Chef in Residence: Kaelin & Emily from St. Helena Olive Oil Co.
At Hôtel Weekend, we strongly believe that we can travel through senses, and taste is one of them. In this series, we explore the world’s different cuisines: from the best street food, farm-to-table cuisine to fine dining. Here. we will share recipes that will transport you to Italy, India, Mexico and around the world. Join us as we take a peek inside the kitchens, markets and tables of our Chefs in Residence.
Kaelin and Emily re-launched in 2019, after a fire destroyed their mother’s life-time work, once again, St. Helena Olive Oil Co. Inspired and curated by their childhood, the sisters raised from the ashes what is now a beautiful company, truly connected to nature, producing authentic, high quality extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. Through delicate and delicious dishes, they convey the true essence of the Napa Valley, California. Read below to discover more about Kaelin and Emily and their journey in harmonious tune with mother nature while living a free and paused lifestyle.
Please tell us about yourself. What is your background? How did your relationship with food started?
We are sisters and second generation olive oil producers from the Napa Valley. Our mom founded St. Helena Olive Oil in 1994 and we grew up fully immersed in the industry here - taking sick days from school to attend olive harvest, accompanying our mom on trips to Italy to source balsamic and doing homework from the back room of her retail stores throughout our school years. After the Tubbs Fire forced our mom to close operations in 2015, the two of us decided to rebrand and relaunch the company in 2019.
How would you define what you do?
Primarily, we work with small-scale, locally-minded olive growers and balsamic producers to bring extra virgin olive oil and vinegar to the valley and beyond. We have a curated portfolio of estate EVOO, which highlights the story of each grower as every bottle is orchard-designated and can be traced back to a singular terroir. We also recently launched the Supper Club, a rotating selection of olive oil, vinegar and a curated pantry item either from us or makers in the industry. For example, our Fall shipment includes dried shiitake mushrooms from our favorite stand at the farmer’s market ~ Far West Fungi. So in essence we are olive oil producers, but we also promote other artisans in the food industry and beyond.
How are you inspired by your surroundings? How does nature influence you in what you do?
Kaelin: Nature is my source of energy. Going on a hike, walking through vineyards or one of our orchards is an act of reconnection to the heart of what we do. It’s easy to get lost in the details. On days when I can feel burn out starting to build, I know it’s time to put the to do list aside and get outside. Take a breath and feel myself grounded in the earth.
Emily: One of my favorite quotes is “look in the direction from which the images flow - see the brook that causes the wheels to turn.” I feel most inspired and in tune with creative thought in nature. In the past I’ve relied on external sources for inspiration, like Pinterest and Instagram, but I’ve found that I become easily overwhelmed and end up frozen or in a creative rut. Social media is an incredible platform for connection and community, but the quietness of nature is the brook for me.
What is your ritual to connect with your inner self?
Kaelin: My natural pull is towards thinking. I can get lost in my thoughts and a world of my imagination. I’ve been working on using my senses to ground back into my body, to sit with sensations like the afternoon sun warming my shoulders or birds chirping as they flit to and from our bird bath.
Emily: I do have a morning routine but I connect most deeply with myself when I tune in to what I need in each moment. Sometimes that is quietly sitting at my desk and taking care of a to-do list, other times it's catching up with a friend or going for a solo drive. As I get older I’m becoming more in tune with what I actually need to bring myself back to a place of equilibrium, or true self, and it changes everyday.
What dishes inspire you to travel?
Kaelin: It’s not any dish per say that inspires my travel, but an interest in experiencing the unique ways different cultures approach meals.
Emily: Pasta! I am endlessly inspired by the variations of technique in traditional pasta making. I’d love to do a tour of Italy to understand the history of each region in relation to pasta.
Have you ever traveled far away from home just for the food? Where?
Kaelin: Not far, but I head to the coast for fresh oysters and seasonal seafood every month or so. Hog Island Oyster on Tomales Bay and Cafe Aquatica in Jenner are my go tos.
Emily: The farthest I’ve traveled with the sole pursuit of a food experience is Oakland, CA - so not too far! I made the trip to eat at Hi Felicia Supper Club this past summer with a childhood friend and it was such a special experience.
A city, or chef / restaurant, on your wishlist for a culinary escape?
Kaelin: I’ve been following Elliott’s on instagram for quite a while and would love to visit one day. I am drawn to the unfussy way Jess provides a rotating assortment of seasonal food and products to her community.
Emily: The “Cook the Farm Goes Fishing” workshop at Anna Tasca Lanza in Sicily!
A destination on your bucket list?
Kaelin: Anywhere in Asia! Japan’s Kumano Kodō, Southeast Asia, West China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia …
Emily: Chase County and the Flint Hills in Kansas. I’d love to visit after the burning season, when the plains are alive and covered in wildflowers. I’ve heard that Matfield Green is a special community there and would also love to follow the quilt barn trail to the Volland Store in Alma.
You have a day off, what are you doing? Where can we find you?
Kaelin: Somewhere on the coast, hiking through the fog banks with my pup Gigi or exploring tide pools.
Emily: Most likely antiquing, sewing and relaxing at our home. I’d start with a coffee in our backyard before driving up the hill to visit Laren, the shopkeeper at Middletown Antiques. I’d stop in town on my way back down to say hi to Val at The Vintage Treehouse, Cathy at CE Estate Furnishings and Gary at Rags to Riches. I’d then sew for a while, do some cooking and finally catch the sunset in our backyard with friends, Kae’s dog Gigi and a glass of wine.
When are you your happiest?
Kaelin: When I’m exploring or learning something new ~ catching up with a friend on an unfamiliar trail or spending the day picking figs from our tree and learning how to turn them into compote, cookies and dried snacks to share with our community.
Emily: Around a table with my family and friends, or listening to Norah Jones radio while having wine and making dinner for myself :)
What are your favorite destinations?
Kaelin: I enjoy new experiences, destinations where I get to immerse myself in a foreign land or culture and that expands my understanding of self as a result. Observing shop keepers sweep the city sidewalks and workers graciously wait their turn to board trains during morning commute in Tokyo, herders shepherding cattle through grasslands rich with wildlife in the Maasai Mara, and experiencing the pure joy of playing hide and seek with a friendly humpback whale in Antarctica.
Emily: Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona - our mom lives right on the edge of the park and I visit as often as I can. Also, the South Shetland Islands off the coast of Antarctica. Kae and I did an expedition there a few years ago and it is the most magical place I’ve ever seen.
How do these places influence your work?
Kaelin: Such experiences give me perspective, remind me that my way of thinking and living is not the default and that we’re all part of something so much bigger and more diverse than our lives.
Emily: Both places make you feel an undeniable sense of smallness and humility. I think any place untouched by modernity is deeply healing to be immersed in. It’s easy and natural to get lost in the weeds of daily business operations and routine. These places, and my memories of them, remind me of the larger narrative that I’m a part of.
Can you describe your work in 5 senses? How does it look like, smell like, feel like, sound like, taste like?
Emily: Sometimes it looks fun and challenging, other times difficult and dull. Sometimes it smells like a harvest morning - coffee and fertile soil and the waxy residue of olive skin. Other times it smells like the dry heat of summer and smoke from distant wildfires. Sometimes it feels like the most precious gift and other times it feels like just another day. Sometimes it sounds like laughter and music over packaging orders and wine pouring from the bottle after hours. Other times the only sound to punctuate the silence is typing keys and the click of a mouse. Sometimes it tastes like olio nuovo and other times like the residue of last harvest’s bottle.
What do you feel upon entering the Hôtel Weekend universe?
Kaelin: Inspired! Like I could spend a lifetime happily exploring all the little pockets of the world.
Emily: I feelhopeful and inspired. Like I still have so many lives to actualize, so many places to explore and find different parts of myself and others. HW feels like a dreamscape within the grasp of reality.
What does slow living mean to you? And slow food?
Kaelin: Recognizing the stories written all around us. When we moved into our home in February, our three fig trees were bare. Soon after little buds formed. Eventually little leaves broke free and grew in size and number. Now what was 6 months ago bare in brimming with ripe figs that we pick, clean, and sundry to snack on and share with friends. For me, living slowly means noticing the transformation of the tree and appreciating it with each sweet fig eaten.
Emily: Feeling every moment of my day, like the texture of my steering wheel as I’m driving to the farmer’s market or the gravity as I lay in the hammock. Noticing physical and mental sensations simultaneously, living in them and through them without trying to change or manipulate my perception of them. Slow food, for me, is choosing to be conscious before I eat a meal of where the ingredients came from, imagining their story, the hands that have touched them, the people and lives those hands belong to, etc. If I can’t make that connection, then I just appreciate the taste and the company of whoever I’m with.
How do you slow down?
Kaelin: With a cup of herbal tea, a good book and my cat, Murphy, purring on my lap.
Emily: By spending time in true silence. Recently this has meant setting my phone, notebook, and any other source of mental stimulation aside to just lay in our backyard in the sun for a while.
You can’t travel without...
Kaelin: I was gifted a film camera for my birthday this year that has become my trusty travel companion. Going analog to capture memories so I can take long breaks from my phone and focus on the experience.
I have a few photos left before I can develop my last roll of film from this summer ~ images from beach trips with my partner and puppy, outdoor dinner parties, and my solo road trip through the Pacific Northwest. Excited to relive it all!
Emily: My notebook and a pen! Oftentimes the lesson I need in each moment is in my immediate environment, whether it be a thought I have, a conversation I overhear, or a quote or poem I come across. I like to preserve these moments by writing them down.
