Living with Willy Wonka

It's Sunday morning.  It just so happens that I am in Wisconsin this Sunday and that means Chef Dave will be busy in the kitchen creating a breakfast extraordinaire.

In the almost 20 years I have been with Dave I have never known this man to not passionately love food.  Food is Dave's art.

Some people just know what they want to be when they grow up.  Perhaps a doctor, lawyer or engineer.  My Dave knew he wanted to be a foodie.  Not only did he know he wanted to be a foodie, he knew he wanted to market and trend food.  It's no surprise that his favorite movie to this day is Willy Wonka.

20 years ago Dave started his career in the beverage industry.  He began as an intern for Coca-Cola, traveling the country doing event marketing.  It was a dream job, traveling, eating and meeting interesting people. 

Not long after his internship he was recruited to a full-time position with Coors Brewing Company to do marketing on the East Coast.  We packed our bags and moved to Washington, D.C. 

Dave spent years with Coors but it wasn't until after the completion of his M.B.A. that his true calling would come to fruition.  He was recruited to a large, Swiss flavor and fragrance company.  The world of flavor and fragrance was a completely different spectrum from the beverage industry.  Dave was intrigued. 

Dave is a full blown foodie.  Entrenched in the flavor world he has a trained palette and describes food as if he is describing a work of art.

People ask me what my husband does for a living and I typically say I'm married to Willy Wonka.  He is responsible for tasting and trending flavors, much like people trend colors for the fashion industry.  He has introduced the girls and I to foodie terminology that we never knew existed and Saturday evenings regularly include our own version of chopped.

As the Director of Consumer Insights for a flavor and fragrance company Dave is pretty brilliant at what he does.  He traveled to Brazil this past December to do a chef tour and trend Brazilian foods for the up and coming year.  When I asked him what he did in Brazil he replied "I ate a lot of food and watched a lot of people."  He consistently tells me that it's not so much about the food as it is the people.  He is fascinated with the how, why, where and what of people when it comes to food and how that translates to trends.

Not only does he pay close attention to the foodie details and habits of others his own personal dedication to food is apparent as well.  He is believer in the organic culture, a supporter of local suppliers and gardener in his own right. 

What I love most about Dave's knowledge of the food world is his ability to share it with others.  When he isn't traveling and dining with chefs around the world he can be found cooking in the kitchen with Ava and Cate or entertaining friends and family.

Not many people in the world can say that they wake up every morning and work their dream job.  Fortunately for Dave, his dream came true.  Fortunately for me, I live with Willy Wonka.

Letting go of expectation

I woke up with an urge to go exploring on Saturday. There's something about moving  that forces you to take note of all the nuances that you might have missed during your stay.

Living in Ohio the majority of my life I've spent most of my time between Dayton and Cincinnati. My parents were born and raised in Cincinnati. Dad grew up in Reading and Mom grew up in Anderson Township.

We traversed back and forth each week between cities. At times I wasn't sure which one to call "home."

As I grew older the trips to Cincinnati became fewer and fewer. It wasn't until 7 years ago I decided to pursue my doctorate at the University of Cincinnati that I fell in love with this great city all over again.

Cincy was on my my mind when I awoke. We love to go to the market on Saturday mornings. There's something about buying fresh and local that makes getting out of a warm, cozy bed on a day-off that much better. We decided break tradition and try something new. We decided to explore the Findlay Market located in the Over-The-Rhine National Historic District. So glad we did.

Findlay's Market is Ohio's oldest surviving Municipal Market. First impression of the market is a step back in time. The market is dripping with authenticity and for a brief moment I feel as if I'm living metropolitan in Ohio. The periphery of the market is lined with unique vendors selling their goods while the central portion of the market displays fine local meats and foods. The architecture creates the perfect escape to daydream of a market that once was full of hustle and bustle. Where, at one time, people wandered purposefully to buy their daily needs, neighbors knew one another and vendors knew their customers by name. Today we would call that the grocery and how I wish that customer service and social experience still existed. It was a great daydream over a hot bowl of Pho.


In the Waiting Line from Zero 7 on Myspace.

As satisfying as Findlay's Market was we were craving more exploration. We were already on the move so we decided to dig deeper. We headed over to the historic district of O'Bryonville. 

Years ago Dave and I worked for a Media Agency in Mt. Lookout. Occasionally on a lunch break I would head over to O'Bryonville to a store called Indigenous. 

Fortunately for me (and everyone else) Indigenous is still thriving. It's a handcrafted gallery of more than 150 local and and regional artists. The choices are plentiful and include pottery, jewelry, art  class, stained glass, wood, metal, fiber arts, prints and more. 

While at Indigenous I fell in love with felt artwork by a local artist named Sarah Miller. While checking out we learned that her work was being featured at a local art festival called Maker's Fest, being held at Washington Park. Our Saturday adventure wasn't meant to end quite yet.

We ventured back to Over-the-Rhine and the festival was a beautiful display of local artistry. I found several artists who's work deserved to be highlighted. For more information about their these artists please click on the L&M Co-operative tab above. You will find links to their sites and Etsy shops in this section.

I started Saturday morning with the expectation of a single adventure, Findlay's Market.  Letting go of all expectations that day led to a true adventure.