Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Howe.
Hi Anthony, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born on Camp Pendleton but left young when my dad was stationed in northern VA. I grew up all over the east coast and went to high school in West Virginia. After the Marine Corps my dad went on to be a Teamster driving trucks, so I began cooking and packing food for him, so he didn’t have to eat fast food all the time. Although I was welding and preparing to join the Navy my dad suggested I follow my love of cooking, so I applied for as many scholarships as possible so I could attend Le Cordon Blue in Pittsburgh. My father passed away in 2008 before I graduated, and after working in private clubs, I briefly moved to Hawaii to work at a beach resort at Turtle Bay. My real understanding of food began when I moved back to the Shenandoah Valley to work at One Block West, a beautiful fine dining restaurant with a daily changing menu and 7-12 course experiences. I began to understand the importance of the history and cultural impacts of every dish and ingredient and the science behind why things worked. This is also where my distaste for waste began to develop, and I began to specialize in using ingredients to the last scrap, creating something from nothing, and preserving what was left. When I decided to go vegan, I knew my career would be irrevocably changed, and I wanted to move somewhere with the strong beginnings of a vegan community, so I moved to San Diego with my partner in 2016. I spent my first year very discouraged, working at a restaurant that isn’t around anymore for good reason and wondering if I made the right choice. When Donna Jean opened, I took the first available position and was ecstatic to be working in a scratch kitchen again. I had decided when I first went vegan that cheese was what I wanted to focus on, the quality of vegan cheese was pretty poor at the time, and Donna Jean gave me the outlet to follow that line. I created and developed cheeses, butters, milks, pickles, ferments, and many other things for the restaurant, and eventually, I was making things we didn’t necessarily have use for. When Donna Jean decided to expand to LA I we decided that the best route would be to start a new business to make cheese and staples for the restaurants as well as to make them available to the community. Scratch House was born, and now we are using blends of traditional techniques, new ideas, and food science to not only create but also to educate people about food. Our cheeses are always available at Donna Jean, and we are doing pop-ups selling cheese plates as well as paninis to show off our flavors and melting ability. I also teach monthly classes on vegan cheese making and fermentation techniques. Our goal is to be successful in the Southern California community, not to expand nationwide. Our focus is on community building, animal advocacy, and preserving culinary tradition.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Dairy cheesemakers have thousands of years of gained knowledge. Vegan cheese is a new horizon, still in its infancy. Everything we are creating is new and untested so failures are very common. Our focus isn’t to clone dairy cheese; it’s to use traditional techniques and adapt them with new ones to create something delicious from plants.
We’ve been impressed with Scratch House Vegan Specialties, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Scratch House is all about making it easier to be vegan by providing staples that people already know how to cook with. We want to build a community of vegan small businesses that can help and rely on each other so that our movement to protect animals is successful and we are all successful together. We provide vegan cheeses and other products to local restaurants, we do pop-ups with other vegan businesses, and we are finally starting to gain some traction selling our cheeses retail as well. Our focus is on the vegan community but not limited to it; we want to give omnivores a chance to see that vegan food can really be delicious.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Be nice to everyone. Always be willing to listen and learn, always be willing to help out. I’m late pretty much all the time because I get caught up in conversation with people in the most random places, I help people figure out problems, I fix things, pretty much whatever I can do. I’m a pretty strange-looking guy, I have tattoos on my face and chrome teeth, but I’m always trying to smile and be nice to people. I think people recognize compassion and are drawn to it.
Pricing:
- All of our cheeses are available for $10 per 8oz block; we are very focused on being accessible to everyone.
- You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to enjoy quality vegan food.
Contact Info:
- Website: scratchhousevegan.com
- Instagram: @scratchhousesd
Image Credits
@lindsaykphoto_
