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

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond on the 100% Humboldt podcast with my very amazing producer, Nick. I never give him credit. He got it right away. And my new best friend, Berit Meyer.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Berit.

Berit Meyer: Hi there, Scott.

Scott Hammond: How are you?

Berit Meyer: I'm doing great.

Scott Hammond: Tell us, what are, who are, who are you? What are you known for? What do you do?

Berit Meyer: Oh. That's such a funny question because I show up in the community in many different places and people say, "Oh-

Scott Hammond: I know you

Berit Meyer: … I know you. Wait, aren't you, uh…"

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Had a friend of mine came to visit a long time ago. I was a high school buddy, and she said… We were at the co-op shopping. She said, "Berit, you're the pillar of the community-"

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: "… 'cause I could say hi to so many people," and she-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … you know, it's just unheard of when you're in a bigger city, so I-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … just love that about Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: You don't know everybody. You know every other buddy.

Berit Meyer: Every other buddy.

Scott Hammond: Which is a lot.

Berit Meyer: For sure. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: 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."

Scott Hammond: Right. Right.

Berit Meyer: I haven't been getting out.

Scott Hammond: So tell us what you… So those of us that don't know you and wouldn't know you to see you on TV-

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … wherever we might be, on TV now or the internet or wherever, what, um, so what, what are you known for here in Humboldt?

Berit Meyer: I'm known for baked goods-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yes

Berit Meyer: … and places to come hang out, so Ramone's Bakery is, is my business.

Scott Hammond: Tell us about the history of Ramone's.

Berit Meyer: Let's see. Let's see. How far back shall I go? I would say '81 is when we opened the doors.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And so I graduated, I came up here to go to Humboldt State.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Graduated in 1981.

Scott Hammond: Not Cal Poly. Humboldt State.

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

Scott Hammond: I know everybody… It's, it's a running joke.

Berit Meyer: It is, I bet.

Scott Hammond: Cal Poly, Humboldt.

Berit Meyer: Um, yeah. So I came up here, um, to get a degree in wildlife management, which I did, and graduated

Berit Meyer: in '81.

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay.

Berit Meyer: Came up from, uh, the Bay Area. I grew up in Berkeley.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: Went to school at Davis for a couple years, took a year off, traveled around the country in a VW Bus, had a great time.

Scott Hammond: How cool are you?

Berit Meyer: Visited national parks and-

Scott Hammond: The bus?

Berit Meyer: The V-

Scott Hammond: The VW Bus.

Berit Meyer: In a VW Bus, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Joni, my wife, has a '67 Beetle the kids-

Berit Meyer: Oh

Scott Hammond: … rebuilt for her. It's beautiful.

Berit Meyer: I think ours was a '67 Bus.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: I think it was.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, a friend of mine in college and I decided to just hit, hit the road for nine

Berit Meyer: months.

Scott Hammond: That's pretty cool.

Berit Meyer: It was a blast, a blast.

Scott Hammond: So you did your first couple years at Cal and then finished at Humboldt State.

Berit Meyer: Yes, I did. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow. I came up as a wildlife major in '78 from San Diego. The difference is that this guy wasn't that great at math, so I ended up with a liberal arts degree and a, and a podcast 50 years later.

Berit Meyer: Okay. Okay, '78's the year I landed-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Berit Meyer: … in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. What year did you graduate? High school.

Berit Meyer: Uh, '75.

Scott Hammond: '75 from, from-

Berit Meyer: From Berkeley High.

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Home of Chez Panisse Restaurant.

Berit Meyer: Yes, indeed.

Scott Hammond: Our son took us there. It's amazing.

Berit Meyer: Oh.

Scott Hammond: It was still pretty good. I'd never been and it was tasty.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. We usually go to… Well, usually. It's not like we go that often. There's the upstairs and the-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … downstairs. So the upstairs is more manageable as far as being able to get in.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Downstairs is-

Scott Hammond: That's where we went. We were upstairs.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Nice, nice, nice.

Scott Hammond: Where they send everybody.

Berit Meyer: It's, yeah, almost in the neighborhood I grew up in. I grew up just a little up in, up the hill from there.

Scott Hammond: So wildlife management to artisan baking.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: How does, how did that, how did that happen?

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Did it start with Ramone's Restaurant in, in Opera Alley, or is-

Berit Meyer: It-

Scott Hammond: … am I getting ahead of us?

Berit Meyer: Um, you're getting a little ahead.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Berit Meyer: Uh, let's see. So I worked at Tommaso's when I was in

Berit Meyer: college.

Scott Hammond: For Tom?

Berit Meyer: With, with Tom Pagano.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Tom. Shout out to Tom.

Berit Meyer: Hey, Tom. Thank you, Tom.

Scott Hammond: Is he still in the area?

Berit Meyer: Yes, he is.

Scott Hammond: T- Tom, if you're here, raise your hand.

Berit Meyer: So let's see. Um, worked for Tom, and I… What did I start doing? Oh, the, uh, chocolate cakes, the

Berit Meyer: humongous-

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy

Berit Meyer: … triple layer, double high chocolate cake.

Scott Hammond: I'm looking over at Ramone's box right now on the table going.

Berit Meyer: And I learned how to make that cake. He, um, Tom said, "Okay, well, the, the gal that makes it makes it in her house, so

Berit Meyer: you-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … go to her house, and you get to find out what she does to create these."

Scott Hammond: So they served that-

Berit Meyer: So-

Scott Hammond: … at Tommaso's Restaurant.

Berit Meyer: Yes, they did.

Scott Hammond: I remember it now.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he's-

Berit Meyer: With a big, uh, it was, um, a cake stand and a huge plastic-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … cover, and it was always, you know-

Scott Hammond: At the, would they-

Berit Meyer: … at the hostess station or-

Scott Hammond: And they would slice it.

Berit Meyer: Slice it, yes.

Scott Hammond: And those were all your cakes.

Berit Meyer: For a, for, um, a brief co- amount of time, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: He made the amazing, um, calzones.

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they were… It was affordable and delicious.

Berit Meyer: I know. And so I used to mix up the tomato sauce in the back

Berit Meyer: in-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … huge 10-gallon buckets and-

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: Tom said, "Hey, okay, I wanna 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 gonna do this."

Scott Hammond: I'm a wildlife major.

Berit Meyer: 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."

Scott Hammond: Perfect.

Berit Meyer: "Okay. If I mess up, it's your fault, so-"

Scott Hammond: It's on you.

Berit Meyer: Anyway, it, it was great. So every Sunday afternoon after we were done with the brunch, it was a really a fabulous brunch. We made hollandaise and, you know-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … 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.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Berit Meyer: And so we had the Sunday night surprise, we called it, with my roommates. I lived with, I think, six other people.

Scott Hammond: In Arcata, is that right?

Berit Meyer: 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,

Berit Meyer: like, um, I guess you wouldn't say a meringue 'cause there's no sugar in it, but anyway-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … it was a souffle, egg-based thing. All the leftovers from the omelets and the-

Scott Hammond: Delicious

Berit Meyer: … the different things we made for brunch-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … would go into that. It was, it was so fun.

Scott Hammond: What did you call it?

Berit Meyer: I called it, uh, Souffle Surprise.

Scott Hammond: Surprise. So it could be anything.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: That's delicious. It sounds good.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah. Um, so, uh, yeah, I made those cakes, did a few other things at Tommaso's, and then Tommaso's-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Berit Meyer: … uh, Tom sold it to somebody else, and I finished college in, let's see, when I was, uh, finished college in

Berit Meyer: 1981. And I thought, "Okay, I've got a degree in wildlife."

Scott Hammond: Now what?

Berit Meyer: "I think I should go to Alaska. That's where the wildlife is." And I had two friends that lived up there.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: So I thought… I bought a plane ticket, and I was set to go within a week. And then Barb Berkemeier, she said, "Berit, Tom just got ahold of me, and I've got a proposition coming from Tom we gotta talk about."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: So she came over to my house, and she said, "You know, Tom is wondering if we'd like to join him in a, in a new venture. He wants to open up a new restaurant."

Scott Hammond: Well, well, well.

Berit Meyer: And so I said, "Oh my gosh, this is an opportunity I will never get again."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: So canceled plane ticket.

Scott Hammond: Bye Alaska.

Berit Meyer: Uh, bye, bye, bye Alaska.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: And, um, Barb and I and Tom spent that whole summer-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … putting together the Ramone's Opera Alley Cafe-

Scott Hammond: And this is Barb-

Berit Meyer: … in Opera Alley

Scott Hammond: … Barb that's, uh, married to, uh, Michael?

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Who now has Jewel Distillery.

Scott Hammond: Barbara and Michael, we know you. They were in the office the other day hung- hanging out.

Berit Meyer: Oh, were they?

Scott Hammond: They're great.

Berit Meyer: Oh, nice.

Scott Hammond: Love those guys.

Berit Meyer: Nice, nice. I love that their-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … their operation.

Scott Hammond: So you guys, you and Barb were partners for a bit.

Berit Meyer: Yes, we were. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: At the restaurant.

Berit Meyer: Yes, we were. And, uh-

Scott Hammond: It was an amazing restaurant

Berit Meyer: … yeah. And so we did that.

Berit Meyer: '81, opened up. After two years, Tom said, "You know-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … I love to start businesses, but I would rather move on. How about you guys would like to buy it from me?"

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: Because he was a little bit more of an owner than we were.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: He decided, "Well, I've got all the money to put it together.

Berit Meyer: So-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … I'm gonna be 52%, and Barb and I reach 24%."

Scott Hammond: Wow. Smart guy.

Berit Meyer: So, yeah. I thought, "Okay, he's done this before."

Scott Hammond: Not the first rodeo.

Berit Meyer: Exactly. So, um, we thought, "Well, we've gotta give it a go on 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."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: So that took a little while to figure out what it was worth, and we finally fi- found a, a couple accountants that we did the book work and came up with a price.

Scott Hammond: And bought a restaurant.

Berit Meyer: And bought a restaurant. And-

Scott Hammond: Uh

Berit Meyer: … um, our guidance was, "You are never gonna make, make it rich in this business-

Scott Hammond: Uh

Berit Meyer: … but you will be working for yourself." And I said-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … "That sounds great to me."

Scott Hammond: You know the joke, right? You can work half time. Just choose the 12 hours you wanna work.

Berit Meyer: I love that.

Scott Hammond: That's ownership.

Scott Hammond: So-

Berit Meyer: Oh, gosh

Scott Hammond: … so how long was Ramone's around? 'Cause it seemed like through the '80s.

Berit Meyer: So yeah, we opened in '81, and we closed it in

Berit Meyer: 1990.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Wow.

Berit Meyer: And Barb, you know, Barb and I ran it for quite a while together.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: 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, uh, –

Scott Hammond: You're okay

Berit Meyer: … we opened up the place-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … in, um, '81. We bought Tom out in '83.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And then I think it was a couple years later, maybe

Berit Meyer: '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- … days a week to the Greyhound bus station and get these boxes of baguettes.

Scott Hammond: Score.

Berit Meyer: And you know what? I think back about how these things started.

Scott Hammond: Transport.

Berit Meyer: It's, it's crazy.

Scott Hammond: It's good.

Berit Meyer: So, um, we had a bread warmer, and anyway, that was, that was great. So we served our customers-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … with bread from San Francisco.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And so when we had the opportunity to, um, rent what is now Ramone's in Old

Berit Meyer: Town-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … that used to be the kitchen of Fog's Fish and Chips-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … on the corner. Do you remember that?

Scott Hammond: I do remember Fog's.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Fog's was somewhere else though, right? Was it where Sea Grill is? No, that was Fat Albert's.

Berit Meyer: That's a good question.

Scott Hammond: Was Fog's at the, where the bakery is now?

Berit Meyer: Fog's was where the Bootlegger is.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Yeah, that's right. It was on the corner.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Right.

Scott Hammond: Bootlegger's been there so long now.

Scott Hammond: It's like-

Berit Meyer: It's first… Oh, I know. Institution.

Scott Hammond: But that was the kitchen.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Ramone's was the kitchen.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And then the dining area was the Bootlegger now.

Scott Hammond: So you guys bought that space or rented it?

Berit Meyer: So we rented it, yeah. And, um, John Jaramillo was the owner of the whole building. He said, "Oh, you… I don't know. I don't wanna put another food business in there." And we were already renting him from around the corner Opera Alley Cafe.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Oh, I… Hmm. Yeah. How did the name Ramone's come about? I never even-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … touched on that one.

Scott Hammond: That's right. Yeah, there was a… Was there a Ramone?

Berit Meyer: There, there was not a Ramone involved in the business.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Was there a Ramone family?

Berit Meyer: No.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Berit Meyer: There was an Old Town street character-

Scott Hammond: Oh, and that was-

Berit Meyer: … named Ramone

Scott Hammond: … Ramone

Berit Meyer: And he-

Scott Hammond: Uh

Berit Meyer: … uh, his real name we found out later was Remo.

Scott Hammond: Remo.

Berit Meyer: But, uh, we thought, "We need a name that is going to be somebody's

Berit Meyer: place." So-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Berit Meyer: … it was either… There's Maxwell's. There was Youngberg's. There was Bergy's.

Berit Meyer: There was-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … It's all like, "Okay, that's the ticket to success. So let's think of somebody's name that would be like an international sounding name because-

Scott Hammond: Gabriels

Berit Meyer: … we thought… Yeah, Gabriels. Exactly. I'm sure we could come up with some more.

Berit Meyer: Um, and let's see. So, uh, we wanted, we wanted our, our little tagline was international cuisine with a California twist.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: So we thought, "Okay, Ramone's, we can't have… It can't be Tom, Barb, or I, but Ramone sound like a fun name to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … attach to our business." So that's what we did.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so attached to the bakery then.

Berit Meyer: And it's still… Yeah. It's-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Berit Meyer: … it's been the same name throughout.

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

Berit Meyer: Um, now there are five.

Scott Hammond: Oh, this is where I'm f- I'm a whole bunch of fun. This is where I do my prop. Ready?

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: You're going, "He don't know what's gonna happen here."

Berit Meyer: No, I don't.

Scott Hammond: She hasn't seen the show yet.

Berit Meyer: No, I haven't.

Scott Hammond: Nick, however, has seen 75 of these.

Scott Hammond: So, so in Humboldt County-

Berit Meyer: Oh, I see a map. Uh-huh

Scott Hammond: … there are five locations. So you have McKinleyville Bakery.

Berit Meyer: We do.

Scott Hammond: You have Eureka, proper downtown in Old Town.

Berit Meyer: That's the first one. Yes.

Scott Hammond: What's the address in Old Town?

Berit Meyer: 209 E Street.

Scott Hammond: Corner of about Second and E-

Berit Meyer: Uh

Scott Hammond: … Third and E

Berit Meyer: … Second and E-

Scott Hammond: Between Second and Third. Anyway.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, it was one of the third-

Scott Hammond: And then you're at Pearsons, which is brilliant.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then Wildberry's in Arcata.

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: It's right over there. Arcata and Eureka are kinda right on the opposite sides of the bay. You could see that from there.

Berit Meyer: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: And then what's the f- Did I miss one?

Berit Meyer: Let's see.

Scott Hammond: Fortuna?

Berit Meyer: There is… No, no Fortuna. We got McKinleyville, the one on Harrison Avenue.

Scott Hammond: Thank you. Oh, the, the Hub.

Berit Meyer: The Hub.

Scott Hammond: That's where you bake, right?

Berit Meyer: Yeah, that's where it's all happening.

Scott Hammond: Right. And they have delicious food, kinda l- kinda like Ramone's.

Berit Meyer: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Wait, it is Ramone's. No, the food's really d- dynamic there.

Berit Meyer: Oh, thank you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Thanks.

Scott Hammond: And it's located so perfectly with all the hospital-

Berit Meyer: You know-

Scott Hammond: … the medical community

Berit Meyer: … yeah, we, we rented the building next to us-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … in 1990. We opened up a bakery location there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And the only reason we picked that spot was because somebody told me that there was an oven for sale inside that building.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Berit Meyer: 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."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: So, um, the woman there said, "Well, actually, this whole space is for rent." I thought, "Really?"

Scott Hammond: Ah, weird.

Berit Meyer: "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."

Scott Hammond: Love it. When did that open?

Berit Meyer: 1990.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, that's been there that long now.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh. Um, this is where I do kind of a little break. Uh, if you're just joining us, this is my new best friend, Berit Meyer from Ramone's, formerly Opera Ala Cafe- Alley Cafe, now Ramone's Bakery. Is it Ramone's Bakery? Is that enough?

Berit Meyer: Bakery and Cafe.

Scott Hammond: And Cafe. Okay, good. Um, home of the, uh, one of the drinks I really liked in, in years past, I don't know if they still make it, was a, uh, a really small mochaccino. It was a really-

Berit Meyer: Oh

Scott Hammond: … strong mocha-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … with two or three shots of amazing magic, and I'd get that extra hot, non-fat-

Berit Meyer: Mm

Scott Hammond: … and my day was better.

Berit Meyer: Okay. Very good.

Scott Hammond: And you guys, I heard, were the first guys that mastered that, that mix that I really liked.

Berit Meyer: Oh, good. Thanks.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I should go back and get one.

Berit Meyer: There you go.

Scott Hammond: I bet they could do one.

Berit Meyer: I, I hope so.

Scott Hammond: Some barista could pull that together-

Scott Hammond: … pretty easily.

Berit Meyer: Just describe it like how you remembered it, and hopefully-

Scott Hammond: Oh, no

Berit Meyer: … they'll, yeah

Scott Hammond: … I think that's the impact of, of food and, and local and… So do you guys, uh, so- source locally, too, in terms of ingredients?

Scott Hammond: Um, like-

Berit Meyer: Well-

Scott Hammond: … not exclusively, but-

Berit Meyer: … let's see. Well, if we can get some, um, we

Berit Meyer: get basil, which is grown… It's amazing. Um, H- I don't- I hope I get this correct. There is a program to grow… There's a greenhouse out at Redwood Acres.

Scott Hammond: Oh, right.

Berit Meyer: And so there's hydroponic things going on in there that's incredible

Berit Meyer: quality.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: 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 Margherita

Berit Meyer: pizza.

Scott Hammond: Also delicious.

Berit Meyer: So that was wonderful.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And, um, that's what we primarily get from them, but then during the summer, we also get vegetables that, that they grow. They're not there year-round, although I think they're doing more-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … year-round than they used to.

Scott Hammond: Who runs that?

Berit Meyer: It's part of, um, the… I was gonna say HCOE maybe.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, and it's a program that got started t- to, uh, introduce

Berit Meyer: kids to, uh, growing and harvesting and-

Scott Hammond: Love it

Berit Meyer: … marketing and selling. So I thought that was awesome.

Berit Meyer: So that's-

Scott Hammond: Kind of farmers market stuff.

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And you know who was instrumental in that was Karen Brooks.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Berit Meyer: I know that you know… I know-

Scott Hammond: Karen

Berit Meyer: … she's a very good friend of mine.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hey, Karen.

Berit Meyer: Hi, Karen.

Scott Hammond: Is she a horseback rider, too?

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, we'll talk about horses in a minute.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: We can probably do that. And then, uh, I also wanna talk about other local food producers and products like Larrupin and sauces and… Could we do all that? Could we get-

Berit Meyer: Um-

Scott Hammond: … cycle to that?

Berit Meyer: … as much as I know about those other-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … people, I don't know how… I mean, I know the people. I know the-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … products, but I don't necessarily know, yeah, how they make 'em, how they got to where they are.

Scott Hammond: We'll start with Tom-

Berit Meyer: Okay

Scott Hammond: … and his marinara sauces. So there's, there's a guy. I mean, so-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … for a small area, food production and also finished product is a big deal. I mean, there's-

Berit Meyer: It is

Scott Hammond: … a lot of things, right?

Berit Meyer: Oh, and then think of Natural Decadence that-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Berit Meyer: … has now moved to New York, but for a long time they were

Berit Meyer: here.

Scott Hammond: And they were unique because they were gluten-free?

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Ah, and did not taste gluten-free, which is the magic of doing that right.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. The problem with gluten-free things is they taste like gluten-free everything. Anyway, so not always. There's exception. Joanie buys bread for our son Gabriel, which is, uh, he's gluten intolerant. And it's-

Berit Meyer: Okay

Scott Hammond: … it's okay toasted.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Okay. There you go. Jam always helps.

Scott Hammond: Jam. Are you anti-gluten-free, Scott? Well, not really. Sometimes.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, um, so who else? Tom has done his marinaras.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm. Oh, he's… Yeah, he's got a big lineup.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: But he's now sold the business.

Scott Hammond: He sold that.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And he also distributes, uh, Larrupin mustard, or did, m- mustard dill.

Berit Meyer: Correct. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, and Larrupin Barbecue.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Which, um, Larrupin seems to come up a lot. It… When, when we do the quiz later and I ring the bell.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: When you hear the bell-

Scott Hammond: … we'll, we'll ask you some questions about Humboldt County, but I'm jumping ahead

Scott Hammond: already. Um, bring it back, Scott. So yeah, everybody talks about Larrupin, and then her sauces, and you probably knew

Scott Hammond: Dixie.

Berit Meyer: I did.

Scott Hammond: Or do. Dixie and Pear. So it seems like, seems to me like there's a lot of, um, local product that we get to take advantage of as restau- as, as residents and come and eat at-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … but also trans-… Like Natural Decadence in New York?

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: They… Yeah, they moved their operation over there.

Scott Hammond: And all the Foodworks people in Arcata that come-

Berit Meyer: Oh, there's just so many.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Humboldt Harvest is just… There's so many local food-

Scott Hammond: What's Humboldt Harvest do? Remind me.

Berit Meyer: Well, it's, uh, an umbrella for, um, food producers in the area,

Berit Meyer: and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … they do have, um… I think it's a way to collaborate and market, and there's… Usually at the Redwood Acres Craft Fair, there's-

Scott Hammond: Right, right

Berit Meyer: … you know, a nice booth where you can see a, a really nice offerings of, of who's all involved.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, I know there's the Mercantile down in Old Town.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Humboldt Mercantile.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And they showcase for the holidays-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … lots of local products. It's great.

Scott Hammond: North Coast Journal has that shop down in Ferndale. The shop, I should probably know the name. I'm really sor- sorry, Melissa, but-

Berit Meyer: But did you say-

Scott Hammond: They feature, they feature local products.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: At the old bank, the old Bank of Loleta-

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … I think, if I remember right.

Berit Meyer: That's nice. That's a nice-looking shop. I saw it recently.

Scott Hammond: Oh, it's cool.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: They have a lot of cool stuff.

Berit Meyer: They do.

Scott Hammond: And so when you think about our area, it's like I'm so proud of the area and the people because they follow… Ro- Ron said this the other night, our friend that we'd talked about before we went

Scott Hammond: on. Um, the cool thing about Humboldt that's really iconic that isn't anything like Chattanooga or Boulder or San

Scott Hammond: whatever-

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … California, is that people follow their passion, and that, that's you and me too. I believe that.

Berit Meyer: It is. I know. It's… I mean, if you wanna make it here-

Scott Hammond: You better do your thing

Berit Meyer: … we can't always come up with something that's gonna survive-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … for sure, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … um, I feel so, so fortunate that I'm still doing it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … 44?

Scott Hammond: That's amazing.

Berit Meyer: 44 years later, still at it.

Scott Hammond: It's pretty cool. I like it. And doing it well. I mean, things are still delicious.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Like the i- Talk about the Irish soda bread since we just came out of-

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: … St. Paddy's. Why, why would you be famous for that?

Berit Meyer: Well, I-

Scott Hammond: I'm not sure I've ever had yours

Berit Meyer: … you haven't had ours?

Scott Hammond: Uh-uh.

Berit Meyer: We have an updated version. I am really happy with the new version, which we did switch it up a couple years ago.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Now it has some fennel in it, and it has, um-

Scott Hammond: Ooh.

Berit Meyer: Let's see. There's always currants in there.

Berit Meyer: I think-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … we used to make one, and, uh, we had one of our employees, um, do an ad, and h- and he called it the s- spotty, spotted dog. I guess it can be-

Scott Hammond: Spotted dog

Berit Meyer: … spotted dog because of all those little currants inside.

Scott Hammond: Sure, which probably make it delicious.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. It's… Yeah, it's great. It's great toasted. I would have some every day.

Scott Hammond: Since I, I can hardly wait on this one, Nick-

Berit Meyer: With butter, yeah

Scott Hammond: … can I a- can I… Can we just… Can you pull those in front of you, and can we just look, look at the food-

Berit Meyer: Sure-

Scott Hammond: … for a second?

Berit Meyer: … we can look at this little box.

Scott Hammond: What did, what did you bring?

Berit Meyer: Well, I said I have to bring something.

Scott Hammond: Oh, look at this.

Berit Meyer: Of course. So, you know, speaking of gluten-free-

Scott Hammond: Tip, tip it up here.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Oh, look at those.

Berit Meyer: Well, it's just a little thing.

Berit Meyer: The-

Scott Hammond: Nick, would you look at 'em?

Berit Meyer: … the chocolate ones are… We've been doing this cookie forever. It's double chocolate walnut.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: And there's so little flour in it, I decided that why don't we make that gluten-free? Because-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Berit Meyer: … there are many things that you could add in there, which at just small amount, it's not gonna change it much at all. I don't think it'd change it at all.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: Um, so we have a little bit of gluten-free flour mix.

Scott Hammond: And they're chocolate.

Berit Meyer: It's m- and they're chocolate, mostly chocolate.

Scott Hammond: Hear, hear that, Joni Hammond?

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah, mostly chocolate and butter.

Scott Hammond: Have you guys ever done anything with Dick Taylor chocolate, or you guys ever done

Scott Hammond: a-

Berit Meyer: We haven't

Scott Hammond: … a corporate thing?

Berit Meyer: At one point we were looking at getting their, um, their cacao, uh, cocoa nibs.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Now I'm forgetting what we were putting those in.

Scott Hammond: Hmm. Could be a lot of things.

Berit Meyer: Oh, I know. Uh, little rocher. It's a little meringue-based little giant kiss, and we put those inside.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is-

Berit Meyer: Gluten-free

Scott Hammond: … are those umbrellas, that blue thing?

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah. It's little um- we have cutouts. So we have a little umbrella cutout and a little cloud cutout-

Scott Hammond: Oh, those are-

Berit Meyer: … for the rainy season. Our cake decorat- or not cake decorators, our

Berit Meyer: cookie-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … we call cookie punchers, glazers, decorators, they, they do an amazing job, and they come up with all kinds of designs depending on hopefully-

Scott Hammond: Can I hold these up?

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

Scott Hammond: They're cool. Yeah, there's two.

Berit Meyer: There's a camera looking at me.

Scott Hammond: There's two.

Scott Hammond: So, um, 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, I guess I'll do one.

Berit Meyer: There you go.

Scott Hammond: It's raining, folks, in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Weird. Perfect. Pr- the perfect cookie. I'll just set that sideways right there.

Berit Meyer: There you go.

Scott Hammond: Thanks. That, th- those look delicious.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: And some chocolate chip just for, just 'cause.

Scott Hammond: I had no idea that I would be hungry being here, but you're, you're the f- you're the very first somebody with coming in with food.

Berit Meyer: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: I bet if we played our cards right, Nick, um, probably get a cookie out of this deal. What do you think? N- Nick's smiling, so he's… He'd, he'd probably have one.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so-

Berit Meyer: And then I also wanted to bring a new thing that we're doing, which is a,

Berit Meyer: um-

Scott Hammond: Oh, what's that?

Berit Meyer: This is a cheddar jalapeno cheese scone.

Scott Hammond: No way.

Berit Meyer: And, um, anyway.

Scott Hammond: Nick, look at that. What's going on here?

Berit Meyer: It's delicious. I could-

Scott Hammond: Oh, it looks really-

Berit Meyer: There we go

Scott Hammond: … the color and everything.

Berit Meyer: If you don't mind. Yeah. We, we decided to finally-

Scott Hammond: Jalapeno

Berit Meyer: … I'm, I'm em- 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

Berit Meyer: tang.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And now we're making it with jalapenos, and it's delicious.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Is it spicy jalapenos?

Berit Meyer: Little bit of spice. Just a little. Just a little.

Scott Hammond: Just a little, little heat.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Just to perk it up a bit.

Scott Hammond: Like the Los Bagels, jalapeno bagels.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah. It's quite a bit.

Scott Hammond: Had Dennis and-

Berit Meyer: Like that

Scott Hammond: … and…

Scott Hammond: on the show.

Berit Meyer: Have you?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Aw.

Scott Hammond: Dennis and Peter too.

Berit Meyer: Nice.

Scott Hammond: First time I ever did two people. It was really…

Scott Hammond: They're fun.

Berit Meyer: Oh, how great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They have a lot of stories. And they've been at it, like, long as you probably.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Ish.

Berit Meyer: Just a couple years after us.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: It's right, right at the same time.

Scott Hammond: So what do… 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 they, people go into food.

Scott Hammond: Any… There. What's, what's that about?

Berit Meyer: What, what is that?

Scott Hammond: Just found a passion.

Berit Meyer: I guess so. I, yeah, I, I got disillusioned with the wildlife major right toward the end, so I'm like, "Okay."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: "I gotta go to Alaska just to see." But now I'm like-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … when I was in college I would bake for my roommates, and I would bake croissants and bread and cakes, and I would just-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … just 'cause I love to bake, and I would go into the library and look at Bon Appétit and Gourmet magazines just to like, "Okay, I'm done studying for now. I gotta go take a break, otherwise I'll go crazy."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: And I would just look at food magazines.

Scott Hammond: That was the therapy.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. And then, uh, when I graduated, actually I'm going way back in time again, but my roommate's father gave me a book on chocolate desserts.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Berit Meyer: And so I worked my way through that whole book making desserts for the, the Ramone's Opera Alley Cafe.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: So that's just jumping back in time.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: But yeah, I was interested in food while I was-

Scott Hammond: Bet you had a lot of friends in college.

Berit Meyer: I know.

Scott Hammond: Going to Berit's-

Berit Meyer: We, we had a big household, yep

Scott Hammond: … you're going-

Berit Meyer: A lot of potlucks

Scott Hammond: … she's making breakfast.

Berit Meyer: A lot of potlucks.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Berit Meyer: Those are the days. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Those are the days. I remember all the potlucks, and I was in a program called Cluster at Humboldt State-

Berit Meyer: Oh, I remember that

Scott Hammond: … which was a general-

Berit Meyer: General

Scott Hammond: … general ed program.

Berit Meyer: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Real progressive, no tests, no grades. I know. Show up, same 50 people for a whole school year, and collaborative and so fun.

Berit Meyer: Oh, great.

Scott Hammond: So educational. And if you were a deadbeat, you didn't ha- get anything out of it, so you get in what you put in, what you put in.

Berit Meyer: Excellent.

Scott Hammond: Or you get out, or whatever I'm saying.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Um, so yeah, a lot of local food, so I, I-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, I don't know

Scott Hammond: … could go on and on.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. It's… We have just-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Berit Meyer: … tip of the iceberg on the food producers.

Scott Hammond: What about the one Lacey's, the Lacey's cookie guy?

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah, those are great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's crazy.

Berit Meyer: I know.

Scott Hammond: He's done very well, right?

Berit Meyer: Yeah. He's, he's-

Scott Hammond: Another food works guy from Arcata

Berit Meyer: … huge operation.

Scott Hammond: You know who I really like? Matthew from the tofu shop.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah, Matthew.

Scott Hammond: You probably know Matt.

Berit Meyer: I do.

Scott Hammond: What a nice guy.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, um-

Berit Meyer: See, there's another one

Scott Hammond: … I went… I, I guess he's retired or retiring, and I hadn't seen him in probably 20 years, and Joni and I have soup for breakfast at the co-op in Arcata outside before you go to church next door at the Catalyst Church, which is right there.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And so, uh, I'd seen Matt a couple times, and I don't know if he recognized me, but, um, I went up to him in the line and I said, "You know what? I wanna thank you, 'cause you've done this for about, guess what, 40 years."

Berit Meyer: Probably longer than me.

Scott Hammond: "And you've kicked out killer tofu and made it… " I don't know, palatable is not a very nice compliment. Um, you've made it-

Berit Meyer: Made it delicious

Scott Hammond: … made it delicious. And, and it's in all the stores, and he used to do a tofu turkey-

Berit Meyer: Uh-huh. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … for, for Thanksgiving.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I said, "Thank, kind of a thank you for your service." And it was really a cool moment.

Berit Meyer: Oh, sweet.

Scott Hammond: Kind of just-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … it was sincere and heartfelt, and

Scott Hammond: it was cool.

Berit Meyer: Oh, that's great.

Scott Hammond: Thanks, Matt, for your service. You're amazing.

Berit Meyer: That's great.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so yeah, a lot of, lot of, lot of food folks.

Berit Meyer: Oh, and Cassaro's.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Uh, she's makes a really delicious, um, like a green onion vinaigrette. Have you had that before?

Scott Hammond: Uh, I think I have, yeah.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: There was Sweet Mama Janiece. She did her stuff-

Berit Meyer: Uh-huh

Scott Hammond: … for a while. Who makes all the pasta? Mama Noni? No-

Berit Meyer: Uh

Scott Hammond: … something. There's a pasta.

Berit Meyer: There have been a few pasta makers-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … over the years.

Scott Hammond: And sauces, and we didn't even talk about the wine people yet. You know, Phil Brooke-

Berit Meyer: Oh my gosh

Scott Hammond: … and Iceland and…

Berit Meyer: So yeah, when we started the cafe on Harrison Avenue, Brian, my husband, loves wine. Okay, I love wine also, but he-

Scott Hammond: Hey, Brian, shout out.

Berit Meyer: Hi there, hi there, Brian. Um, too bad you aren't here with me today, but maybe next time.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you didn't get any cookies, bro.

Scott Hammond: Wait, you're around cookies all the time.

Berit Meyer: So, uh, Brian, let's see. How did… We knew that we would be selling wine at the new cafe.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: So Brian jumped right on. Let's, you know… And I had the experience prior with Ramone'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 with the-

Scott Hammond: I bet

Berit Meyer: … different-

Scott Hammond: And all those guys used to come up all the time

Berit Meyer: … all the, they'd come up, and they'd hear, take bottles of wine home.

Berit Meyer: We've, um-

Scott Hammond: Napa, Sonoma

Berit Meyer: … uncorked it, and I can only sell so much, or I only taste so much of

Berit Meyer: it, so.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: Anyway, uh, Brian does that now for our business.

Scott Hammond: That's a rough job, you know, being the wine guy.

Berit Meyer: It's a rough job. I know.

Scott Hammond: Is it different today? Do the wine salesf- folks come up and still do tastings and-

Berit Meyer: They do still do that

Scott Hammond: … and do, uh-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … "Here. Here's a complimentary case 'cause we like you." I, I mean, I mean, it's, Brian's not that great.

Berit Meyer: It's not quite that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And maybe they're not quite as generous as they have been.

Berit Meyer: I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … but it also depends on how many different people they need to-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Berit Meyer: … taste on. So they, they open up a bottle in the morning, and then they taste it throughout the day, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … if you're at the end of the line, you may get the rest of it or whatever. Anyway.

Scott Hammond: Lucky you, yeah.

Berit Meyer: 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 gonna go full hog on with a huge menu." That's just-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … complicated. You know, you have to make sure you have a chef that's gonna stick

Berit Meyer: around-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … and, and we'll just do quiche and soup and salad. That'll be good.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: 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, one of our, um, bakers in the evening said, "I could run that kitchen for you. I, I've worked at a few different restaurants." I'm went-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … "Oh my gosh, okay. If you wanna take this on, we'll support you."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: So I, I forgot all the little steps that it took, but it seemed like right away we were selling

Berit Meyer: food that-

Scott Hammond: Entree, entrees

Berit Meyer: … we, we had pizzas, and we had beer on tap and-

Scott Hammond: Right. And good wine

Berit Meyer: … breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: It's, it's really been a fun-

Scott Hammond: So it morphed into that

Berit Meyer: … fun ride. Yeah, it did.

Scott Hammond: So for those that don't know that'll s- that'll watch, um, later, we're, 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.

Berit Meyer: True, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, um, what did… I, I wanna, I wanna rib Brian a little bit about being a wine guy 'cause I really like good wine, too.

Berit Meyer: Do you?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And us wine guys, we gotta stick together.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: So we have a couple customers that come in and buy wine bottles to go. They'll even, he'll put together half a case or more-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Berit Meyer: … because he picks all these amazing wines. He does research I would, I would say daily. It's his passion. Daily he's looking at wine, "I gotta get that one in here." We go out of the area, drink a bottle of wine, look on the back of it.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: Who's, who's the distributor, you know?

Scott Hammond: Where do we get that?

Berit Meyer: How can, how can we get that up here?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: So.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And so-

Scott Hammond: Sounds fun.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, it is really fun. Um, so yeah, we have a couple customers that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … that buy wine right out the door from Brian because, um-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Berit Meyer: … it's already-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause he knows what he's doing

Berit Meyer: … he knows what he's doing, and he wouldn't sell it if, unless he liked it.

Scott Hammond: Brian the-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the sommelier of Ramone's. Right on. That, that's, especially-

Berit Meyer: Oh, we've thought about doing, like, wine dinners or wine tastings, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … uh, we just haven't kicked our butt in gear to-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … to pull that off yet.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I know Dick Taylor has done a lot of that pairings with, um-

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure

Scott Hammond: … with wine and-

Berit Meyer: Chocolate and wine

Scott Hammond: … beer.

Berit Meyer: Chocolate tastings.

Scott Hammond: Oh, we did a pairing with, um, what's that kind of beer they make, uh, that's weird? Oh, barley, uh, John Barley wine.

Scott Hammond: Barley is-

Berit Meyer: Mm

Scott Hammond: … barley wine. It's that, uh, it's a beer that's English and weird.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Berit Meyer: There's also, like, honey mead. Wasn't there-

Scott Hammond: And, and mead

Berit Meyer: … somebody down there-

Scott Hammond: Yep, there's guys that do that

Berit Meyer: … at that Dick Taylor location that made-

Scott Hammond: Yes

Berit Meyer: … a honey mead wine.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, there's some-

Berit Meyer: Who was that?

Scott Hammond: … mead guys locally.

Berit Meyer: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Forgot their names.

Berit Meyer: I did too.

Scott Hammond: There are a lot of fairs and Friday night markets and stuff.

Berit Meyer: I was like, right-

Scott Hammond: So are you open for Friday night markets when it's happening-

Berit Meyer: You know, we-

Scott Hammond: … in Old Town?

Berit Meyer: … we, um, started out being open on Friday nights.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: But it's like, it's a street party, and people really wanted to hang out and walk the streets, so.

Scott Hammond: On the street.

Berit Meyer: So we thought, "You know what? We don't need to do everything."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: And-

Scott Hammond: Fair enough

Berit Meyer: … it just, if it was cold and windy and people need a place to sit or come-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … in to get a hot coffee-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … yeah, they'd come in. But it was, we, we're open for Arts Alive on the first

Berit Meyer: Saturday.

Scott Hammond: Ah, segue to coffee.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm. Aha.

Scott Hammond: Uh, your coffee's been great forever, so what, what's your-

Berit Meyer: Mm

Scott Hammond: … secret to the Ramone's, uh, blend?

Berit Meyer: I'm glad you asked.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Funny that I would… We'll talk about wine later, Brian. We're going to coffee now.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Uh, we roast our own,

Berit Meyer: and that was, I would say, the turning point of our-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … actually making some money versus just running the business and, okay, money in, money out.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Pretty much just

Berit Meyer: stable,

Berit Meyer: stable line.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, Brian contacted somebody down in the Bay Area to find out about getting some coffee brewing equipment.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And this was down in Redwood City, and the guy said, "Oh, well, are you, are you roasting your own coffee?"

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Berit Meyer: "No, didn't even think of it." And he said, "Oh."

Scott Hammond: Dude.

Berit Meyer: "Okay. How much coffee did you say you're going through?" 'Cause we're looking at some bigger urns of coffee.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Berit Meyer: 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."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: So Brian took a weekend seminar. I forgot where he went, Las Vegas or something, and, and, um, found out that roasting coffee, I mean, on the level that we're doing it, I mean, you could really go fancy.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: I mean, there are some other coffee roasters around here that I'm sure have much f-

Berit Meyer: higher, I wouldn't say higher quality equipment 'cause our roaster is, is a really good one.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, but we ended up buying a roaster from him, and then later on we replaced it with another one, and we-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … went out to Idaho. The Dietrich is the name of the coffee roasting business that makes these-

Scott Hammond: In Idaho?

Berit Meyer: … machines. It's in Idaho. We went and visited them and-

Scott Hammond: Where, are they in Boise up that way or?

Berit Meyer: Oh, oh gosh, I knew you were gonna ask that.

Berit Meyer: I, I don't think it's Boise.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: Where would it?

Scott Hammond: It'd be Coeur d'Alene to the north?

Berit Meyer: It could be. Could be Coeur d'Alene.

Scott Hammond: Eagle. My d- my daughter lives in Nampa.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We like going there.

Berit Meyer: Nice.

Scott Hammond: You know what? The people are super nice. You know what is not nice?

Berit Meyer: What?

Scott Hammond: People in cars. They're… It's, like, insane. They're like, like, nicest people everywhere in stores, but you put somebody in a car, you Idaho people gotta work on that. Oh wait, half of you are from California.

Scott Hammond: Rant over.

Berit Meyer: So.

Scott Hammond: So you roast, you roast your own coffee.

Berit Meyer: We roast our own coffee.

Scott Hammond: And Brian's the roaster?

Berit Meyer: Um, he was for many years, and now we-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … have somebody else doing it for us.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Berit Meyer: And we buy organic beans, but we didn't go through the process to be certified organic, but we do-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … all of our beans are organic.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: But we don't have the sticker on there. We just didn't wanna go through the rigmarole.

Scott Hammond: And so you must have different roasts, and do you sell the, the coffee in bags?

Berit Meyer: Uh-huh. We do.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Berit Meyer: Yep, on the shelf.

Scott Hammond: I should know that, actually. It's kinda-

Berit Meyer: Well, it's okay if you don't

Scott Hammond: … I feel kinda weird like to ask that. I could, should probably go to the store, go look around.

Berit Meyer: It's on the shelf that's maybe not always that apparent.

Scott Hammond: I'm usually getting things-

Berit Meyer: 'Cause you're looking at the-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … the other things.

Scott Hammond: I'm buying items, but I like the idea of looking at some of his wines. Can, can, check that out.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah. So yeah, we have a wine list.

Scott Hammond: So cool. Let's talk about horseback riding, as long as we're talking about wine.

Berit Meyer: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Do you see that smooth segue? Hey, if you're just joining me, this is my friend Berit Meyer from Ramone's Bakery and Cafe, and, uh, you're a horse, horse… What would you call you? An-

Berit Meyer: Hmm

Scott Hammond: … equestrian-

Berit Meyer: Definitely horse lover.

Scott Hammond: Horse lover. I like that.

Berit Meyer: Been, been that f- since I was in second or third grade. One of those-

Scott Hammond: I wanna crack a joke about a horse right now. You, you know what they call a horse that, like, a money pit? They're, they're expensive, right?

Berit Meyer: I don't do it that way.

Scott Hammond: Do you own horses?

Berit Meyer: I own three.

Scott Hammond: Oh, rad.

Berit Meyer: But I do have one that's becoming expensive.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Aging or just-

Berit Meyer: No. He's got some interesting little quirks.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Berit Meyer: Some of it's training, some of it's rehab-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … some of it's vet. Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: 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?

Berit Meyer: You know, I wish I could say I did, but I do not know Corey.

Scott Hammond: Trains a lot of young women and-

Berit Meyer: And I've been-

Scott Hammond: … a couple guys

Berit Meyer: … meaning to go check that s-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … that operation-

Scott Hammond: For years and years

Berit Meyer: … out. That is so wonderful.

Scott Hammond: Thank you, Corey, for not ever letting me need to buy a horse for my horse-loving daughters. Love ya, mean it.

Berit Meyer: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: They decided they didn't have to have one anymore?

Scott Hammond: Well, it was weird. By the time they were older, it was like, "Oh, Brianna got married.

Scott Hammond: Oh, bye." Matt's an amazing guy. They live in Oregon now, and they have three kids.

Berit Meyer: Oh, look at that.

Scott Hammond: So anyway.

Berit Meyer: Oh, wow.

Scott Hammond: So w- why, why do you love horses and horseback riding, and horse, horseback riding?

Berit Meyer: Well, you know, I've learned a lot about horses over the years, and I'm even learning more now than I ever have.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Having to do with how smart horses are and how the communication between a-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … 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 gonna take you for a ride." You know? So-

Scott Hammond: They'll, they'll get ya

Berit Meyer: … they'll take you off on a, on a tree branch or something-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … like that.

Scott Hammond: Have done that.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Not so fun.

Scott Hammond: You feeling me, horse? Yep. Take you under that oak tree.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: So, uh, yeah, I think this horse came to me because he's a challenge,

Berit Meyer: and, um-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … it's been a learning experience. I, I can't take him for granted.

Berit Meyer: He's-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … he's, uh, he's a little bit more flighty and anxious, and just trying to dial him down constantly.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: But he's… I do… My passion with horses is do endurance, endurance riding.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: Which can be 10, 25, 50 or 100 miles in one day.

Scott Hammond: And they have races for that, right?

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: And leagues and-

Berit Meyer: Yes, they do

Scott Hammond: … and events.

Berit Meyer: There's a-

Scott Hammond: So is it just straight ri- Are you the racing where they run and ride?

Berit Meyer: That's called a ride and tie.

Scott Hammond: Do you do that, too?

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: That is so-

Scott Hammond: Well, let's get started

Berit Meyer: … fun.

Scott Hammond: So let's start with the racing. L- Tell us the difference.

Berit Meyer: Ride and tie is, the first one I did was in 1977 when I was in college.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: That will date me.

Berit Meyer: Um, 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 to, and one horse, one would ride it ahead-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … tie it up, hopefully to something more than a sagebrush.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And then the person behind-

Scott Hammond: There you go

Berit Meyer: … 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-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … in front. So it's a two-person, one-horse team.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Berit Meyer: It is-

Scott Hammond: And it's designated distances, right?

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, yeah. So now it's a race.

Berit Meyer: I mean, now-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … it's, it's a competitive event. I wouldn't say it's a race for some people. Kind of like endurance riding is a race-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … for those that really wanna get out and show their friends, companions what their horse can do-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … how well their horse is trained, and I just go to finish the ride.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: I'm usually in the back because I like to spend time on the trail, visiting with my friends.

Scott Hammond: Enjoying it.

Berit Meyer: I've never had a fast, fast horse, so I'm like, "I'm gonna take care of him, and we'll just hang out." And there's vet checks along the way.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Berit Meyer: It is, and you camp. You go, you go to a s- um, a ride camp it's called, and you camp out with a tent, a pickup truck-

Scott Hammond: It's a whole thing

Berit Meyer: … a camper-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … or a big LQ, living quarters.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: So some people have, you know, a house on wheels.

Scott Hammond: Beds.

Berit Meyer: Beds, yeah. I was so happy when I wasn't doing it in a tent anymore, and I got, graduated to a camper, so that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … was great. And then Brian would come along with the two, our two daughters, and he said, "Oh, this is wonderful. I don't have to make coffee out in the wind."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: "I can make coffee in our camper. The kids have a table they can draw pictures on."

Scott Hammond: Warm.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: This reminds me of Duane Flatt going to, uh, is it, what's it called out in the desert? Burning Man. Burning Man.

Berit Meyer: Oh, okay.

Scott Hammond: And he's got the whole setup. He puts-

Berit Meyer: I-

Scott Hammond: … a bed in the back of the thing, and he's got, like he's got it all dialed in.

Berit Meyer: I bet.

Scott Hammond: So camping comfort.

Berit Meyer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: That is great.

Scott Hammond: Maybe a lot of hunters do that, too. Drink beer, shoot the guns.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Have a good time.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Fishing.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, you're out. You're under the stars.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. How far is the race? How far is average endurance races?

Scott Hammond: Are they…

Berit Meyer: There are 25 miles, 25 to 35, which are called limited distance, or LDs.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And then it's 50 miles, which takes-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Berit Meyer: … the, you, you have 12 hours to finish the ride. And then there's 100 miles, and you have 24 hours to finish that ride.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Berit Meyer: And you ride by the light of the moon. Or if there's no moon-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … then you ride with, um,

Berit Meyer: a headlamp-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … and glow sticks attached to the bushes. So you're out there-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Berit Meyer: … at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning riding your horse.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Berit Meyer: It is such-

Scott Hammond: I bet that's a rush

Berit Meyer: … an awesome thing. It is really, really great.

Scott Hammond: As you see all the stars. Look at, look at-

Berit Meyer: Yeah. It's, it's-

Scott Hammond: Middle of nowhere

Berit Meyer: … it's the middle of nowhere.

Scott Hammond: So Nevada, Arizona k-

Berit Meyer: I've done-

Scott Hammond: All over California

Berit Meyer: … a couple of them. I've done, um, the, s- I guess, I would just say it's the granddaddy of endurance rides. It's called Tevis. It's from-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … Squaw Valley to Auburn. It's also the-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … site of the Western States 100-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … foot race.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Berit Meyer: Have you heard of that?

Scott Hammond: My brother-in-law finished under 24 hours.

Berit Meyer: That, um-

Scott Hammond: Has the belt buckle that's this-

Berit Meyer: That is outstanding.

Scott Hammond: The belt buckle is this big. He, he finished. Scott Hanson, you're amazing. He finished it in-

Berit Meyer: Oh

Scott Hammond: … uh,

Scott Hammond: 23 hours, 56 minutes, 32 sec- just barely.

Scott Hammond: But-

Berit Meyer: So he got the silver buckle instead of the bronze buckle-

Scott Hammond: Let's see

Berit Meyer: … or one of those.

Scott Hammond: Under 24.

Berit Meyer: That's great.

Scott Hammond: That's all. Yeah. You gotta be a stud of, of whatever-

Berit Meyer: Definitely

Scott Hammond: … gender you are if you finish-

Berit Meyer: Yes, yes

Scott Hammond: … that under 24 hours. You're totally-

Berit Meyer: That's awesome

Scott Hammond: … the bomb. Yeah. I, I guess that's tw- 24 hours is just, how many m- Is it

Scott Hammond: 100 miles?

Berit Meyer: It's 100 miles.

Scott Hammond: How do you do that?

Scott Hammond: On trails.

Berit Meyer: On trails.

Scott Hammond: And there's hills.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Oh, a lot of hills, and canyons, and rivers.

Scott Hammond: So is the trail run the same as the trail-

Berit Meyer: It's really-

Scott Hammond: Endurance ride?

Berit Meyer: … close. It's very close, but it's not exactly the same.

Scott Hammond: Huh. Do the same folks do it?

Scott Hammond: Probably.

Berit Meyer: No, different.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Totally different.

Berit Meyer: The volunteers, I would tell you, the volunteers that come out to-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Berit Meyer: … help put on the Tevis is, like, 6 to 800

Berit Meyer: volunteers.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: And it's, it's like, it, it's a huge… You, you wanna be a part of it once you're involved. It's, I've gone to, um, crew for people if I'm not riding. I'll go crew. I haven't volunteered for the actual- Event itself.

Berit Meyer: But it's, it's just a, it's a gathering of people that have share a love-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Berit Meyer: … and people wanna help each other out. It's really, really great.

Scott Hammond: I like it.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Why do they call Tevis?

Berit Meyer: Let's see.

Scott Hammond: Is that a guy's, somebody's name?

Berit Meyer: There's a guy's name. Let's see. Tevis. What was his first name?

Berit Meyer: Lloyd Tevis.

Scott Hammond: Huh. And he promoted it and-

Berit Meyer: And he, he, I think, decided, "You know what? I think I can ride a horse over these mountains." And-

Scott Hammond: For 100 miles

Berit Meyer: … for 100 miles.

Scott Hammond: Dang.

Berit Meyer: And he did it with, you know, a canteen and a Western saddle and a cowboy hat and you know. He and a couple buddies. I forgot what year they did it. But then at the same, then a, a guy that said, "I, I'm gonna run that. I'm gonna run it with the horses."

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: And, and then he, that Western States Trail Run.

Scott Hammond: These are the guys that ran in Converse tennies before there's Hokas and Nikes.

Berit Meyer: Oh, I know.

Scott Hammond: Can you imagine?

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Just, like, brutal. And probably there's race saddles and probably all kinds of-

Berit Meyer: There's all kinds of get up here

Scott Hammond: … gel saddles and-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … stuff

Berit Meyer: … there is. Yep.

Scott Hammond: Wow, I could imagine.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So, so cool. So horses are brilliant.

Berit Meyer: Horses are great. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They're a whole, whole deal.

Berit Meyer: They, they really, really are.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: It's amazing to see a well-trained horse and, and what they can do. I mean, voice commands, they-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … they, they know what to do.

Scott Hammond: What's the w- the, uh, horse folks down in Fortuna

Scott Hammond: that do, they do therapy rides, um, ride something.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. There's one-

Scott Hammond: I'm trying to think of-

Berit Meyer: Um-

Scott Hammond: She, she runs that deal. They do, they take care of a lot of special needs people, and they, the therapy of, the therapy of horse riding.

Berit Meyer: Is it Kolarbi?

Scott Hammond: Might be.

Berit Meyer: Ko- Kolarbi?

Scott Hammond: Could be.

Berit Meyer: I think there's also Wild Souls.

Scott Hammond: Wild Souls.

Berit Meyer: Wild Souls. Is that the one?

Scott Hammond: That's the one I'm thinking of.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. I think there's more. There's two maybe.

Scott Hammond: But there's horse riding, horseback therapy, right?

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. I think that's a amazing thing, just to get people to feel confident.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And, I mean, I don't know what the pro-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … program offers, but I can only imagine just how much I enjoy being around a horse-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … that it would just help people kind of like think outside themselves-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … and think about being with another animal.

Berit Meyer: And-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … yeah, I think it's great.

Scott Hammond: 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

Scott Hammond: back.

Berit Meyer: Oh,

Berit Meyer: oh dear.

Scott Hammond: So they're really smart. So watch out.

Berit Meyer: Oh dear.

Scott Hammond: I think it's my last time I ever rode probably.

Berit Meyer: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Anyway. Oh, that, that was, you know, whatever. Different person, different horse.

Berit Meyer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, let's talk about what you like about Humboldt. Um, and we'll just make this the quiz part since I have a bell.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: If you're just joining me-

Berit Meyer: Oh, boy. A quiz

Scott Hammond: … Berit Meyer from Ramone's Bakery & Cafe. Quiz number one question for all the prizes.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Well,

Scott Hammond: we'll see. Question number one, what do you like about, uh, what do you like about this place called Humboldt?

Berit Meyer: I like that it's, um, lots of green, lots of open

Berit Meyer: space.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, there's a lot of different people that live here, which is wonderful.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, I used to milk cows in the bottoms. I used to, you know, there's, there's so many opportunities here that have to do with, uh… I mean, you can create your own,

Berit Meyer: uh… Well, you can't you can't always make your own livelihood because that's very complicated, but y- you know, you-

Scott Hammond: But you got a shot

Berit Meyer: … you, you do have a shot.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: I mean, and you can ship stuff out of here if you-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Berit Meyer: … it s- seems like rent is low, so there's… But of course, shipping. I, I don't know the whole shipping industry.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: That's not really why I'm, why I'm talking about Humboldt, but, um, it just seems like there are a lot of opportunities here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And I love that it's not filled with cars and noise and pollution. And-

Scott Hammond: Amen to that

Berit Meyer: … I love the beaches and the forest, and I do a lot of hiking, running on trails.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Um, I used to row on the bay.

Berit Meyer: Um, there's-

Scott Hammond: Were you a rower?

Berit Meyer: I was a rower-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … for a little bit.

Scott Hammond: You still a runner?

Berit Meyer: Um, I used to run a lot, but now my knees. You know, it's that getting old thing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I think Joanie knew you from races at Six Rivers Running Club and-

Berit Meyer: I think, I think, yes, that's right. Six Rivers

Scott Hammond: Did you used to race a lot?

Berit Meyer: Yes, I did. I used to really crank it out.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Berit Meyer: I used to, I was on the track team at Humboldt when I was there-

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Berit Meyer: … and the cross-country team.

Scott Hammond: Who was the coach? Was it Hunt?

Berit Meyer: Um.

Scott Hammond: Or was he just men's?

Berit Meyer: He was for the men's.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, it was, uh, Jackie Yap was there for a brief amount of time.

Scott Hammond: Never heard that name.

Berit Meyer: How about, um-

Scott Hammond: Jackie Yap. I haven't heard that name

Berit Meyer: … uh, Lloyd, uh, Floyd, what's his name? Okay. And then there's, um-

Scott Hammond: James Washington

Berit Meyer: … James Washington.

Scott Hammond: He's still, James is still 40 years old.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's still around out there.

Berit Meyer: And Scott Pesch was-

Scott Hammond: Scotty boy

Berit Meyer: … was involved quite a bit.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Scott. What's up?

Berit Meyer: Um, uh, Dave Wells.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: Another one. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Rich athletic, um, heritage up at Humboldt. You know, especially with the f- I mean, with football gone, but the, the running heritage.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, it, it's-

Scott Hammond: You know, and, uh, Mike Williams at the Jogging Shop-

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … just did a big thing, and I forgot what it… Like, I'm offhand I don't… But all the guys came back. Mark Conover and-

Berit Meyer: Oh, yes

Scott Hammond: … all.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … for, for Clam Beach Run.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, it's nice.

Scott Hammond: Did you run that last-

Berit Meyer: Um, I didn't run it this year.

Scott Hammond: No.

Berit Meyer: I've run it many years.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was my first race I ever ran. I did five miles the day before. First time ever-

Berit Meyer: Oh, good, good going

Scott Hammond: … at the track. I'm ready for eight and a half miles.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, I can do it. I know I can.

Scott Hammond: Ah, piece of cake.

Berit Meyer: Oh, dear.

Scott Hammond: It was fun.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All that momentum because all the love and all the, all the adrenals, adrenals and-

Berit Meyer: Isn't it something? It'll carry you the, at least the first two miles.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: You won't even know you did it.

Scott Hammond: Then those darn little hills. Hate those hills.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what would… Uh, question number two.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: What would you change about Humboldt if you could wave your magic wand and go, "Hey, couple things I'd like to see different"?

Berit Meyer: Hmm. God, these are things I haven't thought about. What would I change? Looking at the map as if that's gonna help me.

Scott Hammond: It might. You could, you could get the-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, I'm just like, yeah, there's the highways up there

Scott Hammond: … I think we read about the, the beaches and, and the forest and-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, what would I change?

Scott Hammond: We've rediscovered that after COVID just Out, being out a lot.

Scott Hammond: Trails.

Berit Meyer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: So many trails and places, magic places.

Berit Meyer: 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 were some ridiculous things.

Scott Hammond: Didn't make any sense.

Berit Meyer: Didn't make any sense to me. Like-

Scott Hammond: We did a lot of stupid things during COVID.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, I know.

Scott Hammond: Just-

Berit Meyer: And we don't even need to go there.

Scott Hammond: We didn't know what we were doing.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Let's talk about that for a while.

Berit Meyer: What would-

Scott Hammond: No. Let's not talk about that.

Berit Meyer: Good going.

Scott Hammond: We're going forward.

Berit Meyer: What would I change, though? Gosh, nothing is jumping out. I mean, you know, there's a lot of, been a lot of effort of gathering people together for, for various community events, which-

Scott Hammond: I like that

Berit Meyer: … I mean, I do like, that's one thing I like about Ramone's, like our big farm table at the Harrison Avenue.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: It's just a place where people can gather up, and it's sort of you can have different people at the same table 'cause it's big enough.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: It's like a community table.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: And that's what I really f- like about Humboldt County. Seems like people are interested in getting to know one another.

Scott Hammond: We could do more of that.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That'd be a change.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, we could do more of that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Why not? I think there's enough divergence and division that we could probably improve on that, some of that.

Berit Meyer: I think we could.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We'll do that. All right, next question. Besides Ramone's coffee, whose coffee do you like in town?

Berit Meyer: Hmm. Well, recently I had some Kinetic Coffee that was really delicious.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Berit Meyer: And that, um-

Scott Hammond: Hey, Mark.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Charlie.

Berit Meyer: Good, Mark and Charlie. Um-

Scott Hammond: Some more local producers.

Berit Meyer: Again, I know.

Scott Hammond: I know. And we didn't even say Holly Oshie.

Berit Meyer: No. My- We haven't even-

Scott Hammond: Jewelry

Berit Meyer: … like I said, we are just barely-

Scott Hammond: Yakima Racks.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Wing and Flavors.

Scott Hammond: Wing. Oh, good one.

Berit Meyer: Coco Tat.

Scott Hammond: Coco Tat.

Berit Meyer: I mean-

Scott Hammond: Did you know Steve Cole?

Berit Meyer: Um, not personally.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: No.

Scott Hammond: He was part of Yakima.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He and Don Benducci and-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … all those cats.

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And it's really interesting, though, uh, the, just the th- the thread of, of all these people did these iconic things after s- I'm gonna say most of them went to Humboldt, but I, I don't know that.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Probably. Probably.

Scott Hammond: So, um-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, I wonder how they landed here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

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

Scott Hammond: Back to your Kinetic Coffee compliment. They, they have good coffee?

Berit Meyer: They do have good coffee.

Scott Hammond: You like their coffee?

Berit Meyer: I do. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What-

Berit Meyer: There's, there's a lot. I mean, I, ugh, I drink so much of our own

Berit Meyer: coffee.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: I'm… Haven't drank a lot of other people's coffee.

Scott Hammond: That's interesting.

Berit Meyer: I'll just say that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Fog Line is good. I've had some good coffee from them.

Scott Hammond: I've heard that.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, they're out in, um, uh, the Food Works area out on, in Erickson Court.

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

Scott Hammond: they-

Berit Meyer: They might have something in town-

Scott Hammond: … is that Fog Line?

Berit Meyer: … but I'm thinking of more those out-

Scott Hammond: That's where they-

Berit Meyer: … by the-

Scott Hammond: … produce it, yeah

Berit Meyer: … the culinary-

Scott Hammond: I've heard that's really good

Berit Meyer: … program. That's good coffee.

Scott Hammond: Do you have Jersey Scoops yet? Their ice cream?

Berit Meyer: No, I haven't.

Scott Hammond: 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, just f- I would love to have you on the show.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Berit Meyer: Cool

Scott Hammond: … we're hoping to have Jerry Rhody too, the historian.

Berit Meyer: Okay. Yeah. Um-

Scott Hammond: 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?

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Berit Meyer: Oh, the history of this area is-

Scott Hammond: That'd be great

Berit Meyer: … fascinating.

Scott Hammond: Oh, it's amazing.

Berit Meyer: Oh, I love-

Scott Hammond: Mixed and amazing and trippy and-

Berit Meyer: Yeah, it is. It's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … it's wild.

Scott Hammond: Okay, question number three.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Where do you go for dinner?

Berit Meyer: Hmm. Let's see. Well, we've gone to Brick and Fire a few times.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And we've gone to Larrupin a few times, and those are kind of old standbys.

Scott Hammond: Does Brian like, uh, Two Doors Down, per chance, for the wine?

Berit Meyer: Well, um, he does drink some of those wines that they carry-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … for sure. We haven't just gone over there and had a drink.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Berit Meyer: We go, oh, I tell you, we go home and enjoy a glass of

Berit Meyer: wine.

Scott Hammond: And crash.

Berit Meyer: And then we have nice bread and cheese, and then we-

Scott Hammond: Perfect

Berit Meyer: … we do, uh, Brian is a wonderful chef, so we actually eat a

Berit Meyer: lot at home.

Scott Hammond: That's beautiful. So he cooks and does-

Berit Meyer: He cooks

Scott Hammond: … this all day and then cooks at h-

Berit Meyer: Uh-huh. Well, all day is not so much all day anymore, as in me, I'm not there very much anymore either-

Scott Hammond: Good for you

Berit Meyer: … which is great. But we've got some other things in the works, so it's not like I'm reti- I can't say I'm retired, but-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … I went through a semi-retired phase, and now I'm-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. How'd that go?

Berit Meyer: Oh, I rode my horses a lot.

Scott Hammond: Got it all out of your system. I rode and rode.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Um, where else do we go out to eat? Where have we enjoyed some food?

Berit Meyer: Gosh. Where… I see, we gotta go support our local food producers.

Berit Meyer: I keep-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … telling ourselves that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … we really need to get out more.

Berit Meyer: Um-

Scott Hammond: Brick and Fire's delicious.

Berit Meyer: We like sushi. We love sushi.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: So we've gone out for sushi once in a while. There's a few sushi spots we've gone to.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, there's some good sushi locally.

Berit Meyer: We like Mexican food. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sure. We're getting better. I'm from San Diego, so a little bit spoiled.

Berit Meyer: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So coming up to, uh, you know-

Berit Meyer: I know

Scott Hammond: … all of that.

Berit Meyer: Same with the Bay Area. I mean, Oakland, San Francisco.

Scott Hammond: Amazing food.

Berit Meyer: And we think, "Why can't this be transported to Humboldt?" You just

Berit Meyer: sometimes-

Scott Hammond: It's really funny, yeah. As we wind down-

Berit Meyer: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … uh, question for you. So yes, you did win a Dutch Brothers card,

Scott Hammond: so you can

Scott Hammond: do whatever.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, let me present that. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of, uh,

Scott Hammond: Dutch Bros,

Scott Hammond: you've won-

Berit Meyer: Nice

Scott Hammond: … a lifetime supply-

Berit Meyer: I'll take, I'll take that

Scott Hammond: … of something.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Uh, of a Dutch Bros. Thank you, Dutch Bros.

Berit Meyer: Cool.

Scott Hammond: And so if we talked about your, your legacy, what would you like to be remembered for, um, in the community when

Scott Hammond: it's time, uh, on your gravestone, on your celebration of life, the book you're gonna write? How would we want, how would you like to be remembered?

Berit Meyer: Hmm. Well- I would say that, um,

Berit Meyer: that I've pretty much always enjoyed what I've been doing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: And I really like,

Berit Meyer: I like… It, it fuels my fire when I see people enjoying themselves at our shop. So I just love-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … people. I, I like interacting with customers a lot.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: I like people coming in and it- seeing other friends of theirs, so-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Berit Meyer: … it's just, it's just a nice hub of a place to kind of pull people together. And I, I like that we can offer, um, 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 h- hang out on our patio. And I was thinking as I came over here, um,

Berit Meyer: uh,

Berit Meyer: how sometimes the music that's played in our shops sometimes isn't appropriate. So if we have… I'll say we- think of it as if your grandmother was coming in for tea. Is this the music that your grandmother would like to enjoy-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Berit Meyer: … while she's having tea here?

Scott Hammond: Ah, good one.

Berit Meyer: That was just what I would say. "Okay, ahem, is this your grandma that would be listening to this?"

Scott Hammond: Right.

Berit Meyer: I mean… So anyway, I do like to have some background music, but it d- it can, can get out of hand. But anyway, I just-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Berit Meyer: … I really, um, I feel like we've given back to the community in having so many people have worked for us over the years.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: I mean, thousands probably. So I really feel good about having it as a launching pad for other careers-

Scott Hammond: Love that

Berit Meyer: … that have gone out into the community, and they, maybe their first job was at

Berit Meyer: Ramone's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … and got to interact with the, the customers that way and learn.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. There's a legacy statement.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Thousands of employees. Uh, Los Bagels echo, echoed that.

Berit Meyer: I have a-

Scott Hammond: They felt like they were like a, a, um, training ground.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Just part, part of it, people's journeys into the-

Berit Meyer: Yep

Scott Hammond: … into the world of employment.

Scott Hammond: And, um, w- and what a delight to see people being delighted in your product and your, the space that you create.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. We, I just, it's, it's very uplifting and heartening to-

Scott Hammond: Thank God

Berit Meyer: … feel like we've been successful and we

Berit Meyer: still-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Berit Meyer: … are known as a place that you can come get-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … good food, and you might see somebody you know there 'cause-

Scott Hammond: I see that a lot in Old Town.

Berit Meyer: You… Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So… And I imagine that w- the medical community would be more of a staple over on Harrison.

Berit Meyer: Yeah, a lot of pe- you know, and what's… Actually, some people, if they're waiting for a friend that's in the hospital, they

Berit Meyer: come over-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … or grab some food to go-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … and take it to somebody in the hospital, or-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … are waiting for some results for something, and-

Scott Hammond: Right

Berit Meyer: … so it's, it's turned out to be a good location.

Scott Hammond: Little respite for folks, yeah.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. People always complain that there's not enough parking, but somehow they get there, rain or shine.

Scott Hammond: You know, it's okay to walk.

Berit Meyer: It is okay to walk.

Scott Hammond: When we go to c- when we go to Costco, Joni says, "Where, what…" I go, "What are we… What, w- we're parking way out here at the back 40." She goes, "You can walk." "What's wrong with you? It's good to walk."

Berit Meyer: Certain-

Scott Hammond: And then you gotta schlep it all back.

Berit Meyer: Certainly is.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, she's right again.

Berit Meyer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so hey, delighted to have you.

Berit Meyer: It's been fun, Scott.

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

Berit Meyer: Thank you. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And you, you did intonate one thing that I'd kinda caught. Maybe I'd caught it wrong.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And that was, uh, something, something new coming down the h- pike?

Scott Hammond: I mean-

Berit Meyer: Well, we did-

Scott Hammond: I don't know what I would be thinking

Berit Meyer: … we bought a building-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Berit Meyer: … on 7th and E.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: Do you know what that building is?

Scott Hammond: I-

Berit Meyer: It's across from the Eureka Inn.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yes. It's beautiful.

Berit Meyer: Behind, behind Morris Grave Museum.

Scott Hammond: I've known it for a lot of years 'cause it's right by my State Farm

Scott Hammond: office.

Berit Meyer: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And it's lingered, and it's beautifully located. It has parking.

Berit Meyer: We, we… It has parking.

Scott Hammond: Wait, you bought that building?

Berit Meyer: We bought that building.

Scott Hammond: I wonder what you'd put in there.

Berit Meyer: Ah, gosh. Beautiful seating. The wonderful light.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, it's so open and-

Berit Meyer: So it is very open

Scott Hammond: … south-facing. West south.

Berit Meyer: West south. I know, so.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Berit Meyer: We're, we're working on-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … getting that off the ground. It's been slow going.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Berit Meyer: One of our daughters is really interested in coming up here. Um, she went to, did some baking in San Francisco.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Berit Meyer: She's working at a bakery in San Francisco now.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Berit Meyer: She went to school for some,

Berit Meyer: and wants to learn what it takes to open up a business.

Berit Meyer: So-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Berit Meyer: … 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 gonna start hammering out some details and visions-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Berit Meyer: … and, um, yeah, how things-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause a lot of that's in place already, right?

Berit Meyer: … are gonna be put together.

Scott Hammond: I mean, the, the construction and the interior.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. Yeah, there's a kitchen in there f- already. It's, it's a little bit, um, awkward-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Berit Meyer: … in how it's laid out, but that's, you know, it's manageable.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Berit Meyer: Yeah. There's a big bakery oven in there.

Scott Hammond: Awesome.

Berit Meyer: So.

Scott Hammond: All right. Good luck on that. We'll look for that.

Berit Meyer: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: 7th and E. You heard it here first. Scott Hammond with 100% Humboldt. Thanks for joining us. Check us out on, uh, all the, uh, social media and, uh, say something nice. And, uh, we'll be back, back next week with some special guest. And, uh, thanks again, Mary Meyer.

Berit Meyer: Oh, it's been very fun.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate it.

Berit Meyer: Nice to see you again.