Meet Your Makers: Andy Hatch of Uplands Dairy

Andy Hatch is the Uplands Dairy cheesemaker and general manager. After studying Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and spending two years apprenticing to cheesemakers in different parts of Europe, Andy returned to Wisconsin and served apprenticeships under Master Cheesemakers Bruce Workman and Gary Grossen.
In 2007, Andy earned his Wisconsin Cheesemaker's License and joined Uplands as an assistant cheesemaker to Mike Gingrich and Joe Milinovich. In 2008, he took over responsibility for the production and aging of cheese and has come to manage all of the creamery's operations. When calling Uplands, you will most often speak to Andy or his wife, Caitlin, who packages and ships the cheeses.

How many people are on the Uplands team?
Between the dairy farm and the creamery, there are about a dozen of us working together. Most people are part-time but everyone is essential to what we do – there are no unskilled jobs here.

How often do you come out with new products?
We made only one cheese, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, for ten years, and in 2010 came out with our second cheese, Rush Creek Reserve. We’re always working on something new, but I expect Rush Creek will take years to perfect and we’re not anxious to do too much too fast, at the expense of quality.

How did you get into this “line of business”?
I wanted to milk cows and needed to add value to the raw milk. At this point, though, after having fallen in love with cheese making, the tail is definitely wagging the dog.

What did you do before working with Uplands?
I was a student in Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin, and spent several years apprenticing to other cheese makers in Wisconsin and in Norway, Ireland, England and Italy.

Are your cheeses sold anywhere besides Chicago?
We sell cheese all over the US plus, in small amounts, in Europe, Australia and a few Asian countries.

What did you want to do as a kid, "when you grew up"?
Professional soccer player.

What was the spark that led you to working with food?
A love of working with land and animals, and a childhood love of wine, inherited from my father.

What is your favorite part of this job?
Diversity – my day is filled with all sorts of different tasks (making cheese, aging cheese, marketing and selling, managing employees, dealing with pastures and animals, etc.) and because we’re seasonal (we only milk our cows and make cheese spring through fall) there is a rhythm to our calendar that keeps life fresh.

Meet Your Makers: Huegah Meals

hue•gah is a small community-based business that creates artisan-crafted ready-to-heat meals. hue•gah has merged simplicity with great taste, using the best all-natural ingredients (locally grown and raised whenever possible). Because of how hue•gah’s meals are prepared, they appeal to customers who either have dietary concerns (vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.) or are community conscious, seeking products that reflect their values. Former coworkers Paul Hitalenko (chef and creative director) and Dirk Bowles (operator and aspiring business owner) started hue•gah with 3 main objectives: make it great, make it simple and make it in & for the community.


*Tell us about your product/company/service.
We prepare ready-to-heat meals made using the finest ingredients and sell them in small natural and gourmet grocery stores.

*What do you hope to accomplish through providing quality products?
To give customers a dining experience like no other in the ready-to-heat category while also doing good for the community.

*How often do you come out with new products? Are you working on anything new? We develop new menu items regularly based on what is in season and what is most popular. Paul is always developing new menu items. Although we typically have 4 items on the menu at one time, new entrees are always in the works.

*What did you want to do as a kid, "when you grew up"?
Paul wrote his first cookbook at age 5 (1976). We recently posted an excerpt from the cookbook on our Facebook page (facebook.com/huegah)

*What was the spark that led you to working with food?
Every time we would get together in our former place of work as coworkers, most conversations would eventually lead to either how we could do better and be better for those who worked with us if we had our own business. Paul’s love of food and culinary skills made a food-oriented business the obvious choice.

*Where do you find the inspiration for the products/flavors you select for your portfolio?
Fresh ingredients we find, travel, childhood memories, or simply what we love to eat. Paul likes to put creative spins on the traditional without too much pretense. Our belief is that simple cooking, starting with great ingredients leads to great food if treated right.

*How do you plan to grow?
We believe that if we do right by our customers, both those who eat our meals, as well as those customers who carry our items, the grocers, growth will happen. We are unwilling to compromise quality and service for the sake of growth.

*Other than financial, what risks did you take to get your product(s) to market? Both of us gave up careers that together, spanned four decades. Although there was a perceived security, giving it all up was worth it. There have been no regrets. The work is hard and the future uncertain, but if we do what we believe is right, the long-term rewards will be immeasurable.

*What is your favorite part of this job?
We love the tight knit community of grocers, chefs and foodies that are in Chicago. From our foodie friends on Facebook, to the great vendors that work with us in Kitchen Chicago, to the great group of grocers that carry our product, everyone is incredibly supportive in working toward the success of all of us.

Meet Your Makers: Marianne & Hans of Mess Hall & Co.

Mess Hall was created out of a love for food and the inspiration found from the people who grow amazing fruits and vegetables. Marianne & Hans Sundquist make every jar of mustard and cocktail cherries by hand. Floored by the flavor and heat of ghost peppers grown by Nichols Farm, they wanted to use them in a sweet and spicy mustard. Their love of bourbon is what sparked an interest in making cocktail cherries & they knew they could create an amazing cocktail cherry that used local and organic fruit. Why buy cherries from across the world, when Seedling Orchard grows the most flavorful and beautiful tart cherries ever tasted?

What do you hope to accomplish in your products?
We hope to create products that bring people together, make them happy and use ingredients we are proud of supporting.

Do you personally know the farmers that produce your products?
Our biggest inspiration comes from the farmers who produce products with responsibility and TLC:)

What did you do before this?
I (Marianne) have been cooking professionally for ten years and wanted to take a break from the nightlife and focus on some new projects.

What did you want to do as a kid, "when you grew up"?
I read a lot growing up and was particularly attached to anything involving detectives, stolen jewels or cat burglars. I wanted to be a detective or FBI agent

What was the spark that led you to working with food?
I recognized at a young age the magic that food can provide to the most ordinary of circumstances. I have fond memories or my Italian aunts in New York cooking for days in preparation for Christmas Dinner. As a kid, i would sneak around, snagging olives out of bowls to put on my fingers (of course), hiding under the kitchen table to watch them talk and work. In the beginning I was most intrigued by the way a table food of food is powerful--drawing people to talk and relax and stop running around.

What do you see as the biggest benefit to your retailers and consumers?
Quality and Flavor. We strive to make a mustard that you crave and cocktail cherries that become a necessity for your favorite classic cocktail preparations. And we are committed to using the highest quality ingredients from inside the jar to the jar and packaging itself.


Describe your a-ha moment that made you say, "I'm going to do this!"
Well it all started with preparing for a trip to Paris. Hans and I had just bought airline tickets and then realized we needed to make some money for the actual trip! We made three hundred jars of mustard in our kitchen and started selling them to our friends and family. I would carry some around with me at parties or shows, letting people know I had mustard for sale. Before we knew it, we had sold out and people were asking for more. We knew at this point we had something special going on:))

October Staff Selection: 10% San Giacomo Balsamela Apple Balsamic

From PFW owner Tracy Kellner

Fall brings a new round of cool-weather crops to the markets, one of them being apples. I love their crunch in salads and alongside aged cheddars, but I also love the flavor the San Giacomo Apple Balsamic brings to my fall cooking.

Acetaia San Giacomo, located in the Reggio Emilia region of Italy, is where Andrea Bezzecchi oversees the production of aged balsamic vinegar. His vinegars are made with great respect for the tradition and strict adherence to the true methods of production, with no artificial flavors or caramel color added.

Substitute Trentino apples for Trebbiano grapes, reduce & acidify and you have apple vinegar. A drizzle over roasted meats, blue cheese or desserts = luxury in a bottle!

Here are some creative ways to use this little-known condiment on our shelves:

**Drizzle over radicchio, spiced pecan & blue cheese salad
**Splash atop roasted pork loin and baked apples
**Use 50/50 with white wine vinegar in a fruit shrub
**Reduce slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream
**Make an apple-balsamic whipped cream and spoon over apple bread pudding