RISE of the Pandemic Entrepreneur
It’s no revelation to say that small businesses have been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Look no further than your favorite local restaurants, coffee shops, and bars to see the painful economic impact of the past eighteen months. Though the pandemic may have wreaked havoc on the food industry, there has also been a steady increase in innovation by culinary entrepreneurial spirits. In cities and towns across America, cooks, growers, and restaurateurs were forced to adapt. Chef pop-up sites, home-cooked delivery, curated snacks by mail, and a greater focus on local products have arguably strengthened the options and experiences for consumers and lovers of food.
Chestertown, Maryland has long been a haven for fresh, regional, delicious ingredients. Thanks to local farmers, producers, and entrepreneurs there is always access to the good stuff. Take a stroll down High Street on a Saturday morning and you’ll find tangy yogurt from healthy cows, fist-sized crab cakes packed with juicy meat, fresh organically grown vegetables, local pork that will have you questioning why you ever bought the factory-farmed version - everything you need to keep your tastebuds content during the week ahead.
While the options in Chestertown are plentiful, one Kent County resident and her family have been able to identify a missing component to the local fare, and she has been able to fill that void with the delicious taste of sourdough.
In the initial days of the quarantine, Brianna Schindler and her father Dr. Bill Schindler, who founded the Eastern Shore Food Lab, donated their time and knowledge of ancestral foodways by baking sourdough bread that they donated to a Social Action Committee. The loaves provided nourishment to families and elderly community members who had difficulty accessing grocery stores while under quarantine.
Brianna developed a strong tie to the art of sourdough bread making through this experience and saw the potential to provide healthy food to her community, which led to the creation of Rise by Brianna. As Bill notes in a blog post for his Eat Like a Human book, “the long, slow lactic fermentation that takes place in sourdough bread production introduces wild bacteria into the dough and creates the environment in which they thrive and chemically and physically transform grains into their safest and nourishing forms possible for our bodies.” This magic not only creates a nourishing food option, but it leads to a multitude of tasty possibilities that Brianna is capitalizing on.
After providing samples for family and friends, Brianna and her crew of family members began pumping out sourdough products from their basement-kitchen at home. However, they quickly outgrew their cottage business model and transitioned their operation to the Eastern Shore Food Lab, founded by her father who is a former professor at Washington College.
In addition to loaves of bread, the Schindlers use the sourdough process to make a growing number of fresh and delicious foods. Their arsenal includes giant soft pretzels, “everything bagel” crackers (best dipped in cream cheese), pizza crust for pizza nights, even batter for fish and chips.
Rise has already begun a transition and expansion, with the line of sourdough products incorporated into the Schindler’s Modern Stone Age Kitchen. The family-run business now has four part-time employees, and it looks to hire more staff as it sustains its food production and classes. Work-based learning opportunities are also available for local high school students, furthering the connection with the local community.
The Modern Stone Age Kitchen storefront in downtown Chestertown is open to the public every week from Thursday through Saturday. In addition to the line of products from Rise by Brianna, the storefront also offers a variety of products that utilize ancestral technologies such as nixtamalization for maize, lacto-fermentation for vegetables, and fermentation for dairy products. The Schindlers also have a spot at the Kent Island Farmers Market on Thursday afternoons.
Brianna is a rising high school senior, which means she will be off to college in a year’s time. While she may have to bow out of some of the day-to-day aspects of baking, she plans to remain involved with digital aspects of the business and will continue to help the company grow through social media. But for now, she’s firmly cementing her legacy amongst the regional food producers on the Eastern Shore.
RISE by Brianna, Modern Stone Age Kitchen
236 Cannon Street, Chestertown, MD
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