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Pop-up paradise Relationships between breweries and food vendors were invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic [8] BY KAREN GARCIA
BREWS
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOT MEAT SOCIETY
BY KAREN GARCIA
AND FOOD
Collaborations between breweries and pop-ups create opportunities
PHOTO COURTESY OF CORAZON 805
I
n January 2020, Brendan Gough opened the doors to his brewery and tasting room, Liquid Gravity, on Clarion Court in a small industrial neighborhood in San Luis Obispo. The veteran brewer, who worked for Central Coast Brewing and Firestone Walker Brewing Company, wanted a creative outlet to explore different hop varieties, malts, and ingredients, as well as establish a rotating list of new brews. “Getting my own brewery and opening my own spot was my opportunity to just continue on that path and try to find new things,” he said. Shortly after he opened, the COVID-19 pandemic forced local businesses to pivot if they wanted to continue operating in some capacity. Liquid Gravity’s initial business model was to sell beer on draft and in kegs with canned beer sold out of the tasting room. With pandemic regulations, Gough and his team switched to canning almost all their beer. “The stakes were pretty high. I mean it was literally the survival of our business,” Gough said. Several months later, breweries were allowed to welcome guests for outdoor seating, but customers were required to purchase food along with their beverages. The brewery established a consistent lineup of vendors from Wednesday through Sunday, something that many local breweries and tasting rooms did during the pandemic and hope to continue into the future.
Taco dreams
On a busy Friday night at Liquid Gravity, Crescencio Hernandez Villar hovered over the grill cooking up chicken adobo, ahi tuna, or cauliflower in mole verde to be served in fresh handmade tortillas. His partner, Pedro Arias Lopez, took orders and handed out tacos. Their venture, Corazon 805, started as a catering company about three years ago and morphed into a pop-up food vendor. Hernandez Villar and Arias Lopez met at Big Sky Cafe, dreaming of a stand at San Luis Obispo’s Thursday night farmers’ market. It wasn’t allowed at the
ORDER UP David Jang’s love of food translated to creating a pop-up serving smash burgers to help a local business. CORAZON Made with heart and passion, Corazon 805 founders Pedro Arias Lopez (left) and Crescencio Hernandez Villar (right) said that popup partnerships helped spread the word about their tacos.
time because they didn’t have a brick-andmortar establishment or a commercial kitchen to work out of. But that didn’t stop them from coming up with new recipes that incorporated flavors from their native states of Guerrero and Chiapas, Mexico. Big Sky Cafe and Novo, where Arias Lopez and Hernandez Villar work, respectively, allowed the two to use their kitchens to prep and purchase ingredients from their suppliers. That support allowed them to form a partnership with Liquid Gravity to provide tacos and tostadas to hungry beer drinkers before and during the pandemic. Hernandez Villar said working with the brewery has really helped get their name out there. He said that they focus on making food for happy customers who will tell others about them. “Every time we’re making food, we’re doing it with passion, with love, with corazon,” Hernandez Villar said. Arias Lopez said the opportunity opened the door to working with other tasting rooms, including There Does Not Exist, Wolff Winery, and Broad Street Public House. They both agree that if they didn’t have this opportunity, getting their name out there would have taken a lot more time. They also credit Arias Lopez’s wife, Sara McGrath, who helms their Instagram account where followers can see their Friday night offerings or where their next pop-up will be.
SERVING UP CRAFT SANDWICHES AND SALADS TO THE SLO COMMUNITY SINCE 1989!
Where beer exists
Max Montgomery opened his spot, There Does Not Exist, in September of 2019 with a solid focus on beer. Before that, Montgomery was a brewer at Firestone for about six years with no intention of leaving. “In my opinion, to this day it’s still the gold standard. I love that place,” he said. However, Montgomery had a once-in-alifetime opportunity to establish his own brewery, and he felt that if he didn’t take it he might regret it one day. So he took a leap and created a tap list of sessionable brews that have lower alcoholcontent. Montgomery’s beers almost never have higher than 6 percent alcohol content. When the local stay-at-home orders went into effect, similar to Liquid Gravity, There Does Not Exist switched to canning beer, selling it out of the tasting room, and home delivery. There Does Not Exist didn’t immediately jump into welcoming outdoor guests with food offerings because Montgomery said they wanted to talk with their staff first and figure things out. It was also challenging finding food purveyors because they were a hot commodity, and the brewery didn’t have relationships with food vendors yet. Although the brewery occasionally booked a food truck pre-pandemic, it was sporadic. “Now, it’s certainly got my wheels spinning about bringing in permanent food,” Montgomery said. He isn’t sure whether food offerings in the future will be from vendors or a commercial kitchen of his own, but he’s happy with the relationships he’s made with food vendors during the pandemic. More importantly, though, he’s happy to have people back in the tasting room.
Burger ventures The Hot Meat Society was one of the first vendors to pop up regularly at There Does Not Exist during the pandemic. David Jang and his best friends, Kyle Genevay and Deryk Izuo, cooked up smash burgers that Jang described as a simple cheeseburger that evokes nostalgia and mouth-watering flavors with every bite. That nostalgia is important to Jang, whose family served classic American food in their restaurant. Jang, who’s Korean American, said it was an interesting mix of coming from an immigrant family that ate traditional Korean food at home but served cheeseburgers and BLTs at the restaurant— “The best of both worlds,” he said. Jang came to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly and stuck around to start his career as a full-time art director. During that time till now, Jang has held roommate dinners, where he pairs food with an emotional connection. “A lot of my food memories are from my grandma, my mom, and my aunts,” Jang said. “Whenever we ate, it was always a family moment. There was always an experience that goes with it.” Jang started frequenting There Does Not Exist when it opened and became a friend of Montgomery’s. He often joked with Montgomery about barbecuing for the brewery’s customers. When the brewery was ready to host food vendors, Montgomery asked Jang to be a pop-up, and Jang was ready to help support a local business and a friend. Hot Meat Society served up burgers almost every weekend, but once Jang saw that Montgomery was getting other vendors lined up, he took a step back. “I felt bad taking that away from people who are really doing this to survive. So I spoke to [Montgomery] and said, ‘Hey I think right now the good call is to allow this platform to be available for other vendors to serve food and make money,” he said. Hot Meat Society hasn’t served smash burgers since December save for one day on June 5, 2021, when it made a guest appearance at There Does Not Exist. Jang says it was a one-time thing, but he’s glad to have had the opportunity to make food for the public. Eventually, he knows he’ll do it again. “Whether it’s a food truck or a restaurant, that’s something I have to do in my life,” he said. “Right now it’s the chapter in my life that is working here, but, you know, the end goal is really to go back to my roots and what I love.” Δ Staff Writer Karen Garcia can be reached at kgarcia@newtimesslo.com.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF MEA WINE
BY PETER JOHNSON
TO TABLE
Boutique family winery MEA Wine opens its first tasting room in Atascadero
W
hen Atascadero resident John Merrick first planted a small vineyard on his west Paso Robles ranch a decade ago, he didn’t do it as a business venture necessarily, but as a creative outlet for his own experiments. “It was really about exploring,” said Merrick, who’s an architect. “I’ve always been sort of a scientist in a way.” Without knowing it at the time, Merrick was planting the vines for what would eventually become MEA Wine, his boutique winery that he now operates with his wife, Daniela Medrano, a longtime local whose mother owned the popular Mexican restaurant in Atascadero, Salsitas. Last month, after several years of preparation, the couple opened MEA Wine’s first tasting room on Traffic Way, which also houses the winery, and is a mere six blocks away from their Atascadero home. “By 2017, I was ready to bottle some wine for commercial sale, but we were still looking for a place to move into,” Merrick explained. “When this property became available, it was perfect for us because it’s very close to home.” MEA Wine is a true family venture. Merrick is the winemaker while Medrano runs the business side as a former accountant and controller. Their three boys—ages 10, 12, and 16—also contribute. “Our 10-year-old is a hard, diligent worker. He loves power-washing,” Medrano said with a laugh. Their 12-year-old is also making creative contributions. His artwork—a painting of a sunflower bursting with color—is featured on MEA’s latest chardonnay label, which is set for release this month. “We were painting Mason jars one day over COVID, and we really liked one of his pieces,” Medrano said. Speaking about his winemaking approach, Merrick said he has a particular interest and passion for white wine, especially for working with lesser-
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POWER COUPLE John Merrick and Daniela Medrano (pictured) operate MEA Wine in Atascadero, with Merrick serving as the winemaker and Medrano running the business side.
FAMILY VENTURE MEA Wine is a true family business. This chardonnay label (pictured) is artwork made by the owners’ 12-year-old son.
known grape varietals “that are just being discovered.” His four estate wines right now are a 2019 vermentino, a 2019 albariño, a 2020 vermentino/albariño bend, and a 2018 syrah/tempranillo blend. “I’ve gotten to know and love making white wine. I really enjoy making them,” he said. “The grapes I like working with are maybe some of the lesser-known grapes. It’s a broader spectrum of grape varieties then the standard focus.” Merrick said that those interests were inspired by his experiences tasting various wines from around the world— and wondering how they’d do here in Open for SLO County. “I wanted to tasting explore not only MEA Wine recently what those were like opened its first tasting in my area, but what room at 4405 Traffic are the different Way in Atascadero. It is open Thursday through styles or directions Sunday, starting at that I can take 1 p.m. each day. them,” he said. Make a reservation at Those four meawine.com or by wines—and more calling (805) 703-1655. than a dozen others sourced from other Central Coast vineyards—are now available for tasting at MEA Wine’s location at 4405 Traffic Way. Medrano said that their dog- and kidfriendly tasting room keeps a “relaxed, causal atmosphere,” where visitors can meet the winemaker and engage in a direct and intimate experience. The room itself has numerous personal touches in it—Merrick used his architectural expertise to handcraft the tasting bar out of barrel racks and reclaimed wood, and Medrano sells local art pieces out of the “bright, fun, painted” space. “Everything is kind of done in that fashion,” Merrick said. “Our vision and handiwork is evident everywhere.” With COVID-19 restrictions finally easing on wineries, the couple said their years-in-the-making venture now seems perfectly timed. MEA Wine is open Thursday through Sunday, for both reservations and walk-ups, starting at 1 p.m. each day. “When I first purchased property here, I think in the back of my mind the whole time I had a desire to be in the wine industry, and not just live in it,” Merrick reflected. “It just took a long time for that gestation to occur. It’s been going very well.” Δ Assistant Editor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
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BY KASEY BUBNASH
SHOULD WE GO AL FRESCO?
PHOTO BY JAYSON MELLOM
As the pandemic winds down, Central Coast cities consider the future of pandemic-era outdoor dining
PARK IT AT A PARKLET As part of its pandemic response, SLO made the last stretch of Monterey Street going into Mission Plaza a oneway street, making room for street dining outside Giuseppe’s and Finney’s.
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ven with its renowned creekside dining space, Novo Lounge and Restaurant struggled to make up for around 20 tables that were lost to indoor dining and capacity restrictions launched at the height of the pandemic. Fewer tables meant fewer customers, and that quickly led to a lot less revenue. So when the city of San Luis Obispo rolled out a program in July of last year that allowed restaurants to build dining areas in public street parking spots, in parking lots, on sidewalks, and in alleyways, Novo jumped at the chance. Samantha Welch—director of operations at Blue Mango Restaurant Management Services, the group that operates Novo, Luna Red, and a few other San Luis Obispo County restaurants—said Novo almost immediately applied for an Open SLO encroachment permit, which the city is still giving out free of charge to businesses hoping to operate outdoors due to COVID-19. The city helped Novo install a standard parklet, which Welch said spans two street parking spaces and includes flooring, railings, and, most importantly, around eight additional tables. “I’m grateful to the city for making the changes that they did,” Welch said, “and for us it’s been super beneficial.” Novo put some of its own money into the parklet too, enclosing it in lattice fencing for a little extra security from passing traffic, stringing up lights, adding some potted plants, and hauling out umbrellas and propane heaters whenever necessary. But—unlike restaurants such as Eureka!, which has everything from Plexiglas barriers between tables to roofing on its parklet— Welch said Novo refrained from putting too much into the potentially temporary space. Although Welch said she loves the bustling atmosphere parklets create downtown, it’s still not clear whether they’re here to stay. “But if it were something that became a full-time thing then we’d absolutely invest further into it,” she said. As Californians become increasingly vaccinated and COVID-19 restrictions ease, cities and business owners throughout the Central Coast are trying to figure out what to do with pandemicera outdoor dining spaces. Although parklets helped resolve a number of pandemic-specific problems, city officials say they also create others, including reduced parking capacity, accessibility issues, and intensified needs for already hard to find restaurant employees. In the city of SLO alone, 38 businesses have parklets in street parking spots, around 10 are using sidewalk space for outdoor dining, and another handful are still using private parking lots for operations, according to Transportation Manager Luke Schwartz.
12 • New Times • June 10 - June 17, 2021 • www.newtimesslo.com
The city also removed a lane of traffic on Higuera Street and replaced it with a bike lane, and made the last stretch of Monterey Street going into Mission Plaza a one-way street, making room for street dining outside Giuseppe’s and Finney’s. Other outdoor spaces, like Mission Plaza or private parking lots across the city, became new hubs for dining. But, Schwartz said, none of that was intended to be permanent. “It’s been a real noticeable challenge to our parking division,” he said. The city is missing more than 60 public parking spots due to parklet dining, Schwartz said, at an estimated cost of around $230,000 in lost parking meter revenue each year. SLO allocated about $600,000 in general and CARES Act funds to the Open SLO program, through which the city constructed parklets, made modifications to Monterey Street, and created public health signage. There are also additional city maintenance costs associated with outdoor dining that aren’t fully captured in that $600,000, Schwartz said. One way the city could offset some of those costs, he said, is through the creation of an annual parklet permit fee. Businesses are already required to get Open SLO encroachment permits and insurance before building parklets, but, as of now, the permits themselves are free. SLO City Council is slated to discuss that possibility and others at a public study session on outdoor dining on July 20, where Schwartz said members will consider making parklets and other features of the city’s pandemic response permanent fixtures. SLO also just launched a survey regarding outdoor dining, with the hopes of getting input from community members and business owners before the July study session. A decision has to be made before the end of this year, when SLO’s relaxed outdoor dining and parking measures are set to expire. Cities throughout SLO County are grappling with similar considerations. In Grover Beach—where roughly 22 businesses have obtained temporary use permits for expanded outdoor dining on sidewalks and in parking lots, and only two have streetside parklets—City Council expressed interest in permanently relaxing its minimum parking requirements at a meeting on May 24. Still, several council members said they were concerned about the proximity of street parklets to fast moving traffic and lacking disability accessibility on sidewalks where restaurants have set up expanded dining areas. Pismo Beach City Manager Jim Lewis
said his city has lost an estimated $200,000 in parking fee revenue due to its six parklets downtown. But, more importantly, he said, the loss of those parking spots also equates to more difficulties accessing the coast, which is generally considered a big no-no for cities in the coastal zone. Lewis said city staff are still researching whether permanent parklets would violate coastal zone regulations. Santa Maria city staff are dealing with different needs entirely. Chuen Ng, director of Community Development, said Santa Maria’s streets just aren’t set up for the kinds of parklets that have become so popular in downtown SLO. Both of Santa Maria’s core streets, Main Street and Broadway, are owned and maintained by Caltrans, which Ng said would have had to approve any parklets or other expanded dining options at restaurants on either of those streets. So while there are a few restaurants in town with tables and chairs set up on sidewalks, Ng said there aren’t any street parklets. The rest set up dining spaces in their private parking lots, which are allowed through relaxations to zoning regulations that Santa Maria passed in May 2020 in response to COVID-19. Ng said he’s hearing mostly from business owners who want to keep the banners and temporary signs advertising their hours of operation and services available. Businesses aren’t normally allowed to have temporary banners unless there are specific circumstances, Ng said, because the city wants to encourage businesses to invest in permanent signs. That rule was relaxed in response to COVID-19 too, and Ng said businesses want it to stay that way. “I think as the pandemic winds down we’ll need to reengage with the business community and talk about whether we’ll continue those accommodations into the future or not,” he said. There’s no specific end date for Santa Maria’s signage or outdoor dining rules, and Ng said staff haven’t formally discussed how they’ll move forward. But he said it’s likely that some allowances from the pandemic could carry over into the future, including outdoor dining. “We’re open to the idea because it allows for greater visibility for the businesses but also opportunities for our customers to enjoy a meal outside,” Ng said. “And we have great weather on the Central Coast, so why not take advantage of it?” Δ Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash can be reached at kbubnash@newtimesslo.com.