Featured events- 08/28/2013 - Free Outdoor Screening in the BAM/PFA Sculpture Garden
- 08/27/2013 - MARK EPSTEIN / The Trauma of Everyday Life
- 08/24/2013 - The goat Rodeo Sessions
- 08/20/2013 - Yang Fudong and Philippe Pirotte in Conversation
- 08/03/2013 - Book Signing and Discussion with Dave Kehr, followed by The Lawless Breed
Tag Archives: the gardener
Fourth Street merchants look forward to new Apple store
By Niclas Ericsson
The Apple store that will open on Fourth Street later this year is welcomed by neighboring merchants, who are hoping it will bring more shoppers to the area. They hope it might boost the number of male customers especially, as the current selection of Fourth Street stores has more to offer female customers. The only niggling issue may be parking, said to the merchants.
“The whole street will benefit from it financially,” said Manfred Kroening, co-owner with his wife, Betty, of Bette’s Oceanview Diner of the Apple store that is being built at 1823 Fourth Street, just a stone’s throw away from the restaurant.
“The street hasn’t recovered from the downturn in the economy yet. Especially during the week, businesses are suffering,” he said.
Kroening said he had heard estimates that up to 500 people a day will visit the Apple store. He is hoping that the take-out place that the Kroenings run next to the diner, Bette’s To Go, will benefit from the increased influx of people. As for the diner, more visitors to the area will make less of a difference, he said. … Continue reading »
Jam maker turns hobby into thriving local business
Dafna Kory discovered the delights of jalapeňo jam during pre-dinner nibbles at a Thanksgiving gathering. She went out to buy a jar, couldn’t find the mighty spicy condiment anywhere, so she began experimenting with making her own. It became an instant hit among her posse.
At first, the self-taught preserver thought her D.I.Y. hobby would just make nice gifts for friends and family. The she moved from San Francisco to South Berkeley, saw the abundance of plums, apples, and lemons growing in her new backyard, and a jamming business was born.
Kory foraged fruit in a hyper-local fashion. She made batches of jam in her home kitchen. She personally delivered by bike. Demand for her jams grew by word-of-mouth.
Friends who had friends who owned stores began encouraging her to branch out beyond her inner circle. So she started shopping INNA jam (the name is, indeed, a playful pun) to places like Local 123, Summer Kitchen, Rick and Ann’s Restaurant and The Gardener.
About a year ago, with orders coming in a steady stream, it became clear that Kory, now 28, needed to either gear up and focus on turning her after-hours pastime into a fully fledged business or scale back and remain a hobbyist. She decided to take the plunge.
A freelance commercial video editor, Kory hasn’t looked back. She began working in a commercial kitchen in North Berkeley, selling her pickles and preserves at events like ForageSF’s Underground Market and the Eat Real Festival, and offering workshops for other D.I.Y.ers.
The UC Berkeley graduate now spends nine months of the year working full-time on her budding food business, and supplements her income in the winter months with editing gigs.
In a year, she hopes to devote 100% of her work day to INNA jam. Kory also pickles though that product line is on hiatus while she ratchets up production to meet demand for her increasingly popular jams. She delivers locally by bike, ships interstate, and offers an annual, seasonal subscription (a 10-ounce jar retails for $12). … Continue reading »
