thinking.

Speaker 2 58:40

We bought a building on 7th and E. Do you know what that building is? It's across from the Eureka Inn. It's behind Marsh Graves Museum.

Speaker 1 58:51

I've known it for a long years because it's right by my State Farm office and it's lingered and it's beautifully located.

Speaker 2 58:59

It has parking, it has parking.

Speaker 1 59:01

Wait, you bought that building. We bought that building. I wonder what you'd put in there. Ah, gosh.

Speaker 2 59:06

It's beautiful seating, the wonderful light.

Speaker 1 59:09

Gosh, it's so open.

Speaker 2 59:10

It is very open.

Speaker 1 59:11

South facing west-south.

Speaker 2 59:12

West-south, I know.

Speaker 1 59:13

Really.

Speaker 2 59:14

We're working on getting that off the ground. It's been slow going. One of our daughters is really interested in coming up here. She went to did some baking in San Francisco. She's working at a bakery in San Francisco now.

Speaker 2 59:33

She went to school for some and wants to learn what it takes to open up a business. So we're kind of I wouldn't say we're waiting for her, but she really wants to. In fact, she's coming up next weekend and we're going to start hammering out some details and visions and yeah, a lot of that's in place already.

Speaker 1 59:47

I mean the construction and the interior.

Speaker 2 59:48

Yeah yeah, there's a kitchen in there already. It's a little bit awkward in how it's laid out, but that's you know, it's manageable. Yeah yeah, there's a big bakery oven in there Awesome. So yeah yeah, there's a big bakery oven in there, awesome.

Future Plans: A New Location on 7th and E

Speaker 1 1:00:02

So All right, good luck on that. We'll look for that. Thank you, seventh and E you heard it here first Scott Hammond, with 100% Humble. Thanks for joining us, check us out on all the social media and say something nice, and we'll be back next week with some special guests. And thanks again.

Speaker 2 1:00:19

Mary Meyer, it's been very.