A restored estate, a bird sanctuary, a whole lot of history

Fritz Maytag, the founder of Anchor Steam Brewery, once told me, “It’s not all that hard to find a great product. And it’s not that hard to find a really wonderful story. But when you can find a great product that has a great story behind it, you’re onto something special!” The Italian rice from Cascina Oschiena is just that—both the rice and the story behind it are exceptional. Oschiena’s work exemplifies beautifully all of what I wrote in “A Taste of Zingerman’s Food Philosophy,” and thanks to the always amazing work by our friends and importer Rogers Collection, their rice has finally arrived in Ann Arbor!

Cascina Oschiena is one of the oldest farms in their area in the province of Vercelli in the Piedmont, up in the northwest corner of the country. All the way back in the 13th century, Cascina Oschiena was being farmed by the friars at the Abbey of St. Stephen of Vercelli. As was true in those days, estates of this sort were essentially self-contained communities. As the crew at Oschiena writes:

All the inhabitants contributed to life on the farmstead, each with their own activity: the paddy weeders, diggers, carters, riders, saddlers, blacksmiths, carpenters and joiners. … The traditional hand broadcast sowing method was accompanied by the transplant technique in the 1930s, and this continued until the end of the 1950s.

Rice growing at that time was almost exclusively done by hand. If you want to see what it was like, check out the amazing 1949 black and white film Riso Amaro, which is centered around the work of the folks who worked so hard in the fields. For the most part, they were women, known in Italian as mondine. Today, Cascina Oschiena is again run by a woman. It is the passion project of Alice Cerutti, whom I had the honor of spending a day with back in 2019, when I visited Cascina Oschiena. Of her work, Alice shares,

I am a farmer with a degree in Business Studies from the University of Turin. … We are deeply involved in safeguarding the environment, and are committed to biodiversity and conserving the historical landscape. Over the years, we have made renovations to maintain the essence and character of the original structures, honoring a centuries-old history of our farmhouse.

In the spirit of what I wrote above about stories and birds, part of the drive for the project was to create a safe resting place for some very special winged creatures. Alice shares the backstory:

The fields surrounding our farmhouse constitute the last recorded Italian nesting site of the Black-tailed Godwit. This … brought us to create the Cascina Oschiena Nature Reserve by converting 60 acres (one fourth of the farmland) from rice cultivation to Natural Reserve and the Black-tailed Godwit became the symbol of our Farm and its Products.

Of course, the main culinary question is “What is the quality of the rice?” The answer is, it’s excellent! There’s a wonderful freshness to the flavor, a vitality and aliveness that I love. It is, in the context of what I wrote last week, the essence of the amazing ecosystem from which it emerges.

We have four risi from Oschiena on hand at the Deli to get going with:

Arborio – The classic for making risotto. Rice arrived in Italy as an immigrant, coming from the Spanish-ruled Sicily, where rice had earlier arrived from India. Arborio (and Carnaroli) are actually descended from rice varieties that came from the Philippines in 1839. Nearly 200 years later, Arborio and Carnaroli would clearly be called some of the most Italian agricultural products available.

Carnaroli – With a bit more “tooth” and a little more flavor, this is my personal pick for risotto.

Selenia – A special short-grain variety that works well for making Sicilian arancini and other similar dishes that call for a stickier rice. Though it’s rarely seen in the U.S., we have this rice on hand, and I’m especially excited!

Ebano – A rare black rice with a great toasty, earthy flavor. Super tasty and visually appealing for summer rice salads, main course rice dishes that aren’t risotto, and more.

All four rices are remarkable, as wonderful as the story of Alice Cerutti, her family, friends, and team at Cascina Oschiena have created over the last eight years. Swing by, take some home, and start cooking soon!

Buy a box (or two)

Extraordinary organic oil from California

Over the last few months, trying to figure out how to lead through such trying times, I’ve been reassuring myself regularly that working through hard times like these (which I wrote about in the pamphlet of the same name) builds character, increases resilience, and enhances long-term health. In a sense, I suppose, that is what was proven true for us throughout the Covid pandemic. Although it was incredibly challenging, I can see now that there are indeed some good things that came out of it. ZingTrain added online classes. BAKE! did the same as well. Roadhouse Park was created in response; in fact, it just opened for the spring season a few days ago. (Swing by on a nice afternoon, appreciate the fresh air at the picnic tables, and enjoy some oysters—they’re only $2 each if you come for Happy Hour, Monday through Friday from 2–6 pm. Order up beer, wine, cocktails, and the whole compelling Roadhouse menu anytime this spring and summer.)

Another one of the good things that emerged out of the Covid pandemic was my connection with the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC). The non-profit brought together quality- and community-focused independently owned and run restaurants from all over the country. The group advocated for restaurants with great effectiveness in very thoughtful, collaborative ways throughout those Covid years, and is still actively engaged in doing terrific advocacy work today. Maybe most meaningful of all, out of that group of caring people, I probably also made 14 or 15 new friends! On every level, it was, and is, an inspiration!

One of the many great friends I’ve made through that work is Camilla Marcus, one of the IRC’s co-founders. At the time, she was running a recently opened restaurant in Manhattan. Unfortunately, like many small businesses I know, the restaurant did not make it through the pressures of the pandemic. To her enormous credit, Camilla came out of Covid by creating a whole new company, which she called west~bourne, in its place. Fast Company called Camilla one of the “Most Creative People in Business.” I just call her kind, caring, compassionate, and a great cook and businessperson to boot! All the products on the west~bourne website are worth taking a look at. My total top pick, though, is the exceptional extra virgin avocado oil.

The folks at west~bourne have set a whole new standard for me of what avocado oil can be—it really does redefine the class! Each bottle is filled with a beautiful green-gold, cold-pressed oil that’s really the essence of what makes the best avocados so special. The flavor, like any of the great extra virgin oils we sell, is complex, beautifully balanced, and has a lovely, long, lingering finish. It tastes, as you would expect, intensively of what you would expect from the best ripe avocados (which, to be clear, we rarely get around these parts)—buttery, subtly sweet, amazingly aromatic with a little hint of licorice and a titch of tarragon! Food & Wine journalist Kyle Beechey says west~bourne’s is the best avocado oil she’s ever had. Ever since it arrived at the Deli a few weeks ago I’ve been saying the same!

Use west~bourne’s extra virgin avocado oil to dress salad as you do olive oil. Make bruschetta with it—toast some Bakehouse bread, and while it’s hot, pour on some avocado oil and sprinkle with a pinch of good sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. (I love the top grade Tellicherry at the Deli, and also at the Roadhouse, where it’s on all the tables and those incredible Pepper Fries.) Drizzle it on avocado toast, and you’ll take your usual favorite to new culinary heights. Great on a tin of high-quality tuna—try Salade Nicoise with avocado oil. Superfine on a salad with fresh fennel and oranges and, if you want, slices of ripe avocado as well. Great on pasta with grated Parmigiano Reggiano (the Valserena is tasting particularly great right now) or Pecorino, a bunch of freshly ground black pepper, and avocado oil, along with maybe some sautéed spring asparagus or fresh English peas. You can bake with it too—here’s west~bourne’s recipe for lemon cake made with avocado oil.

Camilla Marcus’ marvelous new cookbook, My Regenerative Kitchen: Plant-Based Recipes and Sustainable Practices to Nourish Ourselves and the Planet, is full of great recipes, including many for avocado oil. Oh yeah, chef and restaurateur Alice Waters wrote the foreword! A big part of what makes west~bourne’s work so special is the significant commitment to work towards ecological sustainability. It is, from the outside looking in, what appears to be the essence of the business. In fact, west~bourne was founded with one simple mission:

… to cure the climate crisis through regenerative food. With a focus on our collective decisions around food and the kitchen, we create products to shift the current paradigm while repairing the relationships between ourselves, our food, and our Earth.

Want to emulate west~bourne’s wonderful efforts at sustainability? west~bourne’s writer Angela Fink offers this sound suggestion:

Start small and stay consistent. In fashion, focus on buying fewer, better-quality pieces that reflect your style. For food, support local farmers, plan meals, and opt for seasonal produce. Sustainability isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress and making mindful choices that align with your values.

Your new favorite finishing oil?

P.S. You won’t see the extra virgin avocado oil on the Zingermans.com Mail Order website, but we’d love to ship you some—just send us an email at [email protected].

Amazingly good anchovy sauce from Italy’s Amalfi Coast

If you, like me, have a high affection for anchovies, this special sauce from a tiny village on the Amalfi Coast could take your affection for these fine little fish to new heights!

About an hour south of Naples, Cetara is known in the food world for having some of the best seafood in Italy. Old-school anchovies are one of its specialties. Fresh little fish are cleaned as soon as they’re off the boats (which are out fishing only a single night at a time), filleted by hand, and then layered with coarse sea salt into barrels. When the barrel is full, the top is replaced, and rocks are set on it to add steady, gentle pressure. The curing takes at least until the next season a year later, sometimes longer. As the weights press the slowly curing anchovies, liquid collects in the barrels. (Colare means “to drip” in Italian, hence, “colatura.”) Before the finished anchovies are taken out to sell, the slightly fermented liquid is drained off, aged in wood for a bit longer, and then you and I can buy it.

You could actually call colatura convenience food. With a small bottle of it on your counter, some pasta, and a salad, you can craft an exceptional, really world-class meal in minutes. Our colatura comes from the Delfino family, who began bottling the centuries-old “local secret” in 1950. On this side of the Atlantic that year, the McCarthy hearings were starting in Washington; in Asia, the Korean War was under way. In Cetara, though, things were pretty much as they’ve always been. Fishing every day, good cooking every evening, and church every Sunday. The Delfino family are the same folks who make the inspiring IASA peperoncino that I love so much, the beyond amazing spicy red pepper sauce I wrote up last week on that wonderful IASA Taco at the Roadhouse. We also have another colatura on hand from the small family-owned firm of Rizzoli Emmanuele as well.

Using colatura really couldn’t be simpler. Cook some pasta with less salt than you usually would since the colatura will bring its own salinity to the supper. I like bucatini—Rustichella or Gentile brands. Meanwhile, mix some extra virgin olive oil in a bowl with some colatura (at about a two-to-one ratio). Add chopped fresh parsley, some slivered garlic, and some peperoncino. Add a touch of the pasta cooking water and whisk until it’s smooth. When the pasta is very al dente, take it right out and mix it ASAP with the oil and colatura mixture. It’s very good topped with toasted breadcrumbs.

Alternatively, try brushing the bread of a grilled cheese (fresh mozzarella is marvelous) with colatura while it’s still hot, right after it comes out of the pan. Toss cubes of olive oil-fried Paesano or Rustic Italian bread with colatura and black pepper to make the best Caesar salad croutons you’ll come across. Rolando Beramendi, my friend, food guru, author of Autentico, and all-around really good guy, has a wonderful recipe in his book for a thick, hearty farro soup that gets finished with a drizzle of colatura. Colatura is also excellent drizzled over fish, sautéed or roasted vegetables, or mashed potatoes.

Anchovy elixirs

Send Colatura to your cousin in California

Grace Singleton, co-managing partner of Zingerman’s Delicatessen, and I persevered through internet issues (at times it sounded like we were talking to each other through fast food drive-through speakers from the ’80s) to talk about everything from her culinary background to what’s ahead in the new year at the Deli. She shared what it’s like working with her fellow managing partners, Rick Strutz and Rodger Bowser; her passion for understanding issues (and fixing them); and her favorite items from around the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB). 

Jason Ujvari
Zingerman’s Creative Services Design Manager

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Jason: Where did your career begin before you came to Ann Arbor?

Grace: I grew up on the east side of Cleveland and went to culinary school back in the late ’80s. That was when culinary schools were just starting to be a thing. There weren’t a lot of them. Johnson & Wales University and the CIA [Editor’s note: That’s the Culinary Institute of America, not to be confused with the government’s Central Intelligence Agency] were around. I went to Paul Smith’s College, which is way upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains. The college has a lot of land (over 10,000 acres) and a small student population (under 2,000 students). A friend who went to U of M got a big kick out of that because there were that many people just in his dorm!

After I graduated, I started off my culinary career and worked for a couple of really good organizations. I worked at Stouffer’s restaurants. Yes, that Stouffer’s. Back in the day, Stouffer’s used to have hotels, restaurants, and frozen food—all three separate divisions. From there I went to the East Coast, and, fun fact, Rick’s family owns the property in Baltimore that I was working at, though we didn’t meet each other until many years later.

I wanted to get back to the Midwest and I really wanted to own my own place eventually. So, I got a job with C.A. Muer Corporation, a well-known restaurant group, and was a dining room manager at Big Fish in Dearborn. After a few years, they transferred me to Ann Arbor to be the general manager of the Gandy Dancer and I fell in love with the city. I really just thought Ann Arbor was great. I liked that it was big enough to have some interesting things going on but small enough that people all knew each other. I knew about Zingerman’s because I would go to the Bakehouse to buy Chocolate Cherry bread. That was what lured me in! And, working in the industry, I heard lots of great things about Zingerman’s. So when a friend told me about an open position at the Deli, I applied and got the job as the manager of the specialty foods department. Rick and I were hired within a week of each other!

Jason: You’re one of three managing partners at the Deli. What’s it like working with Rick and Rodger?
Grace: It’s great. We all have our own separate areas of responsibility, but we overlap some and we cover each other. We’re a good strategy team. When we’re working on things together, we are great at talking things through, playing devil’s advocate with each other, and coming up with better solutions.

Jason: Is someone more creative and someone more business-focused or does it just depend on what you’re dealing with?Grace: Yeah, it’s kind of a mix. It’s interesting. We took a personality test, I forget if it was Myers-Briggs or another one, and the coach we were working with at the time said, “Wow, this is weird, all three of you are like the same!”
I think Rick is our negotiator. He loves talking to people and trying to figure out a deal. So he’s the one who’s coordinating things. Rodger is a process king. He is super good at it. I can come up with a list of all the tasks that need to happen to get something done, but I’m horrible at putting them in order. So I can go to him and say, “I know I have to do all these things. Which comes first?” And he will be the one who’s like, “This, this, this.”

Jason: Sounds like a great symbiotic-type leadership going on over there.

Grace: It’s nice to have three people with that big of a place to cover each other. Especially since we like to make sure we have at least one partner there every day of the year we’re open.

Jason: What do you think they would say it’s like working with you? Grace: I don’t know. I tend to say I’m good at finding errors, which is helpful and annoying all at the same time. I tend to look pretty far out. And I try to be really connected to the culture and make sure we’re taking care of everything for the staff. Rick does a lot of that, too. So it’s just a different angle of it. Rick is more the person you call at 3 am because he answers his phone no matter what. And I’m the one who’s like, “Hey, how do we set this up so that more people can do it?”

Jason: You’ve been a part of some major changes at the Deli—overseeing the Gold Level LEED-certified Deli expansion project, opening the Zingerman’s Greyline event space, introducing virtual tasting events for fans around the country during the pandemic—all while continuing to lead the day-to-day of Deli catering and retail specialty foods. Any other big changes ahead?
Grace: For years, Rick, Rodger, and I have been working on figuring out a point-of-sale (POS) solution. We started with paper carbon copies, then converted to a “real POS” after the build-out that was a point-of-sale system with KDS (kitchen display system) screens. Now, post-pandemic, we’re at a point where we get all of these orders in from third-party vendors and we need a new solution, we need a tech stack [Editor’s note: The programming languages and frameworks used to develop a website or software]. We’ve been working hard on that for almost two years, trying to find the right solution because there are a lot of options out there, but none of them do exactly what we need them to do.

Since the pandemic, Rick and Rodger and the whole front-of-house and sandwich line teams have worked really hard on finding a way to get extremely accurate quote times for people, and we’ve come up with a system to do that. Folks don’t have to stand in line anymore: They can come in, place an order, and if the wait is an hour and a half, they can shop or walk around the neighborhood. Or they can call their order in or place it online! So now there’s an electronic line, which is still a little confusing to guests if they come in and don’t see a line but there’s still an hour and a half wait.

Anyway, we’re closing in on a solution. I think we’ve made our selection of which system we’re going to use. It’s been a long haul to find the one. We’re going to be working really hard to implement that and get it in place before April or May. 

Other than that, we’re doing some renovations. Our “new” building went up 12 years ago, so it’s getting a little tired and it’s a big property to manage. We need to do things like replace ceiling tiles and redo floors. We also had to redo all of our plumbing. That was a sad realization, but yes, all the plumbing had to get ripped out and redone, mostly in the new building. So, that’s been quite a problem.

Jason: Oof, I’m really sorry about that. Aside from the new POS solution, is there something that you’re really looking forward to this upcoming year at the Deli?Grace: Last year we implemented a Waste Awareness Month. We built it into our annual plan to repeat that, though we’ll probably do it a little bit differently this year. Mid-winter is a nice time of year to look at our systems and processes and identify waste. We’re trying to get all of the eight wastes of Lean listed for everybody so they know what they are, can be aware of them, and then make suggestions for change. It helps get people thinking about waste in a different way. So, I’m excited to do more work on that as I think usually the second and third year you do something it gets better.

Jason: What aspect of your role do you find most rewarding?
Grace: It’s always fun when you’re on the other side of a successful day. The day before Thanksgiving, we had 270 catering orders—people getting their turkey dinners, breads, and pies for the next day. There’s a lot of planning and logistics that go into it, and at the end of the day, you’re tired as heck. But when it goes well, that’s always fun. 

I also always like a little bit of a puzzle. So, if something is going wrong, I like to get down to the root cause, figure out how we got there, and then figure out what we can change to help make it better in the long term.

Jason: And kind of spinning off of that, is there something over at the Deli you’re most proud to be a part of?Grace: I think, in general, the tenure of the people we’re working with is quite exceptional. We have people that have been with us for years and years and years. We have people that have left and come back. There’s a lot of benefit from people knowing the systems, recipes, and quality standards. It’s quite a good group of people. They help each other. If they see a guest who’s not sure what to do, they just jump in and go for it. That’s a wonderful thing.

Jason: Just as a side note to compliment you and your entire team on that, I had several of your managers in my Leadership Development Program and they all pretty much said the exact same thing that you just did. 

Jason: Let’s do a couple of fun ones. What’s one of your favorite things to eat over at the Deli?Grace: The cheese blintzes. We don’t have them on the menu very often, but they are one of my favorite things. And then for a sandwich, I would say #74 Dave’s Open Road.

Jason: What’s your favorite non-Deli ZCoB item? Grace: I’m currently in love with the Bakehouse’s Chocolate Rugelach. I just love the texture of that pastry. And then you can’t go wrong with the Roadhouse’s Fried Chicken or Miss Kim’s Tteokbokki. There are just so many good things across the ZCoB. I am so spoiled. 

Jason: What do you like to cook when you’re at home?Grace: Lots of veggies, stuff out of my garden as much as I can or stuff from the farmers market. I pretty much do all my shopping at the farmers market and at Argus. I like to use vinegar in a lot of things because it gives it pizzazz. So I am definitely the vinegar gal. There are some recipes up on the Deli’s blog about vinegar. I have at least six different vinegars in my cupboard, usually four olive oils, and three different kinds of peppercorns at least. And then one of my favorite things to cook with right now is the Piment d’Ville from Boonville Barn Collective. It’s a company out in California that is growing chile peppers like you would get from the Basque region in France. It is my favorite seasoning right now.

Jason: Your dogs have made an appearance in the background a couple of times. Can you tell me about them?Grace: I have three Brittanys. I have a 2-year-old, a 10-year-old, and an almost 16-year-old. We go running every morning. Now I run two miles with the young ones and then come back and do a mile walk with the oldest one. But we used to all go running three to five miles every day.

Jason: I know you like to cycle, too. Do you have a favorite bike path that you run or ride on?Grace: Yeah, I live right near Mary Beth Doyle Park, so I always go down and run around the park. There’s a nice little route and it’s my nature fix for the day. There’s always blue herons and white egrets and ducks and geese and turtles and all kinds of stuff down there. 

Jason: Alright, Grace, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today. One last question before I let you go: Is there an inspiring moment or event that you’ve had here at the ZCoB you want to share with everyone?Grace: That’s a good question. In general, the inspiring moments keep coming. To me, a lot of it is the work we get to do with producers and really getting to know them. When I went to culinary school, it was all about being consistent and having the same product. And then I got to Zingerman’s, and I started really understanding more about the variances that happen in produce and other products throughout the year. They’re agricultural products, so the sun and the weather and the rain and so many other factors impact them. And it’s inspiring to get to know the producers, the care that goes into the products, and how they have to deal with all the different things that can impact the quality—and why variety and quality should actually be celebrated from year to year! For example, this year’s olive oil crop is going to be really different than last year’s. There was a bigger crop and the weather was different. That’s fun to me, and that’s just everyday inspiration that we keep stumbling upon as we work with these producers and support them.

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Find deep discounts during the Summer Sale at Mail Order and the Deli

Every July, at Mail Order and the Delicatessen, we drastically discount dozens of products (nearly one for every day of summer) and savvy shoppers gather their go-tos like preserves and olive oil. The Summer Sale is an annual tradition that folks look forward to all year, for stockpiling staples (like Ortiz tuna from Spain, the perennial best-seller) to be sure, but also to plan ahead for future gift-giving. (Did you know? When you shop online at zingermans.com, you can purchase items during the sale and schedule to ship them at a later date!)

With so many items on sale, it can be hard to know where to begin. Start with these 10 Summer Sale highlights:

1. Lemon Olive Oil – Look for Colona Lemon Oil at the Deli or Agrumato Lemon Olive Oil at Mail Order. In both cases, the artisans actually press olives and citrus together—no citrus-flavoring or infusing here. Brush it on top of almost any just-broiled fresh fish. Wonderful in vinaigrettes, marinades, or drizzled over simple pasta or good bread. Lynn O. shares, “The lemon oil elevates everything I put it on from salad to popcorn.”

2. Zingerman’s Peranzana Olive Oil – Made by Marina Colonna on her ancient estate a little over 100 miles due east of Rome in Italy’s Molise region from hand-picked Peranzana olives pressed the same day they’re taken from the tree.

3. Col. Pabst Worcestershire Sauce – This sauce recipe was created by Colonel Gustave Pabst, son of Pabst brewery founder Captain Fredrick Pabst. Kate Quartaro, Gustave’s great-granddaughter, has used the recipe to create a small batch Worcestershire sauce. It has more than 20 ingredients, including malt amber lager from Milwaukee’s own Lakefront Brewery. Guest Jean T. dubbed it “delicious” and admitted to enjoying it “just by the spoonful standing at my kitchen counter.”

4. Brooklyn Delhi Achaars – These plant-based, small-batch sauces are rooted in time-honored Indian culinary traditions and layered with a modern spin, like using less salt, so the flavor of the produce is really able to shine through.
   
   
5. Koeze Peanut Butter – Made on the other side of the state in Grand Rapids, Jeff Koeze sources great Virginia peanuts, blanches and roasts them, adds a touch of sea salt, and then grinds them. The result is an intensely flavorful traditional peanut butter with far more personality than the commercial stuff. Guest Robert D. declared, “The Koeze Peanut Butter is the best out there. It is the platonic ideal of peanut butter.”

6. Organic Portuguese Sea Salt – This delicate salt comes from the southern tip of Portugal, where sea salt has been collected and exported since the 11th century, though was waning in popularity. The folks at Belamondil have revived the traditional methods—refashioning salt pools and harvesting with centenary salt pans. This has restored the local ecosystem in the process, helping to bring birds like egrets and herons back to the area.

7. Marcona Almonds – The king of the almonds, these rich, meaty Marconas from Spain are skinned, oil-roasted, and then kissed with sea salt. Not only is Mail Order’s Brad Hedeman never without a couple of bags in his pantry, he admits to storing them at the top of the pantry so his kids don’t spot them! (Lest you think this is harsh, guest Sara S. lamented, “I should have ordered more bags of the Marcona almonds. My ten-year-old ate them all in about 15 minutes!”)

8. Pistacchiosa – Sicilian pistachios are blended with extra virgin olive oil to give this sweet spread an exceptionally smooth texture. Spoon it over cheesecake, drizzle over fresh goat cheese, or spread on warmed bread. (Or go for a spoonful straight from the jar!). At a Deli tasting event, the Bakehouse’s Corynn Coscia’s then-6-year-old rated it a 100 on a scale of 1 to 10.

9. Wild Fennel Pollen – Fennel pollen is exactly what it sounds like—pollen from the flowers of a fennel plant! Sweet, pungent, and everything best about fennel. Delightful with fresh cheeses, ripe tomatoes, and pork. Guest Alicia C. raved, “Used a little of the Wild Fennel Pollen to season my whole roast chicken and it took the flavor and aromatics to a whole new level! This truly is a magic spice that makes anything you put it on so much more wonderful! Where has this been all my life?!”
   
   
10. Moon Shine Trading Co. Tupelo Honey – This honey comes from north Florida, along the Apalachicola River basin, where bees feed on the pale green flowers of the Ogeechee tupelo, a shrubby tree that grows in the swamps. Beekeepers mount hives on 14-foot platforms, then harvest the honey on barges! The resulting honey is fruity and floral, smooth and pourable—a real treat on pancakes!

The annual Summer Sale goes through July 31 (If you like last-minute shopping, you have until midnight Eastern time.) So load up on all of these items and loads more full-flavored, deeply discounted foods and gifts. Fill the freezer. Cram the cabinet. Get ahead on gifting. 

Shop the Summer Sale in person at the Deli or online at shop.zingermansdeli.com for pick up or local delivery. Shop from Mail Order online at zingermans.com to ship an order anywhere in the country. 

Should you be reading this in August, well, mark your calendar for next year’s Summer Sale!

This originally appeared in the May / June edition of Zingerman’s News.

We’re governing with grace… and Grace (Grace Singleton, that is!)

“Is Zingerman’s still run by its founders?” you ask. That’s a great question. We’ll answer with a tale, both old and new (just like our pickles!). What began with the Delicatessen, founded in 1982 by Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, now includes 11 food and service businesses, 18 managing partners, 800 employees, and a council of leaders among leaders (hang tight, we’ll explain that in a minute).

An Overview of Zingerman’s Governance

Since 1994, the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) has been steered by our Partners Group (PG), a group that includes Ari and Paul, the ZCoB’s managing partners (the individual business owner-operators), and staff partners (staff members who own a Community Share; they serve two-year terms). As Ari explains:

It’s where we govern the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses—we use consensus decision-making there to lead the organization. The PG makes decisions on organization-wide issues, like deciding to approve our new 2032 Vision or our new Statement of Beliefs. Or if there was, in a strange sci-fi sort of scenario, just for conversation’s sake, let’s say a global pandemic, the PG is where we would decide how to deal with it.

One important piece that the 2032 Vision outlines is the ZCoB’s evolution of governance:

… we’ve seen a successful transition from Ari and Paul as founders heading the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) to a mode of governance that will last beyond the tenure of any individual. While long-time ZCoB leaders continue in important roles, a couple of new “generations” of insightful, collaborative folks have stepped forward.

That mode of governance is the Zingerman’s Stewardship Council, a five-member group created in 2020 as part of a succession plan to transition the leadership of the organization from its founders to the other managing partners. To be clear, the Partners Group isn’t going anywhere, rather, as Ari says, “The Stewardship Council is filling the role Paul and I have filled for many years as ‘leaders among leaders.’” He adds:

Our main focus in doing this work with the Stewardship Council is, by far and away, looking at how we can do what we do here at Zingerman’s ever more effectively. We want it to be a way to help lead the ZCoB in becoming an ever-bigger contributor to the community of which we’re a part. We want to support succession and inspire future success. We’re committed to creating a governance model that will help both the organization and everyone in it to thrive for many decades to come.

The original council members include Amy Emberling, Zingerman’s Bakehouse co-managing partner; Toni Morell, Zingerman’s Mail Order co-managing partner; Tom Root, Zingerman’s Mail Order co-managing partner; Ron Maurer, Zingerman’s Chief Administrative Officer and Zingerman’s Service Network managing partner; and Ari Weinzweig. Council members serve three-year terms, and just like the Partners Group, decisions are made using consensus. In June of 2023, we reached the end of the first set of three-year terms. The Council has been designed so that one of these original managing partners will come off each year—the first was Ron Maurer who has his eye on retirement in 2023 after more than two decades with the organization—and a new one is selected. Ari explains how that happens:

Our agreed-upon process for selecting members is that Paul and I, as co-founding partners, consult with our staff partners (since they’re not eligible to be on the Council) and others whose views we value, to make the decision. After a LOT of conversation, and honoring what we believe is the best decision for the organization, we chose the next member. 

This time, Ari and Paul offered the spot to Grace Singleton, co-managing partner of Zingerman’s Deli since 2004. Grace knew from the beginning that she was destined for a life full of food (and she may or may not have thought the food industry would be glamorous thanks to a New Orleans restaurant where she received special treatment, sitting at the captain’s table and sampling Frangelico (a hazelnut liquor) at the age of 13!).  Grace received her culinary degree at Paul Smith’s College in New York and managed restaurants across Ohio (we don’t hold this against her) and Michigan.

She found her way to Ann Arbor for the role of general manager at the Gandy Dancer and became a fan of Zingerman’s Deli. Eventually, she made the jump, calling it “the very best job in the food industry,” and in 2004, she stepped up from retail manager to co-managing partner. Since then, Grace has overseen the gold level LEED-certified Deli expansion project (2010–2014), the opening of Zingerman’s Greyline event space (2016), the addition of virtual tasting events for fans around the country (2021), and more, all while continuing to lead the day-to-day of Deli catering and retail specialty foods. (Impressive, right?!) Of this new role and her latest opportunity to impact the Zingerman’s organization and the Ann Arbor community, she says:

I’ve been here for more than 20 years and I’m really invested in the transition of our CEO’s roles. Ari in particular set the stage with his dedication to doing business differently and how we govern is an important part of that. I look forward to working toward our future with this committed group.

Want to read more? Ari wrote about Grace’s addition to the Council and the work of the Stewardship Council in Ari’s Top 5, his weekly e-newsletter, saying, “Success leads to succession work which, when done well, helps create more success. It’s a very virtuous and very inspiring cycle to be a part of.”