How a German Master Chef Conquers Los Angeles Farmers’ Markets
If you’re a regular on Los Angeles Farmers’ Markets, you might have noticed a produce stand that stands out (yes, pun intended!). Instead of the general variety of local California veggies and fruits, this stand presents an outstanding variety of freshly harvested mushrooms. Did I say mushrooms? Yes! Name anything from Chanterelle to Morels to Porcini to Black Trumpet to Shiitake - and the list goes on - and you can almost be sure that LA FungHi has it.
LA FungHi offers the widest selection of mushrooms in Southern California. And that’s a fact.
And while the selection and quality of LA FungHi produce is special - so is its owner and founder Dirk Hermann. Because Dirk is a German Master Chef. His culinary skills paired with his passion for mushrooms make Dirk your unusually resourceful farmer’s market vendor. When buying mushrooms from LA FungHi, you might find Dirk sharing some insider mushroom cooking tips with you.
Passionate About Mushrooms
Dirk became acquainted with mushrooms when he was a young boy. Growing up in the Bavarian Alps, his parents owned a number of restaurants and hotels. During several seasons, mushroom hunters came by and traded mushrooms for meals or beer. That’s when Dirk started to establish an affinity for cooking and his passion for mushrooms. From 1979 to 1982, he studied to become a chef. At the age of 18, he owned his first restaurant, Gasthof Drexle, located 45 miles south of Munich, close to Austria in the Bavarian Alps.
During Dirk’s ownership, a man named Heini would always come by with several varieties of mushrooms. They would test the consistency, color, and flavor. Then the deal was: How many beers or meals would the man get for those mushrooms? Later on, Dirk studied to become a master chef at the Bavarian school of hotel management in Altoetting.
Today, Dirk is proud to offer the best mushrooms Angelenos can think of. And I am proud to welcome LA FungHi to the grenniMEDIA family. If you’re interested in LA FungHi and the mushrooms they offer check out their website, or Facebook fan page, or become an LA FungHi follower on Twitter!
Style Discoveries at Unique LA
grenniMEDIA at UNIQUE LA 2009
Unique LA, the Los Angeles Independent Design & Gift Sale, happens twice a year. grenniMEDIA paid a visit to the city’s upcoming uber-creative designers, and discovered some rare and eccentric finds. And, here they are:
Gräf & Lantz: Luxuriously Simple Tote Bags
First off, I want to introduce everyone to Gräf & Lantz. Yes, it’s Gräf with an umlaut! That’s because Holger Gräf, designer #1 in the team, is from Germany (my awesome home country, by the way). Gräf, together with his design partner Daniel Lantz, manufactures the most amazginly puristic and Japanese inspired tote bags from 100% merino wool. Here’s what the designer duo says about their line: ” Our goal is to create products that are luxurious, aware and functional. We have chosen to primarily use high quality 100% merino wool felt which we have produced and imported from Germany. By combining felt with other natural materials we highlight its deep rich colors and unique texture. Our high density felt not only makes a very durable and pill resistant product but also lends a sculptural quality that influences and inspires the structure and form of our designs. Each piece is handmade in the USA.” I was just blown away by their chic and luxuriously simple tote bags! Check out their 2 fresh models named Jaunt and Scoot.
Spiders and Caviar: Yummy T-shirts on Eight Legs
Tricia Tanaka, designer & owner of Spiders and Caviar, presented me some of her super soft tees made from 100% supima cotton. Let me tell you, these t-shirts are softer than the softest baby skin and more yummy to the eye than any caviar to the palate. According to Tricia, “each t-shirt goes through an enzyme wash and receives a silicone finish to make them buttery soft”. I could not resist and bought 2 of Tricia’s tees, printed with environmentally friendly water based ink, and I haven’t taken them off since. No kidding!
7Lightningbolt*: Fashion for the Anti-Fashionista
7Lightningbolt* are creators of experimental clothing that will inspire every anti-fashionista out there. Their handmade pieces are made from deconstructed and revamped vintage clothing. Every piece shows its unique qualities through a variety of decoration techniques - from sewing, screen printing, and cut/sew to stenciling, painting, and airbrushing. Bringing a different spin on the mundane fashion traditionalism, the creators’ eccentric clothing line has already found fans in such celebrity style devotees as old rocker Gene Simmons, GRAMMY® nominated electronic music duo Crystal Method, Dutch trance producer and DJ Armin van Buuren as well as actor David Arquette. 7Lightningbolt* is also sponsoring the Rock’n'Roll Fantasy CampTM, and their pieces will be featured in the new Nicholas Cage movie. Yep, and YOU can wear their progressive, revolutionary, and anti-establishment pieces, too! Just be bold!
How to Save the Planet in a Sack
Fun and Functional - that’s what the ideal environmental friendly fashion accessory should be. And, it is with PLANET SAVER SACKS! Made with natural, prewashed unbleached cotton canvas and waterbase inks, these green totes are “endorsed by Mother Nature”. And the best of it all? Planet Saver Sacks carry an important message printed right on the tote - for everyone to see, and for the carrier to educate his fellow planet-friendly earthlings. Cindy McGrath, the woman behind the sacks, would even go so far and customize a bag for your company or event. Sounds too good to be true? You better check out the Planet Saver Sacks and start toting your own green conscience around!
grenniMEDIA is here!
grenniMEDIA. This is my blog. My name is Nina Grenningloh, and as you can see I used part of my last name - whether that’s wise or not, we will see - to name my venture. I am a communications professional from Germany who has been working in the international media and communications arena for over 10 years.
Beginnings…
At the age of 18, I have started out as a reporter with a local daily newspaper in my German hometown of Iserlohn. From then onwards, it has all been one big media circus to me, and I’m loving it. Whether it was my work as a media relations executive with PR Newswire in the buzzing British metropole of London, or my job as a PR account executive with the Dusseldorf boutique agency PRPB where I managed tech accounts such as Texas Instruments’ DLP division and Christie Digital Systems’ cinema projection technology.
I learned the trade as a journalist in numerous years of freelance reporting for two of Dusseldorf’s leading newspapers, Rheinische Post and Dusseldorfer Anzeiger, during my university years. I learned what questions to ask best in interviews and which ones better not to ask; I learned how to write an up-to-the-minute report after attending a press conference; I learned how to even make the most boring piece about the local pigeon breeder society sound like a hot-topic; and yes, I learned how to cook excellent coffee using all sorts of high-end and not so recent coffee makers because that’s part of the freelancers’ and interns’ responsibilities at local newspapers, too - at least in West Germany.
Moving to California
My time as an exchange student at the University of California in Davis and an internship with the ZDF studio in Wahsington D.C., Germany’s largest news broadcaster, aroused my interest for the American lifestyle. And the decision to move to California in 2004 marked, what you can call, the manifestation of my love for the sunny US West Coast.
Once settled in Los Angeles, I took up work as a German Website Manager with Skilljam, a then internationally operating company in the online casual game space. In my role, I was responsible for managing and localizing multiple game sites into German working closely together with Skilljam’s local partner T-Online Germany. A few months after I had started with Skilljam, there was a company merger; and as a result of that, I soon found myself working at Worldwinner/GSN, this time in a Marketing & PR role.
Global Perspective
In spring of 2008, I had the opportunity to work with a very promising California start-up in the social media arena. OleOle, the world’s largest social media platform for football fans (soccer fans!! for you Americans), hired me as a Marketing & PR Manager for their global markets. Under the supervision of the CMO, I developed and managed OleOle’s global launch campaign including international news distribution, PR initiatives, and social marketing efforts. And who would have thought that a soccer start-up company would find its way onto the first page of the LA Times’ business section?! Does that prove that Americans have a slight interest in soccer, after all?
From Hollywood to Germany
As of the beginning of 2009, I have started collaborating with STARFISH Los Angeles, an innovative global media service agency. STARFISH delivers entertainment content and trend information directly from Hollywood to magazines, online outlets, and broadcasting stations worldwide. I support STARFISH in setting up their global syndication and media relations as well as market and promote the agency’s trend service.
I set up grenniMEDIA with the intention to offer my expertise also to other clients that are in need of affordable communications services - with a focus on American and German markets. grenniMEDIA’s mission is to get communications right internationally for all its clients, and that includes all services - public relations campaigns, writing and translation, relationship building and networking, media production, and strategic local communication strategies.
grenniMEDIA is here! I am happy to serve you.
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