5 Things That Were, Are, Or Have Not Yet Come To Pass

There will be no lengthy preamble to our 5 Things™ this week. Just gaze into the Mirror of Galadriel—

1. Oktoberfest at Hoops! Gosh, we are pumped to be a part of this event. On Saturday, October 6th, from 1-11pm, we’ll be bringing our German A-game to Hoops Brewing to the kind of pop-up this Goerdt-owned business has been waiting for. There’s no definitive menu yet, but preliminary discussion has mentioned our Classic German brats, hella sauerkraut and beets. Check out details (beet-tails?) here and here.

2. Anniversary party raffle! A growing list of businesses are joining forces with us to raise funds for Together For Youth, “an inclusive, supportive and welcoming group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, two spirit and allied youth in Duluth and Virginia, Minnesota,” that works to offer a safe space and resource network for area youth. $1 raffle tickets will go on sale next week in our shop, and will be sold until the end of our 20th anniversary party and afterparty. Winners will be announced the following week. This is an opportunity to raise some serious cash for an organization doing important work in our community. 100% of raffle proceeds will go to Together For Youth. Tune in in the next few weeks for a complete list of participating businesses: The prizes are sure to be awesome.
3. A Dewitt-Seitz Marketplace collaborative picnic basket is in the works! This egregiously long subheading is for the outdoorsy types and leaf peepers, and it pretty much does most of the work for the body of text. The picnic baskets will go on sale in October. Participating businesses at time of press include Amazing Grace Bakery & Café, Blue Heron Trading Company, Hepzibah’s Sweet Shoppe, and yours truly. Combine this with some warm beverages from Duluth Coffee Company, or some craft brews from one of our many local breweries, then head out to Hawk’s Ridge, some length of Lake Superior shore, or a spot along Skyline Parkway and you’ll be well on your way to being about as ‘Luth as it gets.
   

4. Option 1 is in full-effect! For more information about Option 1, check out the press release. I have enjoyed several of my breaks in the new seating areas, and it is definitely nice to have more outdoor public seating options in the area. This week I am very excited about the sweet new paint-by-numbers mural—Akawe Nibi, by Moira Villiard—located on Buchanan Street. Villiard designed the mural, and the locals and tourists in the community came together over two days to paint it. Come down and see it in person, and have a relaxing lunch amidst the chaos of Canal Park.*
   

5. We had an all-staff meeting on Sunday! Four-ish times a year, we gather as many of our 40+ employees as we can fit in our third-floor office and discuss the goings-on and future of the business—new products, the fate of our enormous menu**, new employees, precisely how many new employees we still need (hit us up with those résumés), and the latest inside jokes. As always, the true purpose of the meeting is to make it to the end and consume pizza and sudsy beverages.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s installment of 5 Things™ and keep tuning in each week. It is my pleasure to keep you updated. Perhaps I should go home and watch The Fellowship of the Ring, because it has begun to affect my work.

*Note: Not all opinions expressed in this blog fully reflect the views of Northern Waters Smokehaus, and chaos is not inherently bad.
**It's going to stay enormous, but we're working on developing a quick-start menu those new to our store, interested in knowing the must-try items.

5 Things That Happened This Week

While Fall is not technically here, we at Northern Waters Smokehaus have decided that it is for us, which seems like a good enough place to begin—

1. Our first pop-up of the season is tonight! Eric and the gang whipped up some tacos that are so dang good we just have to share them with the world—chicken and smoked pork shoulder, slow cooked for six hours with poblano chiles, onion, and juiced whole limes, which are then pulled and “roached” (a NWS neologism for flash roasting) the day of the event (aka today). We’ll be slinging them with fresh salsas at Hoops Brewing from 5-10pm.

2. We have begun storyboarding our Fall product catalog! In our 20th year, we have decided it is high-time to display our fabulous food in a beautiful booklet. Our dutiful design team has really done number on this project, which is nigh complete, and should be hitting the shelves soon, since it’s, y’know, our Fall product catalog.

3. Eric spoke with the Duluth News Tribune! Jana Hollingsworth from the DNT came by and observed Eric in his natural habitat—elbows deep* in the process of preparing tacos—for an upcoming profile in the paper. From what I have heard, it was an boisterous and enlightening conversation, full of colorful language which will probably not make it to print, that will offer readers a first-hand account of the beginnings, trials, tribulations, and ultimately, enduring success of our humble deli. Since they gave me the keys to the blog-Corvette, I’ll speak on behalf of the company and express how honored and humbled we are to be given this opportunity to share a bit of ourselves with the community.

4. We’re hiring again! Seasons come and go, people come and go, but business remains the same. To match demand for our product, we’re hiring in all departments. If you have a commitment to good food, fast-paced teamwork, and inside jokes ranging from absolutely dumb to sidesplittingly hilarious, you’re almost entirely the profile of a Smokehaus employee. Benefits of the job include a free meal each shift, competitive pay rates, healthcare options, friendship, and the opportunity to make loud airhorn noises with your coworkers whenever you happen to congregate in large groups. Bring your resume!

5. We got rid of the standing desk! It just didn’t work out. Who even really likes standing anyway? #couchlife

As always, it has been a pleasure writing at you. Catch you again this time next week.

5 Things That Are Happening At Or Around NWS

Welcome back, dear reader. August has been an exciting month for us here at Northern Waters Smokehaus. We have added fresh faces to our team, said goodbye (see you later? During mail order season? Please, help) to some old friends, sold a whole bunch of tote bags, and generally embraced the end-of-Summer fatigue as a way of life. Here's some insights into what's on our minds this week:

1. Option 1 has commenced!For the month of September, Bunchanan St. will be closed to vehicle traffic and used as a public seating area. This is part of Imagine Duluth 2035's Imagine Canal Park initiative. This initiative also includes a pop-up park at the Lighthouse Lot at the end of Canal Park Drive, and has been implemented to reinvest in Canal Park and it's ability to host "uniquely crafted community-oriented spaces." For more information, check out the press release. 
2. Nighttime delivery is coming to a temporary end.The season is coming to a close: Days are getting shorter, the lunch rush is getting (marginally) slower, and the students—most of our delivery team—are heading back to school. As a result, we’ll be cutting our delivery hours back to 10am-5pm, with a cutoff for new orders at 4:30pm daily. We look forward to seeing you down in our deli during the Autumn evenings, and our evening delivery drivers will see you again next Summer.
3. We signed up for Best of the Wurst!We’re pleased to be taking part in this year’s Best of the Wurst at Sociable Ciderworks. The event promises “all the sausage you can eat” and benefits non-profit Fair Vote MN. We’ll be serving up some NWS charcuterie classics, as well as some new, exciting recipes currently in development. Tickets are available here.
4. We announced our 20th Anniversary party and afterparty.This just in: NWS’s 20th anniversary celebration will be taking place on September 29th at Hoops Brewing. The afterparty, featuring a roster of NWS employee bands, will happen at the Rex Bar in Fitger’s. Our community has done so much for our business, and we are very excited to give back with what should be a very memorable day of proper NWS revelry. We'll be closing our deli early that day so everyone can get in on the fun. More information can be found on the Facebook event page.
5. NWS got their first standing desk.This one speaks for itself. A signature NWS innovation.Thanks for tuning in, friends. See you next week.

5 Things That Happened At NWS (Since The Last 5 Things Post)

It’s been a spicy week at NWS—so spicy, in fact, that I need to immediately soothe it with some cool and smooth Smokehaus anecdotes.

1. We had the best time at the Glensheen Gala! Although prep for the event began early in the week leading up to it, there was still plenty left for the day of the event. Beginning around noon, a small group of the catering team went to Glensheen to set up a beautiful array of tables, decorations, and serveware—shoutout Sue from Hemlock Preserve for bringing her A-game with props and decorations—while the rest of us set ourselves to finishing all the food preparation. I personally spackled about five-hundred squares of pumpernickel with scallion cream cheese for gravlax smørbrød, and shared the tremendous duty of piping boursin into the same number of endives, which we then garnished with sweet peppers. During this process we feasted like royalty on the dismembered crusts of watercress and butter sandwiches. Big bonus for me: This week I encountered endives and watercress for the first time, and I am not sure how I lived so long in the dark.

   Once we arrived with the food and catering gear, we operated at full-speed to set everything up and basically never slowed down the rest of the night. Hundreds of guests poured through our little alcoves loaded with thoughtful questions and kind praise, as we worked like bees, pollinating plates with aromatic cheeses, jams, and fruits; replenishing trays of stilton-pancetta puffs and lamb hand pies; creating delicious desserts in real-time to keep the people well-fed.

   At the end of the night, we were fortunate enough to have some time for individual wandering about the grounds, and got to take in the full spectacle of the Secret Garden Party. Lit paths guiding us along creeks, to courtyard fountains, and gorgeous Lake Superior in the moonlight. It was a full day, and a lovely night of work that at times felt like play.

2. Our design team did a photoshoot at Hemlock Preserve! In addition to a number of future print projects to showcase our product and our business, we are steadily piecing together a product catalog for release in early Autumn. Sue, a wonderful friend and collaborator of our business, and proprietor of the amazing Hemlock Preserve barn-palace-wonderland gave us the perfect location for an epic photoshoot. Thanks, Sue!
   

3. The youths have left us to return to their schooling! Some things that happen at NWS are not so savory, and perhaps a tad bittersweet. During the summertime, we take on a swath of young folk to fill in the gaps in our staff. Then the Summer days dwindle and they return to their sedentary lives of learning and self-improvement, while our prep and delivery department doubles down to keep on top of the orders that continue to come in. Perhaps somewhere in here is a desperate plea—if you’re a highly motivated team-player who would like a hand in the back-end of bringing our particular variety of food joy; if you find your daily zen in washing dishes; or if you would enjoy spending time driving, walking, or biking our food around town and otherwise hanging around our fun and talented staff, consider dropping off a résumé or filling out an application.
4. Blush celebrated their 1st birthday! Prep legend Amy Hazel may spend a lot of time working the grind in our basement, but she and her friends/colleagues also own a wonderful bar/art gallery/music venue called Blush, located downtown on 1st Avenue West. To celebrate their anniversary, they have thrown a weeklong music festival (aptly named Blushfest) which has featured the talents of several NWS staffers and alumni bands, including Moon Dogs, àlamode, RAW SPACE, and Low Forms. The festival continues through Saturday night. Here’s to another year of Blush!
5. Mayu the corgi visited our office! Designer extraordinaire Zac shared his dog-friend with us for the day. What a squeezable little pup-nugget. Zac should definitely bring her back, or there will be consequences.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for tuning in!