Sant’Ana (2026)

02/09/2022

🥚 🍳 + chili oil featuring everyone we love.

15/08/2022

Hippocrates, the renowned Greek physician once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

I tend to return to this ancient dietary and lifestyle advice, especially today, when hopefully(?) well-intentioned doctors are quick to prescribe this or that for anything that ails you. It’s advice like this that still rings true even thousands of years later because it’s practical and can be implemented in everyday life.

Also. Hippocrates lived to the impressive age of 90 when the average life span was 37.5 in 450 B.C. So hats off to the father of medicine! 🎩

11/07/2022

How to know the difference between regular olive oil and extra virgin? The taste. Extra virgin olive oil has to be below .8% acidity. If it’s extra virgin you will know it by the following properties:

- Fruity aroma
- Slight bitterness
- Spiciness at the throat after a few seconds

If it doesn’t have these attributes it was either never extra virgin olive to begin with or it was degraded because it was improperly stored. In the EU, Greek olive oil is protected by strict labeling and production laws. Here in the States, there are no such nation-wide laws, so the olive oil we get--even the extra virgin--is adulterated by other oils, a pastiche of different regions, producers, etc. Sad to say but here in the U.S. we get olive oil from companies committed to driving down costs more than they are to producing excellent oils.
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24/06/2022

The first meal eaten in the beginning of summer is always memorable. To sit outside with friends and share a meal and a bottle of wine until euphoric with sun and wine and a feeling of holiday happiness. Happy weekend to all.

15/06/2022

Kolymvari is a quiet fishing village nestled between the sea and the cliffs in northwest Crete. The best extra virgin olive oil I have ever tasted comes from this area. Some say it is the proximity of the olive trees to the sea that creates the unique flavor - bright, peppery, almost a hint of banana. I think it’s also the lack of pollution, cars and big industry. Pictured here is the sign post I photographed to commemorate meeting our olive oil producer for the first time along with some olive groves. In Kolymvari, olive trees are everywhere. They line the road scenting the air with their perfume as you drive by.
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07/06/2022

I’ve been to a few Greek islands in the past, all of which have their own unique beauty. I was not prepared for how quickly I would fall in love with the island of Crete. I knew the food would be special considering its adherence to the Mediterranean’s most renowned “Blue Zone” diet. The “Blue Zones” are places in the world where people are regularly living into their 90s and 100s in good health due to their diet and lifestyle. The food in Crete is simple peasant fare, mostly local vegetables, foraged wild greens and herbs with healing properties. But it’s enormously satisfying in the way that only a Greek grandmothers cooking satisfies. And then there are the people. I have never met such warm, content people in all my travels. We arrived in Heraklion late at night where we picked up our rental car, a small bean-shaped vehicle that upon closer inspection did not have GPS. The guy at the car rental place explained using screen shots from his own phone and a great amount of patience how to get to our hotel. That evening we dined at a restaurant specializing in fish. Our waiter explained where exactly the wine came from and how they made it, same with the olive oil, and the wild greens and the freshest of fish from the Mediterranean. He said it all with a reverence that quite frankly moved me. These are people who really honor food and how it is made. At the end of the meal he insisted we share a shot of raki, the local spirit on the island, a strong digestif of sorts. He made a toast that had something to do with truly being yourself and the right people will come to you which again floored me with its profundity especially since it was all said with a smile. “Know thyself” said Socrates. A great reminder to always pursue self-understanding and introspection.

20/04/2022

CBD might seem like an “of the moment trend.” But humans have been using this remedy for healing for millennia. In 2900 BC, Chinese emperor Fu Hsi wrote a Chinese medicine textbook in which he observed that the popular substance ma (the Chinese word for cannabis) contain a blend of both yin and yang. Some 250 years later, Chinese emperor Shen Nung began explaining the healing properties of the herb, including pain relief, sleep, and reducing inflammation and anxiety. References to the medical use of the cannabis plant have cropped up around the world throughout the ages, from India’s ancient Ayurvedic medicine to records from Greece dating back nearly two thousand years.

(Excerpt from Dr. Josh Axe’s “Ancient Remedies”)

01/04/2022

What’s the right dose of CBD? A simple question with a muddled answer. It helps to understand something called bioavailability, which is the percentage of ingested CBD that your body absorbs into the bloodstream. If you see search “bioavailability of CBD” you will find a range of percentages because what are facts anymore? Research on CBD is still in its infancy for so many reasons. What we do know is that not as much CBD is absorbed into the bloodstream when taken on an empty stomach. But when incorporated into a meal through the form of olive oil, you end up getting more absorption into the bloodstream because food high in fat takes longer to digest. Eating a delicious meal with CBD is also just more enjoyable.

So how to find your optimal dose? Any quick search will give you some good hints about dosing and so do other people like your friends, and so, in the end, does your own good sense. Try a teaspoon. See how you feel.

17/03/2022

Behind every good meal is a well-stocked pantry. The basics like beans, pasta and rice are always good to have on hand, but it’s also nice to add some gourmet items to the mix if you can. Various tinned fish, fermented things, pickled vegetables, preserved lemons and vegetables, jams, shrubs, vinegars, harissa, and chili oils make the everyday more exciting. Do not underestimate the power of good quality extra virgin olive oil. It can take a dish from fine to fancy.

Tagged are some speciality shops that carry Sant’Ana as well as hard to find imported delicacies that keep home-cooking exciting.

What shops carry your favorite pantry goods? Share in the comments.

02/03/2022

A simple dressing w/ winter citrus for brightness + light. 🍋 Blood orange (segments and juice)
🍋 Juice of 1/2 meyer lemon
🍋 Cumin + coriander (toast lightly + grind)
🍋 1/4 cup Formula I or II 😌
🍋 Capers for some brine

My favorites are blood oranges + Meyer lemons grown in the sun-soaked hills of Temecula not far from here but you can substitute with any citrus. Its very good with roasted cauliflower. Lately I’ve been using spices from the Mediterranean market, like this one called Baharat which I add before roasting the cauliflower and some dates at 425. Finish with cilantro and the dressing which is made by juicing the citrus into the spices and slowly adding in the oil.

24/01/2022

MFK Fisher wisely said that we should try to "balance the day, not each meal in the day." Seems like a softer and dare I say, more chill, way to think about eating healthy. Breakfast can be virtuous while dinner (if the right conditions are met) can be reckless. Bacchanalian.

Enjoy life.
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20/01/2022

Leave it to moms for the money saving tips. She goes through a jar of infused chili oil in like two weeks. This is the hack she’s come up with to make it go further.
“When you get to the bottom of the jar, when it’s only the concentrated paste of chilis left and there is no oil, just add some Formula I, shake the jar and leave it be for a few days. The oil will become infused with the chilis again.”

Thanks mom. If it wasn’t for your encouragement this little company would not be a thing. I love you.

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Sant’Ana