The Origins and Steady Growth of Warehouse Gourmet Bistro and Brewpub, Hanover's First Modern Era Craft Brewery

Keith and Melinda Stambaugh from Warehouse Gourmet Bistro and Brewpub sit down with the "Gang of Four" for the premier episode of HanoverLand: The Podcast.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You are entering a wondrous land beyond GPS quarters,

(00:04):
hidden latitudes and attitudes of the Mason Vixen line,
hovering over north and south,
straddling logic, curiosity, mystery, and history.
Where heart beats drum to destiny,
you are now entering Hannover land.
Welcome to Hannover land, an exercise in borderline insanity about the borderlands of the Mason Dixon line,

(00:38):
ginned up by a few intrepid souls.
Episodes are recorded here at Warehouse Gourmet on Pennsylvania Avenue,
in front of a live studio audio.
Hannover land, the podcast, delves into the maker spirit, colorful personalities,

(01:01):
healthy living and recreation, vibrant backstories, arts and culture,
and humming businesses of historic Hannover and Sylvania.
Your hosts cordially invite you on a beautiful journey through the front page
headlines and the backstories of a quirky, fascinating haunted burq.

(01:28):
Our first guests we are delighted to welcome today are also the hosts of our show,
the owners and creatives of Warehouse Gourmet,
an awesome restaurant in Hannover's first modern day craft brewery,
here next to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.

(01:49):
Welcome Melinda and Keith Stamball, give it up!
Okay, all right folks, you want to start?

(02:09):
Somebody start? I mean I have a question. You got a question?
Yeah, I did. Yes, I did. Hi Steve, how are you?
Hi guys. So who are you? Hi, I'm Melinda Stamball.
I'm Keith Stamball. Very good. We're with, we're with Warehouse Gourmet.
Yes, we're with. Hi Christina. Hi, thank you for joining us.

(02:34):
It's a pleasure and an honor. Right on.
So my question is, as Hannover's first brewery, what was it that attracted you to brewing beer
other than eventually drinking it? Keep that one to yourself.
Okay, well I actually started brewing years ago because my brother was a brewer

(02:56):
and when Melinda and I got married he said I'm going to brew some beer for your wedding.
And so he made it look pretty straightforward and easy so he sat down with me and we did a couple brews
together and worked out really well. So we started actually giving out samples to our customers

(03:20):
just to see if our beers were up to snuff, if it was something that they wanted to buy.
And they liked the beers so we applied for a license with the state, built a brewery upstairs.
Can I chime in there for a second please? Okay.

(03:41):
Keith was in charge of recycling. He still is because we recycle.
But we were recycling so many wine bottles, etc. that Keith's like you know what,
there's a lot of money on the table that we're missing. Yeah because it was BYOB.
Yeah I know but I mean people really enjoyed the BYOB. I'm a big wine person as well as beer so

(04:01):
we appreciate that. But anyway that's kind of like the catalyst too for I mean you want to brew beer.
So the restaurant was BYOB prior to? Originally yes.
Wasn't just the downstairs was open. Okay.
Gotcha. Well plus it's always nice to be first with anything. I mean we obviously didn't do it
just to be first but you know the craft brew craze was well underway and there was a niche

(04:29):
that needed to be filled. We didn't realize there would be so many hoops to jump through to be the
first brewery here in town. What do you mean by that? Just getting it through the borough because
you know when you do anything commercially with the borough of Hannover you have to get passed by
the borough council and board of supervisors and all those folks. Which was this was the

(04:53):
specific board that we had to pay pass? It was three people on the board. It was that committee.
That was either the planning commissioner or the board of supervisors. Little do you know is we
won by a two to one vote. Somebody voted against us. So if it had gone the other way there would
be not already all these breweries going to happen. Interesting. So there wasn't really any

(05:19):
laws or anything on the books for that? Not in Hannover. Interesting because we didn't there
were a lot of distilleries around the area right Matt? Isn't that something? In the 1800s.
So you but I'm just like if if there was that being happening then why wasn't there something
on the law books? Is that because of the prohibition? You know anyway we're going down the road. Yeah

(05:43):
there's nothing on the books that prohibited a brewery per se. I think one of the hardest things
is just you know one of the things they didn't understand up at the borough was that they thought
we'd have a huge grain silo out in the parking lot and there'd be you know 18-wheeler trailers

(06:06):
out here every week and you know and like and basically we were I was doing 20 and 30 gallon
batches of beer at that time so it's like I could carry what I needed in from outside and you know
brew some beer and I basically told them it's like making a big batch of soup.

(06:29):
They thought about the process was back in the 1800s. Okay interesting. But we we uh
it was it was quite a gauntlet to run through and we jumped through all the hoops and uh
correct me if I'm wrong Keith I just wanted not to interrupt but wasn't it that you also found

(06:50):
that there was some laws on the books that allowed restaurants to produce their own brew
that we that opened the door well to get you know initiative because otherwise without that you really
there was no there would have never been any possibility of starting to brew beer.
Well that's where Pennsylvania differs. Pennsylvania is kind of protectionist that way that

(07:13):
as a restaurant if you brew your own beer then you can also sell Pennsylvania wine, Pennsylvania
spirits but that is it. It's like you can't have cognac, you can't have French wines, and stuff like
that. And actually I think when we first got our breweries license only I think you could even sell
it's not. Originally you could only sell your own beer and we were selling weed too actually

(07:39):
and then later after a couple of years I'm not exactly sure how long then they allowed us to
sell Pennsylvania wine and that lasted for a couple years and then I turned in you could sell
Pennsylvania spirits which is a complete game changer because then ultimately you could be a bar
yeah and there's so many options in Pennsylvania. Yeah okay that's exciting. So what year was the

(08:02):
restaurant open again? 2005 on Louis' birthday. October 1st. That's always a funny story.
Yeah let's read that story then. We always well when we first opened our hours were Tuesday
through Saturday this was pre-COVID so to open we wanted to open on Tuesday obviously and we kept

(08:25):
the kitchen back and back and farther and farther away so the first Tuesday that we were actually
allowed to open happened to be my birthday. So whenever the business gets older I get older too
so we laugh because we're excited that the business will be 20 years next year and I'm like oh no I'm
gonna be older anyway it's just funny. But you're only four years old when this place open right?

(08:48):
There you go exactly. Matt I love you. Well how did you choose this location specifically like what about
I bought this place in July of 1996 and I did my art here I had my art studio I painted screen peacock

(09:10):
shirts it was the home base for my decorative painting company and Moinda and I got together in 2000
and I locked her in a basement and I did not allow her to leave and you know eventually she came around
so she decided to stay. Do you need help? You can leave with me. He's quite charming.

(09:35):
Lint twice. Yeah. No but it just seemed like the perfect place I mean the place is you know it's
very charming and warm and inviting. Exactly that's why I was asking I love it. The whole entire
warehouse was his art studio and we are actually sitting in his apartment so the door to nowhere
that we laughed about there's no steps that was the entrance to his original apartment and it only

(09:58):
went up to where Matt was around there and back here so I'm not sure people know this but the nook
was actually our closet so we call it table 10 that was his closet so when people like this kind
of feels like a closet. It's going close. Yes. But yeah we opened the down actually to go straight

(10:19):
to 2005 we opened over on that end. Do you remember that at all? I don't. Okay so that our way back
where the employee our staff sent me says it was just that little tiny area and we did carry out
takeout and catering out of that little tiny area that was definitely not enough room that we opened

(10:41):
that kitchen basically we've been growing slowly as necessary which is a great way to open a business
after all these things we learned that. We then opened the downstairs bistro just the downstairs
because our customers are like can't we sit down somewhere we really wanted to have a sit-down area
we opened downstairs in 2010 and that was quite popular right away and there still wasn't enough

(11:05):
space again that's when Keith decided we're going to brew beer he's going to brew beer and we opened
the upstairs pub and then that wasn't enough room because we needed an upstairs bathroom then we
we lost half our apartment we lost half our apartment to put in the upstairs bathroom in
the back seating area and we've just been growing slowly yeah so the wonderful hub opened 2012.

(11:31):
Yep yep I'm curious about this rubber mallet back here. I don't know the wall. There has to be
a story behind that right? Well yeah is there a murder? The mallet was around when I was building
the the bistro so it just seemed to fit so I stuck it in there and people

(11:57):
asked questions about and and the reason why the handle is only like five inches long is because I
tried to I made it into a tap handle for the bistro for the pub and it was so heavy that it
actually destroyed the faucet it went back to the whole wall. So you did most of the work yourself?

(12:18):
Yes. Yes as illegal as it was at the time. I thought you were talking about the tables and
well anything any part of the decor of the. Well it's interesting I guess by Pennsylvania law
you can do your own electrical you're not supposed to do your own plumbing you have to be certified.

(12:39):
But you're a plumber you come from a family of plumbers. So your family is a family.
Well that's her maiden name. Yeah yeah I was just for a plumber.
No but as far as when Melinda said I painted the floors you'd never know it by looking at it now
they were brand new and beautiful. One point. That's the nature of floors.

(13:03):
The tables. Yeah very cool. That was a fountain when we first opened. I do remember that.
I do remember that. But it was splashing on our customers. That's why I always sat there.
I love sitting there because it was relaxing. It was like dinner and a shower.

(13:25):
That window came from the shoe building across the street. Nice. Because that was falling apart.
Yeah and he just grabbed it. We gotta gank it out of there.
I mean everything. The chicken coop. Yeah the wooden stick figure thing right inside the door.

(13:51):
I built that for a booth at the at York market. And we had a we had a booth there right before
COVID. And it didn't quite fly like the way we hoped it would. So we moved that back here.
I set it up and set pretty well. Yeah and the fireplace. Mantle. We were so

(14:20):
poor when we opened this business. That was the biggest one that we could afford at architecture
warehouse in York. We were so poor when we first opened that we couldn't afford to put
sesame seeds on our brioche buns. Oh my god it's a tragedy. We couldn't afford the $6 container.

(14:41):
With the big ones. That's just dumbest. No it was sad for us. But anyway we could. I'm just saying
that we really really grew slowly and watched our pennies to get where we are today. That's smart.
Now you just toss sesame seeds out like it's rice at a wedding.
Actually we don't. We repurpose. I have a pocket full of sesame seeds.

(15:07):
So by trade you're the chef. Is that now? No. She's a plumber. She's a plumber and an artist.
You're just the artist size. She's a sesame seed lady. But you get involved with what both of you

(15:27):
get involved with what's being chosen for the menu. Like how does that creativity work? This was my
baby that I convinced him to help. Okay. That's basically it. So I went to Cornell University
to the hotel school there. I graduated with that degree and I traveled a lot with my parents when
I was little and my mom actually when I was like in the eighth grade she said write down like four

(15:53):
or five things that you're interested in like computers back when what was it the TR. TRS.
Yeah way back. And I loved to cook. I used to cook and a few other things and she said you
should go to the hotel school at Cornell and my mom left at Cornell so she was like pushing me.
Interesting. But anyways so I applied there. I applied to Penn State too because they have a great hospitality program there.

(16:17):
Yes. When I got to school because I was really young I started school on 17 in college. I realized
very quickly that I liked staying in hotels. I didn't want to run one. Yeah. Yeah. Like very quickly.
So that was confused. So I went to for four years of college but ultimately my favorite part was the
restaurant part and I was really really good at it. So whenever I work in restaurants I don't feel

(16:40):
like I'm working. It's fun. It's love. So I always thought I had to find a job job. You know so my 20s
I'm like I really need to find a job. So when we were together I'm like my god I had like one of the
best degrees in hospitality in the whole world. I was like you know what I should just open a
restaurant. Easier said than done when you don't have any money. But yeah so we started slow and

(17:03):
went from there. So I taught him how to make cheesecakes and when etc etc we make everything from
scratch because I've been cooking my whole life. I've got mounds and mounds of recipes
with books and whatnot. But anyway when we first opened he said well if you're going to be doing all
this I'm going to teach myself how to bake bread. And I said you are crazy nobody does that.

(17:26):
And you're an artist and very talented. And you have no sesame seeds. And we didn't have to cook.
We said he baked the bread. He's turned it and he's started making all of the desserts too.
I took over the other side more the cooking part and he took over the baking part and it was just
the two of us and my dad right from the start helped with the marketing and getting people to

(17:47):
know be aware of us. And we were it was just the three of us for you know four or five years.
Something like that. For the first I would say for the first five six seven years five years.
We worked 24 seven. We did not take a day off. We missed everybody's weddings. We missed all the
parties. We worked our asses off but we had basically just gotten married and he's fine.

(18:12):
That was actually another question I was like what percentage of your life is
where we're at right now sitting inside the warehouse. Well everything I mean yeah everything we do.
I mean when we're driving in the van we're driving for lunch when we're driving for dinner whatever

(18:38):
everything revolves around this restaurant. But when your hobby is your business.
It's your passion. Yeah yeah it is. That's awesome. And you're going to start painting again too.
Yes. We haven't talked about being an artist. Yeah well that that has been an inevitability.

(18:59):
Eventually even if I'm sitting in a wheelchair I'll be doing some sort of work. So it was exciting.
It was very challenging to teach myself to bake. Man very frustrating. At the same time very rewarding
because I mean when like like the first batch of bread that worked out I was so excited. And

(19:22):
then it's like okay well what other breads can I do. So like every week I do a different bread
when we first started and we were in that back kitchen I was baking in a regular house oven.
We had a lot of time on our hands. We didn't have any customers so it was a good time to play.
Gotcha. Oh yeah I remember like the first couple weeks like can we make a hundred dollars today.

(19:49):
Really. Yeah. And it was originally it wasn't a carryout. Yeah it was just carryout. I remember
getting carried out here. Carryout delivery and catering. But they actually up here right.
Is it right up here? No it's on the other side.
What I did realize right from the beginning was that I was making more money doing this than

(20:13):
waiting tables because I was waiting tables at the time. So I was still breaking even me personally
for business wise. So even though we're like the business was only making this amount of money I
was still making the same as waiting tables. That's what worked out. And come to think of it my mom
passed away about seven years ago but when we opened she was a big part of this too. So when it

(20:35):
was the two of us and my dad that first started pretty soon after she was the one that was helping
you know doing dishes and all the background stuff. It was yeah. That's a wonderful. Yeah it went one of
my one of my favorite stories which is kind of silly is that basically at night when you know we

(20:55):
were prepping food for the next day you know we had a couple orders here and there and the phone
would ring. It's like whoever had to clean his hands answered the phone. And then understood.
And then Melinda would cook something. I would cook something else. I'd got bread going you know
proofing in the back that had to go in the oven set and you know I get done cooking. She would

(21:20):
bag it up and I'd jump in the van and zip it across town. And it was fun. It was it was quite
chaotic. It truly was. But you know now that it's all behind us that part is. It's quite romantic.
You know I have great memories of all that. Is there any story that's like totally crazy

(21:47):
whether it's a customer issue or an employee issue. Oh where do you start. Like what is one that
you're willing to share. Oh yeah the ones you don't want to share.
Wow.
Ma'am where do you stop. Oh I stopped. Oh yeah I know. I have a couple but I really shouldn't

(22:12):
talk about it. All right. Yeah well I guess we're going there. All right well here's one for you.
You know we saw you know our shells and cheese that we've sold right from the start.
You know comes with a two ounce ramekin with our garlic and herb croutons. And I made a

(22:35):
delivery out to around Walmart. And it was one on the Golden Mile. And I got back and I realized
I forgot to put the croutons in a bag. And I called this lady and she said oh don't worry about it.
I'm like nope. We do things right here. Yeah we're all about. I drove the whole way across town.

(22:56):
Just driving and moving. To take her a little. My mother still talks about that.
And for those who don't know what's a ramekin. I mean you never know out there some of these people.
Oh yeah that's a highly technical kitchen term. It's a little plastic two ounce cup with a lid on.
But that was her favorite part. Yeah it's my favorite part. The flavor is really cool. I can't

(23:22):
eat those shells without it because it's got their croutons they make. So they're like get them here.
They're special. They add the garlic and the herbs and stuff to that dish that complement the
cheese so well. And that little bit of crunch that after the cheese coats the croutons makes them just
a little bit soft. Yeah I know like I'm gonna have to get some of them. They're in there.

(23:47):
They're all attached to names though. Yeah and we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. I eat them
like peanuts when I'm off some baseball. That's for the perchance. I want to bring something up.
If I can that um that uh. Our fax is working again. Yes they still use a fax machine people.
Then I wanted to sort of tie into this and I think it was it kind of spawned out of the original

(24:13):
business model which was you know making things the cheesecakes the breads and everything are
faultful. Priotary in other words like you can't get any of their stuff anywhere else which is like
a big it's a big marketing point because you know chilies in in Hanover is the same as chilies in
Harrisburg is the same and you don't get that you don't get that beautiful like hands-on kind of um

(24:39):
you know I agree quality to the food. I mean this their food is made strictly from you know
from scratch all of the recipes are melindas every every you know well the original ones I mean
they're times you know yeah and they and they built on everything and they're constantly reinventing it
so that new things come out and I think that that's one of the best selling points to being

(25:03):
an independent restaurant that you can have. I do need to bring this up as we have a great crew
that works with us so whatever recipes a lot of recipes that I have they follow the recipes
and they're awesome they're hard work and there's people and they know how to do it exactly and then
they have their own recipes that they make up and we you know if you have a good recipe go for it do

(25:23):
it every one. Yeah that's fine. Yeah Joe has great recipe and Eric our brewer you know he's bad.
I think that makes them so popular too like I mean I I talk to people I try and recommend that
everybody that is new to the area or is visiting or something they're fortunate enough to be close
to the um I go burger performing arts center and I've had several celebrities dine here yeah which

(25:49):
have which is always an interesting story because that just blows story. I think we could mention
Jim Brewer's name and how cool that was the night that he ate dinner here.
Enjoy casual dining in an actual historic warehouse on Pennsylvania Avenue in Hanover.
Warehouse Gourmet Bistro and Brew Pub makes all their soups, bread, salad dressings, desserts,

(26:15):
and of course craft brews. As Hanover's first brewery over 10 years ago they were true beer
pioneers creating a craft path that other local craft brewers followed. Dine in or carry out they
offer holiday party trays and catering for private occasions. They also have warehouse gift cards good
towards all things warehouse. In addition to their seasonally inspired all-day menu they have a weekly

(26:42):
specials menu each week and offer a gluten-free menu just ask your server. They are an independent
restaurant that serves house made everything all this always and only at the warehouse.
And now back to the show.

(27:24):
Network was big and I don't remember exactly where I got it but we make a kick-ass blue cheese dressing
and I said that sounds really good let's put it on coleslaw and it completely works.
People always a lot of times they wonder why we serve a little two ounce blue cheese coleslaw

(27:45):
which seems very small. I waited tables for many years and whenever anybody had coleslaw they always
took two bites out of it and we threw away at all no matter what restaurant I was at I was working
in. So I promise that we would make the two best bites of coleslaw you'd have in your entire life.
So that's the whole yeah that's just of the blue cheese coleslaw.

(28:10):
Did you have fun on any Pennsylvania Jewish people that weren't pepper slaw or premium coleslaw without
pepper cheese? We had tried it and it doesn't taste right it has to go on a specific type of
coleslaw and I love that kind of coleslaw too. Let's not forget the shave carry.

(28:31):
I love that too. Everything needs a go. But yeah I don't specifically remember where.
The joke behind that if you could call it a joke is my father my late father loved your restaurant
and the only thing he ever ever ever said that was negative which is very rare for him was he

(28:55):
didn't understand why blue cheese was so it was kind of a joke as to let's find out why this happened
but yeah did he grow up around here? Yes yes yeah in German yeah Pennsylvania Dutch mother you know
but yeah that was um he would write letters to us about the blue cheese
but I do have to say so I lived in Pittsburgh for 30 years and when my kids come to visit

(29:28):
this is the place they want to come to eat. Where do they live these days? They live south of Pittsburgh.
They live in Canonsburg and McMurray. I don't know what they mean. Yeah they stayed I moved back to take care of my dad.
Just so I could get regular coleslaw on a regular basis. Now she doesn't like Pennsylvania Dutch food.

(29:50):
That's probably another reason why she likes to come here. Oh boy. As does Michael Gubicki.
Every time he comes to Ann over here he loves to come to the warehouse. The lead singer formerly
Rusty Root. Rusty Root. He's a memo-way. I hear that song one more time in the commercial man.
That dude could probably just live off the royalties from that. Oh yeah. It's a wild isn't it but he

(30:13):
comes here every time that he comes to town. What does he think of the blue cheese? Ask him next time.
There's a question. We like to leave them alone. Yes yes I understand that. What else? He's the ultimate pest.
When you first open I remember distinctly. I remember asking you about where you go.

(30:44):
You're so unique and creative and cutting edge. I asked you maybe both one night I said you ever have
meat oriented. You have a lot of great meat dishes. I guess if you ever go vegan or

(31:05):
and you said I think you said ever my dead blue cheese.
Now you've found a full circle. Well we
So how did you kill the blue cheese to get to this point? The blue cheese is alive and well.
And we actually have been incorporating more vegan dishes in our menu to make it more

(31:34):
user friendly for people that don't want to eat meat or dairy and stuff like that. I mean a lot of
people change their diets for health wise. There's a funny line in the movie. It was a two weeks notice
where Robert Klein's character eating cheesecake and his wife says to him look at you you're basically

(32:01):
a solid. You're cholesterol is so high. You're basically a solid. So I mean my cholesterol was so
high that I was becoming more of a solid. So I had to cut back and change the way I eat and
feel so much better. I think I might live till next week at least.

(32:22):
So we have to take how many episodes between now and then. Great for your old night folks.
But you also do gluten free right? Yes. That's very exciting how you've all done over the years.
Really Mario. Yeah we have a gluten free menu. There's quite a number of things you can choose from.
That's good. I actually have a sensitivity. I am not considered silly yet. So I really appreciate

(32:46):
that because it is hard to go to places with a cross country nation. You know it's just
there's just not a lot of options here in Hanover at least not that I'm aware of. One of the best
things that we have is we bake our chicken tenders in potato chips so that our chicken tenders are
gluten free and people love them. And our gluten free people are just all about it.

(33:13):
Gotta get good for some of this. I know. I know. I know. We're all angry. Fantastic.
Let's go read the kitchen. I'm gonna remember this for our next three-four-hour interview.
Back to the vegan thing. Actually just recently after baking all these years our sourdough
chivaya is now vegan. I mean there was a miniscule amount of milk in it but now we use out milk instead.

(33:38):
So we were going to use almond milk and it was like well you know people have nut allergies.
Yeah. So it's another one of the things you have to think about when you're putting together food
for people because people come here all the time and they ask about various dietary restrictions.

(34:01):
We are serving Italian wine now. Did you know that? I know. I tasted some serendipitously when
Tifa was turning the blue cheese. So apparently there's a loophole now where you can...
Because you can get it from... It's in Pennsylvania but it's Italian wine. Four different Italian

(34:25):
wines. Is that right? What I had last week? A distributor. In one? Yeah. Yeah. Three or four.
Kind of like a juicy fruit commercial. You gotta use the word distributor one more time.
It's a distributor. Yeah. Matt's making air quotes. Yes. So we can serve Pennsylvania wines with our
brewer's license but there is a PA distributor of Italian wines that they have the license that

(34:50):
they can sell it here in Pennsylvania which means we are serving amazing Italian wines here now.
That's very exciting. Yeah. I think you would really if you haven't tried them yet you need to because I know you would need to go to the Italian wine.
I would refer to Tifa's grandson, Meatball, who lives in a tiny alley to make sure it's up to my standard.
He is an Italian. He has a mirror in his face. He is a standard. How old is Meatball?

(35:15):
Meatball is going to be one. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. He's coming all the way. So he's going to come and be interviewed for his first birthday, correct?
Yes. He's on the schedule. All right. We'll be vegan Meatballs. And there he is. This would be darling.
Yeah. Steve, hold the picture of Meatball up to the microphone. Oh. Really? Up to the microphone? Meatball.

(35:44):
He's darling. He's a little fun little boy. His name is Ford. Yes. Not sure why. Why not?
But why not? You had to be cold. Meatball wasn't really flying with my daughter.
We just, Matt seems to like it. So we're, his middle name is Parmesan. Yep. Meatball Parmesan.

(36:11):
C.C. here for Warehouse Gourmet, Bistro, and Brew Pub. The holidays are upon us and that means parties and
celebrating, both professional and personal. We're here to help make your event a memorable holiday hit.
Hot or cold party trays are convenient, impressive food presentation. Our online catering menu

(36:36):
is brimming with delicious choices. From CasualDop scale, you decided all. Place your order with us
along with the event location, date and time, and we'll take it from there. We assure a professional
on time setup along with serving and if necessary, reheating instruction. So focus on family and

(36:58):
friends and be part of the party. The warehouse has your back. For more information on specific
catering ideas and party tray details, please call the warehouse during regular business hours.
All this always and only at the warehouse.

(37:21):
So is there anything that you, I don't know, that, I mean, I can't believe the creativity
and the passion and everything that you guys have brought here. I mean, it's just, to me,
really incredible to be able to sit down with you and hear this whole story. So if there's other
people out there thinking, is there some words of wisdom to promote them following their dreams

(37:45):
like you folks have or, I don't know, just. Well, I can say one thing, Melinda, the gold standard
for anything that goes on our menu, she said it right at the beginning and it makes so much sense.
It's like anything that goes on our menu has to be what we feel is the absolute best version of

(38:11):
that dish that we can muster. I mean, seriously, the best version of that dish that you've ever made,
that you've ever had. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and you ask the wait staff, you know,
is this good and they're like, oh no, you don't want to get that.
That's what I was going to say. Oh, yeah. Oh, all the time. I do. You don't want that. You want every
one on your menu. Yes, exactly. So we appreciate somebody said you can close your eyes and point

(38:35):
and it will be delicious. Like, yay. That was a cool goal. Exactly. Lovely. I love that. Yeah,
I do love that. You should have a dartboard. I have your menu with a dartboard if you could.
So I guess to boil it down or to reduce it, so to speak would be too long.

(38:55):
Yeah. Done that, Gleis?
Basically, be confident about everything you make. Keep the high standards always, you know,
consistency. Consistency is tough, but that's important. If you're going to open a restaurant,

(39:18):
if you can live as close to it as possible, we live upstairs.
You can't be close. But to have to open a restaurant and dry it, I don't see how people do that. I
really don't. If they're first man in line, you know, to be at work at all times. Isn't a bistro
by definition where the restaurateur lived upstairs? Am I wrong? I'm not sure. In Italy, there's a lot to

(39:45):
it was traditional for the people that fed the people downstairs lived upstairs. That's just
how it was. And then I don't know if they, I don't know that bistro is the word in Italian or is that
French? Bistro means quick. Quick? Quickly. Okay. Well, we need to do some googling. I'm going to
google. Queen Victoria. Well, tell me one thing. First thing you do, Christine, is go out and buy a

(40:12):
warehouse. If you don't know a radio, by the oldest best warehouse she can buy.
Do the dumb waiter come with her? Did you move in later?
Oh, French.
No, I didn't.
Give a smart waiter.
No, they waited for me to move in. That's one thing I definitely never, that's one thing I've never done here.

(40:37):
And you do?
I've tended bars for a little bit, but I've never waited tables. Nor do I wish to. I'm best in the back
where no one can see me. That's interesting because I've been coming here for 20 years and I've never
been served by you. Well, that's the reason why.
He's in the back. I've got huge stumps and they get in the, no, no. It does poke the bread a lot.

(40:59):
Yeah, I do poke the bread with my fingers. No, I don't.
Is that part called? Docking. Docking. And now Jacob's spitting the bread. Yes.
What am I not supposed to say? Your nephew, did you say? Yeah, he's one of the swop throats. Oh, okay. I didn't realize. I've met him before, but I didn't realize that was your nephew.
How many different people that have lived over the years? How many girlots are there? How many have worked here?

(41:22):
There are eight. And I'm all eight worked here.
Thomas, yes. Bill, yes. Jacob's here.
Seranda, yes. Caleb, yes. Ethan. Ethan's here right now. Malcolm, yes. Malcolm, yep.
And Cooper, running food. That is very cool. Yes, all of them have at one point in life.

(41:44):
Yeah, that's awesome. I think it's wonderful. Family businesses are incredible.
That's where you get, I mean, at least you get the family involved in there. Probably the truest people you could have.
I guess far as it's dedicated. It was kind of like, you know, yeah.
Yeah, you know, I mean, we trust all our employees, but you know, if they misbehave, they learn.

(42:10):
There's a firing squad. Yeah.
Cheese gets thrown at them. No, but there's a running joke that, you know, during the pandemic, when things were really weird,
when, you know, we had to lay out for staff and everything, but, you know, at some point we were, you know, allowed to stay open and...

(42:32):
Well, my sister is the one that stepped in and said, you're not going to close because we're all going to keep the restaurant open.
And it made me cry. And still this day.
That makes me tear you out. Because I remember when we were supposed to close down and they made us take, like, all the tables out and get rid of them.
And I did cry and Lauren came in and I remember the two of us just, you know, taking chairs out and tables.

(42:55):
I'm like, what the hell is going on? And she said, we will stay open and the family will help. And they did.
So we were open the entire time, COVID, the whole entire time.
The joke is that we paid the girl locks in.
Brownies and toilet paper.
You remember the toilet paper, right?

(43:19):
That is great.
Okay.
Thank you so much. You all live above workplace. I mean, you parking back to a different time, a different place, and you really manifest the maker spirit, the creative energy.

(43:40):
And I want to personally thank you for being a friend over the years.
And also having a beautiful pellets porch up here where I've written a lot of poetry.
And this place has been kind of a nexus of creative.
So you think about Steve and some very fascinating people.

(44:02):
Yeah, some serious characters.
Yeah, some serious characters.
Like, blue cheese, which was the creative juice, I guess.
Sesame seeds.
Creative paste.
Okay.
Better than a thriller.
It's a pleasure.

(44:23):
Yes, thank you.
We have you as our first guests and our permanent host.
Thank you for your amazing food.
Maybe I'll taste it one of those days.
Yeah.
My kids love coming here.
There's my soccer team.
I talked to these three a lot.

(44:44):
But that's the one.
Yeah.
Okay, now we're going to drink wine.
Here, here.
And now, for more.
Are you serious?
We're going to have fun.
Okay, bye.
Bye.
Bye.

(45:06):
Oh.
Thank you for listening to the inaugural edition of Canterbury Land, the podcast.
To our hosts, who also are our guests, Keith and Melinda Stanbaugh,
we will end these podcasts with hopefully a poignant poetic tribute or artistic tribute

(45:33):
to the theme of the episode.
Today, I'd like to read a poem in honor of a beautiful human being who worked at Warehouse
Grumay for many years and who we've all known for decades here, who lost his life last year.
So we went with this tribute to our dear friend, a wonderful spirit of joy, great conversation,

(45:57):
and had the most beautiful hug and laughter that I sorely miss.
I'm sure everybody here misses.
This is called Fairly Well, Dear Johnny.
Warehouse porch is silent, empty, mop top, fall staff has succumbed.

(46:18):
Our beloved jester left to find new Jerusalem.
Fairly Well, Dear Johnny, may you find yonder meadow green.
There we'll embrace when we meet again.
Fairly Well, Dear Johnny, may you finally sleep a deep sweet peace.

(46:42):
Fairly Well, Dear Johnny, may you find yonder meadow green.
Where you conjure wondrous dreams.

(47:18):
So when Melinda asked if I wanted to help build a restaurant, all I could really say was,
I am not a smart man, but I know what a restaurant is.
So we did.
Friends, since you made it this far, perhaps you're willing to go one step further.
Go to Facebook, look into Hannoverland, events, arts, music, food, and fun.

(47:44):
Check out the growing Facebook group and join.

(48:14):
Thank you.

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