‘Everything I make is handmade, and I am a one-man operation,’ Santiago says. ‘I buy the barrels, I make them, I pack them, I ship them. Everything I sell is an item that I would include in my own home. I want people to feel that. And I get the sense that people do.’ ««
cocktail glass rimmers. “I was looking at schedules and gearing up for the farmers’ market season, but with the pandemic that just wasn’t possible.” DeMartini, who has worked in the restaurant industry for her entire career— and maintains a full-time job—planned on using Sonoma’s popular farmers’ markets to launch her products locally, but turned to e-commerce out of necessity, opening her shop in May 2020. She was surprised by how much she enjoyed it. “I’ve always been a restaurant person, so this is really different, but it’s given me the opportunity to learn something new and learn as I go,” she says. DeMartini’s 27 different products—from tomato basil salt to vanilla bourbon sugar— made their way across the U.S. and beyond, where they were used in unusual ways in pandemic kitchen experiments. “A child was using the lavender lemon sugar on her yogurt,” she says. “She was maybe 7, 8 years old. And I never would have thought of that, but it’s her favorite thing. That’s
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been the most wonderful part for me, to see how people use these products. I always say, ‘Don’t overthink it, just try things.’” DeMartini feels Etsy has helped her as a new business owner. “What’s cool about Etsy is that people don’t have to be looking for you,” she says. “They might be looking for something else entirely, and just find me. I am really grateful for that.” While Etsy has helped customers find her shop, DeMartini’s unique products are all her own. She sources salts from international salt mines all around the globe, and develops organic spice blends to match the region she is sourcing from. She buys herbs and alliums from vendors all over California, determined to include only certified organic products in her blends. “Eventually, I would like to have a lot where I can grow all my own herbs and alliums. That’s my goal,” she says. The shop is international, but DeMartini keeps strong local connections by offering free delivery to anyone who lives in the Sonoma Valley and gifting
free products and samples to local families curious about her products. “My goal is to help people and their families make great food at home,” she says. “Salt is the base for food. You’re going to be using it anyway, so you might as well have fun with it. My tagline is that I sell the sous chef in a bottle, for people who might not have cooked much before.” Quarantine provided an opportunity for people to engage with homemade goods in a new way, and some tried making their own. Social distancing and the rise of e-commerce may have relegated shopping to our computers, but it didn’t stop the Bay Area’s makers from working with their hands. Whether they are making succulent pillows or wine-barrel platters, the artisans who call the Bay Area their home didn’t slow down during the pandemic—they adapted. “We can’t work together at the kitchen table anymore, but we do a lot of front-porch chats, we go for long walks,” Albers says. “We have had to find a new routine.” w
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