Join Our Adventure
Our Mission
To explore our cultural roots and live our dreams! We will foray into traditional family recipes and invent new combinations. Constantly on the road of reinvention, Rene is exploring a new career in ceramics and Johanna is ever learning about the body with its subtle connections and complexities.
Who We Are
René and Johanna have been together ever since their first non-date date in 2011. At the time René was a proprietor of a small award-winning and beloved restaurant and Johanna had recently transitioned from bartender and FOH work into selling wine to restaurants. They both made the other pursue their prospective interests and ended up together. Life brought years of plot twists, add-libs food, and libations. In that time their yard was reclaimed from well-established blackberries and transformed into a culinary delight, full of herbs and produce not usually found at the grocery store. René and Johanna tied the knot in a hand-fasting ceremony on 11.11.2020.
In 2021 we embraced an adventure that led across the US to shift our mindset. We returned to Seattle in 2022 put our dreams and priorities into action.
Johanna Graf-Gutierrez (she/her/we)
“I like Salt!” My family has Romanian-German roots and is filled with healers, creators, and kitchen witches (that’s my interpretation anyway.) My love of wine and libations grew out of how the stories behind them hold a whole culture and tradition. You can know a lot about people by what they eat and drink. My hands are always reaching for something as I am a kinesthetic learner and doer. Be it tango dancing, embroidery, sewing, cooking, or putting my hands in the dirt, I’m always listening through my fingers. The last 7 years have been spent dedicated to developing a unique skill set in the world of massage therapy. The satisfaction of facilitating people out of pain and back into a relationship with their body is unequaled.
A parallel relationship that I’m coming back into is that of the natural world, plants, and our other more than human kin. Being in the garden, out in nature, and in the kitchen are just a few ways I am fostering that relationship. On this journey, I am drawing together all these threads that run through my life, and trying not to get completely hung up on “getting it right”
René Gutierrez (el, ese)
“It needs to be used!” is a core philosophy. Growing up in a large Mexican family where money was tight, food waste was not an option. I adopted this motto by watching my mother turn leftover mashed potatoes into crispy pan-fried tacos; “Oh, you didn’t like the liver and onions that I prepared for you last night? How about some “chicken” fried steak instead!”(milanesa) This viewpoint has shaped the way I live, shop, and create; we only have one world and i would like it to be around for a while.
With over 25 years in the food and beverage industry I have amassed a wealth of knowledge, that i plan to revisit, reinterpret and renovate. whether it’s through learning a new fermentation process or processing a new ingredient, I’m excited to utilize and expand on that wealth.
As a gardener and cook, knowing how food is grown and tended is important to me. On this journey, I am stepping into new territory… I will be a chef with a shifting kitchen full of ever-changing ingredients, people, and culture.
Queso
“I’m the cheese in the Johanna-Rene sandwich!” My family has feline roots… I will let you know what I am thinking with a series of pronounced little yips & woofs. All people are for me and you should be using both hands for pets! Adventuring in the neighborhood or on hikes is a favorite thing, as long as there’s napping time after. I’m a master of finding the hidden floor morsel!
What We’ve Achieved
Built-up incredible experience serving in the restaurant industry, in nearly every capacity! (52 cumulative years between both of us)
Looked life in the face and decided we wanted something more!
Downsized dramatically for travel.
Set our intentions to live our dreams.
Collected ideas of what we want to see and learn.
Selected Queso the cutest travel jacket ever
Traveled for nearly a year all over the USA
Returned to dig into a new life working with people and clay
in January of 2023 we welcomed Meztli and began a new journey into parenthood
