Get to know the folks who contributed to the production of our first-ever cookbook, “Smoke on the Waterfront: The Northern Waters Smokehaus Cookbook” — All current or alumnus Smokehausers!
Mary K. Tennis
Mary K. Tennis is a Duluth writer, food lover, and Smokehaus expert and alumnus. She got her start in at least two of these categories in 2001, when she wandered into the deli and got a part-time job. During her time as general manager of Northern Waters Smokehaus, she greenlit the process of writing a definitive Smokehaus cookbook, and in addition to contributions throughout the body of the text and extensive recipe testing, she also crafted the beautiful introductions at the beginning of each chapter. Mary now (as of publication) serves as Director of the St. Louis County Depot & Extension Services.
Net Netzel
Ned Netzel writes for the blog and social media platforms of the Northern Waters Smokehaus. He creates experimental music under the moniker seym0ur glass. Ned began the cookbook writing process by digging through the Northern Waters Smokehaus and Northern Waters Restaurant kitchen binders, computer hard drives, email exchanges, and the mind of Eric Goerdt to compile, edit, and reduce recipes to home-chef volumes. Beyond his written contributions throughout the book, Ned poured his efforts into keeping the writing team on-task during occasionally long and delirious writing/testing sessions, and ensuring the clarity and accuracy of the text.
Nic Peloquin
Nic Peloquin has been cooking professionally since age fifteen for a range of food businesses, from fast to fine. He has cultivated a passion for preparing locally foraged, hunted, and fished ingredients with a scientific eye. He left food service for a brief career in stand-up comedy and quickly returned to the kitchen. Nic’s expertise in the kitchen and rigorous knowledge of the scientific underpinnings of food preparation were invaluable to the production of the cookbook, and his quips, impressions, and tangents kept the writing team in good spirits.
Eric Goerdt is the owner and founder of Northern Waters Smokehaus. Without Eric’s unique vision and excellence as both artisan and business owner, this cookbook would not exist. Eric wrote a ‘Welcome’ to the book, provided his wisdom and guidance throughout the process, and is responsible for the majority of the recipes found within.
Eric Goerdt
Greg Conley
Greg Conley is the human resources coordinator at Northern Waters Smokehaus. Before his time at NWS, he served as general manager of Northern Waters Restaurant. Greg’s voice is found throughout the book in a handful of in-depth essays on topics ranging from sourdough bread to barbecue smoking. During sessions when he was neither at band practice, nor actively writing or testing recipes (such as kippering Atlantic salmon on a modified Weber grill in the middle of a blizzard, just to prove it can be done), he nourished the rest of the writing team with exquisite meals.
Jacob Swanson is a visual artist, musician, and sandwich enthusiast from northern Wisconsin. He spent a handful of years on the Smokehaus’s deli front lines, and behind the scenes contributing to social media and marketing before continuing on to other adventures. Jacob’s eye for detail and composition is evident in his role behind the camera for many of the food shots found throughout the book.
Jacob Swanson
Flo
Flo is a Salvadoran multidisciplinary artist in Portland, Oregon, now tackling the wild, hilarious world of Montessori early education. Their artistic fingerprint is found throughout Northern Waters Smokehaus in the shape of hand-drawn fonts, illustrations, stickers, murals, menus, and more. You’ll find Flo’s illustrations on the end sheets of the book (those things that affix the covers of the book to the rest of the pages), and their eye for food design is present in many of the photographs found throughout.
Stephen Pestalozzi
Stephen Pestalozzi is a Minnesota artist who uses landscape as a primary source of inspiration to explore the intricacies of the modern world. Stephen’s photographic work from his tenure at the Smokehaus is present throughout in the book, as well as number of environmental and landscape shots of Duluth and Northern Minnesota from his independent work as a visual artist.
Zac Bentz
Zac Bentz is a graphic designer, auditory atmospherist, and dog-friend who has lived in and around Duluth his entire life. Zac designed and created the initial cookbook pitch chapter presented to the publisher, worked closely with the press’s design team to bring our vision to life, served as democratically elected project manager, and filled in photographic blanks on the back end of the project.
Order your copy of “Smoke on the Waterfront: The Northern Waters Smokehaus Cookbook” through our online store!
