Behind the Scenes: Spring
Behind the Scenes: Spring
Ginger beer and a harvest moon.
Meg used to be a buyer for Whole Foods (before Bezos) and now owns Bounty Kitchen. She texted me and asked if I wanted to join her for Rachel’s memorial. So I met her at the KEXP Gathering Space in Uptown.
I was eating a piece of squash bread when she found me at the long table near the entrance. We gathered our things and walked together to Benaroya Hall, through Seattle Center under the Space Needle, across Denny and under the Monorail.
We talked about how we’re all still recovering from the pandemic, over three years later, none of us fully over the shock of it yet.
Will we ever be?
She told me how she bonded with Rachel over alcohol. Or rather, over their pursuit of its absence. Meg has been sober for decades. Rachel wasn’t so lucky: she died in her sleep of cirrhosis. Which makes me realize that the full death count of COVID may never be known. There are people who died directly of the disease and those like Rachel Marshall, founder of Rachel’s Ginger Beer, who died from it indirectly.
But now it’s gettin’ late
And the moon is climbin’ high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin’ in your eye
Because I’m still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon
– Rachel’s husband dedicated this song to her.
Rachel left behind a food legacy that is part of Seattle’s culinary evolution, creating the best ginger beer on the planet. Her business was one of the three I list as a direct inspiration for our creation of Bellflower Chocolate Company. Will and I met with her once several years ago on a sunny day outside her store in U-Village where she told us not to go into retail.
“Stick with wholesale,” she said.
We went to U-Village a few days after she died to have a drink in her honor. I told the guy at the counter that I’d have whatever Rachel would have.
“Passion fruit x vanilla over soft serve,” he said. “That’s what I think she would have.”
Looking around at the place she built and all the people drinking and laughing over their ginger beers made me happy. She took four simple culinary ingredients – lemon, sugar, ginger, and water – and turned them not only into something uniquely delicious, but into something fundamentally emotional that connects people. And that will continue to connect them as long as there is lemon, sugar, ginger, and water.
And therein lies the power of good, honest, simple food. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you so, so much. 🍋🫚💦 ❤️
️Next Up
I know I said I was going to research early farmers of the White River Valley next, but instead I’m going to look into Seattle’s early oyster houses. There were a lot of them. And I don’t know about you, but I love oysters!
Food is about dialogue. Are you an oyster person, yes or no? Either way, I’d love to know why….
How COVID-19 is Hurting Women-Owned Restaurants
There are more and more great non-alcoholic drinking options.