ScoutOUT! - TCHO wha?

TCHO

Pier 17 San Francisco, CA 94111
Tours daily - 10am + 2pm

When I discovered that TCHO, a San Francisco based chocolate maker, offered free factory tours (including a free TCHO tasting) I wasted no time signing Alex and I up.

TCHO is a funny name. When I first saw it a few years ago at the Chocolate Show in NY, I even inquired about its meaning. I was told it was “technology chocolate” and nothing more. Confused, I admired their interesting packaging and moved on to eat way too many bananas foster chocolate pods from a nearby, non-Tcho booth.

TCHO began life as TSCHO, an extension of the brand's German-roots. Sometime during the brand's early days it was decided that the “S” wasn’t cutting it, and that TCHO (T is silent) would be best when spreading chocolate goodness across the world. With a name in tact, these German techies began sourcing, roasting, and grinding cacao beans on the coastal waters of Pier 17, just off of the Embarcadero. Like many companies in SF, TCHO is a strong believer in technology. Whether it’s to turn on the chocolate-making machines remotely with an iPhone app, take visitors on a virtual factory tour - pre-tour, or to help the co-ops in cacao-rich communities create efficient, modern (yet sustainable) ways to produce cacao, TCHO embraces the tech – something that makes even more sense when you learn that the CEOs of TCHO also happen to be the founders of Wired Magazine.

But while technology is all good and well, the chocolate is the real star. From chocolatey, fruity, nutty, floral, earthy and citrusy, TCHO claims there are 6 taste experiences to proper chocolate. These distinctions in taste vary based on the bean-type as well as the region in which the cacao plant grows. For a host of production reasons TCHO only offers 4 of the 6 taste profiles – chocolatey, fruity, nutty, and citrusy – all of which were available to sample and compare after the short, non-virtual, factory tour. Likened to wine tasting (something I haven’t ever experienced due to my sulfite allergies) the flavors unfold and reveal themselves over time. After letting the chocolate melt (don’t chew!) it becomes apparent that the 4 varietals available are definitely distinct and fit their titles well – the chocolatey did taste chocolatey and the fruity was sort of fruity (the one I preferred). Sticking to purity, TCHO doesn’t offer “flavored” chocolate and all of their chocolate is dark.

TCHO's factory // no one likes hair in their chocolate!

Lasting about an hour, the tour was rather informative, cost nothing (you even got to keep the hair and beard - yes beard - nets required to keep chocolate making hair-free), and brought insight into a company that is looking to bring the best of chocolate to the world via a host of channels*.

*you can find TCHO in certain WholeFoods, SF-based mom + pop grocers, gourmet markets, and even some Starbucks (this one is masked under Starbucks private label….but be careful, Starbucks uses a host of other manufacturers too, so make sure to check the back of the label for "manufactured by TCHO", if you're looking for that high-quality chocolate experience)

ScoutOUT! - Soy great!

(image courtesy of tofuwatch.com)

Hodo Soy Beanery

2923 Adeline Street
Oakland, CA 94608
(check website for tour times)

For the past couple of months I've been scoping out a modestly sized booth at the farmer's market selling tofu. I've noticed that this company, Hodo Soy, also sells fresh tofu in tubs at Whole Foods and Rainbow Grocery. But, for some reason, I never sampled the products or took a leap of faith and went home with a block of tofu. So, it wasn't until my tour at the Hodo Soy Beanery that I tasted and fell in love with their soy products.

Soy beans are not all created equal. The protein content varies by variety, thus making the products that are made out of soy beans vary in quality and flavor. Hodo Soy uses a nutritionally dense, mature bean that's grown organically in the Midwest. Once this bean makes it out west to Oakland's Hodo Soy Beanery, it takes on many forms such as soy milk, yuba (tofu skin), and soft/medium/firm tofu - and even more flavors (tea-infused, braised tofu - um yeah!)

The Hodo Soy Beanery makes tofu making an art. As you look into the Beanery there are yuba skins slowly drippin soy milk into steaming trays - something that reminds me of papermaking and printmaking (weird?) - and employees hand pressing tofu by the slab (again, printmaking?). It's really beautiful. But, tofu isn't meant to be as easy on the eyes as it is the mouth - which luckily Hodo Soy has down pat. Spicy yuba strips, smoked tofu strips, tangy tofu salads, warm creamy soy milk and more were all on the sampling menu during the tour at the Beanery. I was so happy to have never tried Hodo Soy's product prior to the Beanery visit because tasting the spectrum (and by tasting I mean, eating...portions were very generous) of textures and flavors was priceless (the tour did cost $10...but definitely worth it in tofu!).

(image courtesy of dessertfirst.typepad.com)

Alex and I went home with a bottle of fresh soy milk (only ingredients are soy beans and water), spicy yuba strips, and braised tofu - along with a new found appreciation and love for the soy bean and Hodo Soy's artisanal tofu products.

That's books for ya! - The China Study

I love reading. Back in New York, my daily hour and a half commute from Brooklyn into the East Village and back was bearable, even enjoyable, only because I always had a book in hand. Without my little book friend, I most likely would have rolled my eyes, yelled, and pushed more often than I already did. Reading on the subway was surprisingly the most relaxing part of my day.

Now that I live in the “city” (of San Francisco), I don’t have very long commutes anywhere (not to mention, having no office to go to, my commute to work is...non-existent). And while it’s pretty sweet to be able to walk any place you want to go, I do miss those daily book dates on-board. But, lives change and routines change with it, and books (and my sanity for that matter) shouldn’t suffer because of it.

To go along with my “ScoutOUT!” bits, I’m starting another feature called “That’s books for ya!”. This new addition will share the wordy adventures of my reads (which are almost always non-fiction), crazy discoveries (aka…wtf! protein causes cancer!!) and most likely wrap up with a review of some sort.

Here to kick off the first "That's book for ya!" is my current read - The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted, by T. Colin Campbell PhD.


With only 50 pages read, I can say the learnings thus far revealed are INSANE in the membrane – literally. Campbell, along with students and colleagues, conducted much research that strongly (like 100 to 0) suggests having too much protein (especially from animals…so things like cheese, milk, or chicken strips) really isn’t a good idea at all. Well, why not??? Because it’ll probably give you cancer, that's why.

Like fertilizer for weeds, protein (when over done and animal derived) feeds the multiplying cancer cells, boosting growth and allowing the cells to thrive into tumors. Not cool. What a misleading name…pro-tein. Ha. Campbell goes on to share that a low protein diet (mostly from plant proteins) can actually reverse cancer cell growth. That’s right…less protein (from animals) prevents AND reverses cancer. Like I said, insane in the membrane. Just another reason I’m hella happy that I've never been a fan of chicken strips and that I'm a mostly-vegetarian (although reading this book has gotten me rethinking all that cheese, butter, and cream I’m so fond of…).

More shocks to come, I’m sure…

scoutOUT! - Scrap

Scrap
801 Toland, San Francisco
(enter the warehouse on Newcomb Ave, between Toland and Selby)
Monday through Saturday, from 9am to 5pm.

If Urban Ore fixes your home, Scrap colorizes, texturizes, and wacks-out your home. Tucked away on a side street in the middle of an industrial neighborhood, Scrap is like a crafters wonderland. Prices are few and far between - so the deals are only realised once you are about to pay - that is unless you find some fun scraps of fabric, paper, electric parts or something else in front of the sign that says "from here to door is free!" I love free, but with all that other, better scrap lurking behind the sign, free sometimes isn't for me.

Immediately when you enter Scrap you think, damn, I need to start making stuff! With barrels full of wine corks, boxes loaded with tiny glass bottles, and yards and yards of scrappy fabrics organized in a rainbow of color, who wouldn't wanna be holed up in their house sewing, hot gluing, and scraping away? mmm...

Alex, is that person who doesn't feel that way. Recently we've been visiting some paper and art stores and he gets bored. He's definitely not a craft-man. All the paper is the same to him (even when it's totally not!) and he gets no pleasure in staring at 10 different glues. So, when i told him i wanted him to accompany me to the craft depot, Scrap, rockets didn't go off. And 10 minutes after of arrival, he said, "okay, ready?!" But obviously I wasn't, since I had just walked past the freebies into the retail space. So, bored, he went exploring...

Who ended up with the most stuff? Alex! He ended up finding random book pages that had been ripped out and stashed away in some drawer. Two that he bought were intructional photographs on how to clean an oil spill with hay. Others were patents for things like self-air conditioning rocking chair and chewing gum lockets, german poems and songs, russian drawings of crazy big radishes, and two stones (total $5...i think the lady who checked alex out was into the number 5, cause it probably would have been less had my cashier handled the transaction).

I ended up being more inspired than goods-aquired, but I didn't leave empty handed: 1 adhesize roll of faux wood, 2 childrens books with awesome illustrations, an old san francisco map that's rich in subdued colors, and some fabric that will seam-up to be stuffed (total of $2). And I didn't feel guilty with my Scrap purchase (as I often do at craft stores that offer new goods) because all the items in Scrap, are well, scrap! So if it weren't for this organization, who is kepy afloat from my and other's purchases, then all that scrap would just become a big ol'pile of crap.

intro pictures from other scrap-seekers

picture memories over time

pictured: central swedish woods
(left picture...where's alex?)

there's a feeling a roll of film gives you that digital will never replace. it's a feeling of lost time and memories fermenting - getting more beautiful with age. the preciousness (don't waste that film!) and the waiting are far more rewarding than the clutter, disposability, and flatness of digital.

so here i share my bit old memories with you. memories that are revealing themselves with just the right amount of space in between - when the longing for the fresh, damp smell of the swedish woods arrives.

pictured: bits of regensburg, germany // alex in woods near appelfabriken

pictured: urnatur's magical forest

pictured: die grune ecke farm life, pt 1

pictured: die grune ecke farm life, pt 2

scoutOUT! - Urban Ore

Urban Ore
900 Murray St. Berkeley, CA 94710
Mon-Sat 8:30am-7pm; Sun 10am-7pm

Thrift Stores are great. Garage sales are amazing. Flea Markets can be pretty fun. Urban Ore is...

...a garage sale on steroids
there's something about milling around, searching for the perfect household item that belonged to someone else that's just grand. not only is the thing you are searching for usually unknown to you at the time, but the thing when you eventually find it is going to have a story, a history, and probably be better made (pre-70's usually means quality). it's what makes thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and now salvage warehouses (aka urban ore) one of my favorite pastimes. and urban ore knows how to bring it on. this place is BIG. they have chairs, furniture, cooking wares, records, books, clothes, bath tubs, doors, door knobs, door hinges, door stops, windows, lights, etc. that you could easily spend a whole day looking for absolutely nothing - and be happy. the mission of urban ore is to salvage stuff before it's sent to the landfill. makes sense and i like it. i love urban ore.

...vintage shopping on the cheap
so this place has its fair share of 'vintage' items that are still a bit too pricey for my pocket, but nonetheless are cheaper than the places on valencia (hispterville) street. so if you're looking for some old ass dinning room set from the 50's this is your place. you might have to clean the cobwebs and fix a wobbly leg - but that's what'll make it yours.

...dumpster diving without the burger king wrappers
while i've never dived in the dumpster, i've always thought romantically of the practice. free stuff is cool, especially when you don't have to steal it (well technically you are stealing i guess...silly laws) and you're helping out the environment too. urban ore's outside area is a bit like dumpster diving. there are broken bits of glass everywhere, rotting chairs thrown about, and more doors and toilet bowls than you could ever imagine. it's amazing. unlike the 'vintage' goods on the inside of the warehouse, the outside area seems to house the cheaper items that haven't been priced yet. for instance take our first visit to urban ore. we found 4 awesome school chairs that definitely needed some tlc, but had a good set of bones. each priced at $3. good deal, we bought one (we're idiots and didn't buy the other 3...i'm still sad about this). next visit to urban ore - the $3 chairs were obviously sold, but some almost identical, a little cleaner sister versions of the chairs were now stored in the inside area - price: $45! ridic. yeah, still cheaper than vintage shops or even ikea (wooden chairs are pricey!), but nothing like that $3 beauty we found. i like the outside area. i like cheap goods that need help and make beautiful.

...what being lucky is all about
the best thing about thrift stores and garage sales is that when you find something awesome, you feel awesomely lucky. you don't usually feel that way when you're shelling out benjies at the flea market or vintage shop. urban ore's outside and sometimes inside areas give you that rush. on our last venture into the unknown we stumbled upon an awesome wooden bench. thing cost $15 and now we have a place to eat in the kitchen. every time i sit down i get that - damn, i'm lucky - kind of feeling. life needs more of that.

image via - you guessed it - google!
(i'm always too excited about the places i find to remember to take pictures in between all the discoveries...call me lame or lazy)

scoutOUT! - ARCH

ARCH
99 Missouri
San Francisco, CA 94107
Weekdays 9am-6pm; Sat 12pm-5pm

On my quest to find some bookbinding materials, i stumbled upon an old friend - ARCH (i had been here once when my brother used to live in sf and we were on a hunt for speciality papers). part artshop, part gift shop, this place puts Pearl to shame. I wouldn't say it can compete with the myriad of paper, book, and art stores collectively in new york, but for one place that's just a 15 minute bus ride away, it's pretty darn great.

They have a nice selection of papers and paper-type things - like cork that's paper thin (bought this!) and glow in the dark sheets (bought this too!) for ya know, making glowy things glow. and they have a 'bulk' paper section with tiny envelops, stickers, single specialty sheet, and more. if you're into making tiny worlds - they have a pretty good selection of model building supplies. and of course there's also your everyday essentials like paint, pencils, drafting odds and ends, etc. the gift part is 1/4 of the store and might be a good addition if you are looking for something to tie to the outside of a present or to go to an open house with. nothing remarkable, but clever enough to not wrap.

i went away with a large piece of davey board, some pvc glue, and everything else i bought but didn't need. ARCH, nice to be reacquainted, you are definitely a place i'll be frequently often.

picture again courtesy of google