Carrie Omegna co-owns Fonda la Catrina and El Sirenito–a vibrant restaurant and bar that serves as a colorful oasis amid the engines and industry of Georgetown: a Seattle neighborhood of approximately 1,800 residents and 28,000 workers. Carrie talks to us about what good, clean, and fair food means to her as an independent restaurateur, and how employee happiness is the key not only to a healthy restaurant but also a strong community.

Georgetown has remained fiercely independent over the years--with only one chain store (a Starbucks) amid several local restaurants and bars. We talked to Carrie about what it will need to thrive in independence going forward (like, it currently has neither a grocery store nor farmers market), and we venture into what’s possible in this most unique of Seattle neighborhoods.

We also talked about what makes a healthy restaurant and how a healthy restaurant is an important cornerstone of a healthy neighborhood. It comes down to these values:

Advocacy: Often the cultural significance of Mexican food is completely overlooked in restaurants: many think there’s only one kind of Mexican food out there. Catrina works with staff to be vocal about the cultural significance of the Mexican cuisine they serve. Staff is educated and empowered to talk about the good, clean, fair food it serves by listing farmers and purveyors on the menu, speaking to customers about the quality and provenance of dishes, and by presenting fresh ingredients consistently and carefully.

Retention: Employees are more satisfied to work at Catrina, and Catrina has an unprecedented number of long term employees. Paying well above minimum wage and offering the same benefits to all staff members. “It's all about keeping staff around: listening to them, supporting them, valuing their input and recognizing their contribution,” Carrie says.

Regular customers: It’s easy to see how invested employees are in the restaurant’s success, conveying a sense of ownership that underlies the restaurant’s vibrant scene. Catrina staff understand and communicate the cultural significance of the Mexican cuisine they serve. They educate customers. And customers, in turn, are proud to know the menu and the employees.

Community: Regular customers, especially when they’re proud of a place, start to build a community, where customers themselves become vocal advocates who come together around the restaurant and feel invested in its whole.

Action: This sense of community leads to opportunities for action. for speaking out about what good, clean, fair food means for the community, speaking out about what the community needs from government and civic entities to make this possible and to help it grow to other parts of the community.

Have you been to Beacon Food Forest? It’s magic! Especially at this time of year. What used to be a 7-acre hillside of intractable grass is now a verdant, climate change-mitigating ecosystem with a diverse pollinator habitat, rich, healthy soil, and more than 1000 different edible plants. It's a demonstration site and a learning community that reimagines what urban green spaces can offer. It’s public food on public land.

On this episode of the Umami Podcast, we talk to Elise Evans, Core Volunteer and former Board President of Beacon Food Forest. We’ll dig into how this grassroots organization has empowered a community of volunteers to create a unique, thriving, sustainable solution to food insecurity, land access, and food and ecology education.

Beacon Food Forest offers a blueprint for any community looking to create opportunities for its citizens to participate in creating local food ecosystems. Elise talks to us about how it got started, how it has evolved over the 15 years since the project began, and how community keeps it thriving.

The produce that grows on Beacon Food Forest land is available to anyone to harvest. Show up to volunteer on any third Saturday work party and you’ll learn about soil, indigenous plants, and garden care (you might even get a free lunch!). Or take a class to learn about everything from cultivating mushrooms, to attracting pollinators, to growing natural remedies.

Intrigued? Listen to this episode of the Umami Podcast to learn more about Beacon Food Forest and the ways you can get involved in this community.

This episode is an argument for the importance of the Pike Place Market. Michela Tartaglia is chef-owner of Pasta Casalinga, a shining example of the creative expression the market fosters. The Pasta Casalinga lunch counter serves handmade pasta with seasonal flavors from the farmers, fishers and foragers of the Pacific Northwest. On this episode, we go deep with Michela on the tradition and technique of pasta, on being a restaurateur in the Pike Place Market, and on finding a culinary voice.

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Michela estimates 40 to 45% of her clientele is regular / local, which surprised and delighted us to hear. After all, the Pike Place Market reports a staggering 15 million visitors every year, and I’ve heard more than one friend say they avoid it because of tourists.

That is why we made this episode. The Pike Place Market is a democratic platform for local business, for community, and for our city’s food personality. Every city needs a food center.
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If you haven’t been to Pike Place Market in a while, now’s a great time to reconnect with this vital part of our local food history. The more local patronage, the more vibrant and sustainable that food center can be for our city and for the hundreds of restaurateurs, farmers, and purveyors who base their independent businesses here. Michela talks to us about what it takes to build a business with Pike Place Market PDA, how to build and frequently change a menu, how to have seasonal flare and be frugal at the same time, how to market, and how to collaborate with your team.
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Next time you're at the market, watch the Casalinga team in action. Choose a dish of from-the-farm, from-the-sea, or from-the-garden seasonal preparations and pair it with one of Michela's delicate Italian wine selections.
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Michela published Pasta For All Seasons about a year ago in 2023. You can buy it at Book Larder online or in Fremont, where tomorrow, April 27, Michela will be signing books for Independent Bookstore Day.

Photo credit: Charity Burggraaf