Meet Jeremy Umansky of Hingetown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Umansky.

Hi Jeremy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up cooking alongside my grandmother who was a kosher caterer. She inspired me to attend culinary school to become a chef. While in NY for culinary school I did many things; I met my wife, and worked as a farmer, culinary scientist, chef, and food access lobbyist. I eventually made my way back to Cleveland after working and studying in NYC, San Fran, Italy, and Spain. After being in Cleveland for a few years my wife and I opened Larder Delicatessen & Bakery.

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?
No road is smooth! It has been fantastically bumpy. Our biggest struggle as a small business is being heard by our guests on an equal wavelength that industrial corporate restaurants broadcast on.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work as a culinary scientist and gastronome. I specialize the use of the microbes that allow us to produce fermented foods. From beer to bread and kimchi to miso I develop and work with other culinarians to develop many of these foods. I also specialize in the systems of production needed to make these foods. I’ve recently worked with the kitchen company Waring to develop the Planit Pod. It’s an incubator used to make fermented foods in professional restaurant kitchens seamlessly and safely. This work has also led me to consult for NASA on food systems for off world use on The Moon and Mars. I’m currently part of a team that is a finalist to design these systems for NASA using fermentation microbes as the basis for the technology. When I’m not doing any of the above I work as a mycologist teaching Cleveland’s all about the delicious wild fungi and plants that reside in the Cuyahoga Valley. I have written a book about fungal fermentation that is now in 11 languages and is used as a textbook in culinary schools around the world. I write frequently for various publications focused on gastronomy and even get to cook in my restaurant for my guests.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My biggest supporter has been my wife Allie. She’s more than just the mother of our children. We are full business partners and she’s the backbone of our operations. Without her I wouldn’t be able to explore gastronomy to the depths that I do.

My grandmother, Phyllis Bookatz was a major influence.

Many gastronomes including Sandor Katz, Ferran Adria, Douglas Katz (a Cleveland mentor), and my research guide, Lani Raider, and partners Rich Shih and Christopher Maurer have been massive influences on me

Contact Info:

• Website: https://larderdb.com
• Instagram: @LarderDB
• Other: @LarderSupplyCo