Talking Simple Goodness with Seattle Kitchen's Tom Douglas, Katie O., and Thierry Rauturneau

The Simple Goodness Sisters got our first brush with celebrity this week, when interviewed by famous and widely acclaimed (James Beard award winners!) Seattle chefs Tom Douglas and Thierry Rauturneau. We were not nervous one tiny bit, and if you believe that, Venise will sell you some ocean front property in Arizona next. In fact, we were so consumed with nerves we could not stop giggling on the way in, but the experience on the radio show could not have been any more welcoming.

The staff at the Hot Stove Society, Tom Douglas' cooking school, was gracious and kind and the producers and hosts were patient and warm. We spoke with all three hosts about how our "garden to glass" syrups came to be, why we love them, how to use them, and where we're going next. Afterwards we lingered to get signed souvenirs and I chatted vegetal bar mixes and comfortable footwear with "the Chef in the Hat" Thierry (he goes through 5 pairs of Van's slip on shoes per year) and we even got some advice on bottling from Tom!

Two of our other favorite moments from the experience also came afterwards, when we were approached by members of the audience. (Show audience members get a Dahlia bakery breakfast and get to watch the podcast unfold, all just for $15! "One of Seattle's best deals," as Tom said, and we agree, it is!) One woman came up to us and said she is a member of the sober community and loves what we're doing and appreciates that we're creating a product that works for her. That felt really good, because our recent event for National Mocktail Week with founder Marnie Rae certainly showed us just how welcoming that community is, and how much they want unique and flavorful alcohol free products like ours to be available in the marketplace. Another woman approached us and gave us props for being a female owned company and said she admires our passion and entrepreneurship. It has taken a lot of encouragement and mentoring from other women in business for us to get to this point, and to think that we are now doing that for others is very fulfilling.

We hope that you take a chance to listen in to this great show! We will provide a link to the podcast as soon as possible.

The show airs on KIRO 97.3 FM, Saturday the 26th at 4pm, Sunday the 25th of January at 10am and again at 5pm - it'll be available via podcast on itunes or wherever people access podcasts on Monday January 28th, 2019.

As fate would have it, on the same day our syrups made their TV debut on King 5's NW New Day program, as part of Marnie Rae's mocktail roundup. We have talked about her often on social media recently, due to our sponsorship of her first ever National Mocktail Week. Marnie is a powerhouse whose goal is to change the options available to sober people, and we have been so impressed by our partnership with her.

15 years ago I got sober and it didn't take long for me to realize that fun, delicious, grown-up cocktails were not an option in most of the hospitality world. The iced teas, sodas, “Virgin Something-or-others” and big pint glasses with straws always made me feel like I was at the kids table. I was missing a social environment where I felt included.

- from MarnieRae.com

Marnie loves a good soft cocktail but is not a bartender, so for her appearance on NW New Day I helped develop a recipe using our Rhubarb Vanilla bean syrup and farm fresh flavors. The result is a light and dry sparkling cocktail that, due to the apple taste and effervescence, almost mimics a hard cider. She explains how to make it in the clip, which you should definitely check out here!

Both of these press opportunities were incredibly exciting for two girls who decided last summer to test a theory and see if it would sell. When we bottled our first round of syrups we had no idea if we would ever sell out, or if the interest would be limited to our friends and family and social media followers. The fact that we're now shipping to NY, IL, KY, and AK, tells us that we are, indeed, growing a better cocktail- alcohol or not! We love sharing our story and our product with the people of Seattle and the greater South Sound, and feel so blessed to have been able to do so in such big ways this week.

Happy drinking, growing, and nervous giggling, friends! Please continue to tag us and share our drink recipe videos on facebook, instagram, and pin our blog posts on Pinterest! You can be a HUGE part of our story by helping us grow!

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