They have integrated their passion for food, travel, woodwork and photography into Block & Bowl. Creating classic and beautiful, chef and carpenter inspired home and kitchen goods in Sacramento, California.
1. Please tell me a little (whatever you are willing to divulge) about where you live, how you came to be here and what lead you to create Block & Bowl?
We live in the Land Park, Sacramento now. Before moving back to California we spent 4 years in the Seattle area and a lot of that time road tripping to Canada! I’m originally from Newcastle in the UK and came to be here in Sacramento via Canada (where we met), Los Angeles, Seattle and back to California.
Block and Bowl came about with more free time to dig deeper into what I wanted to do with my craft. I started turning small pieces like honey pots, ice cream scoops, etc. and then we had the idea of combining our love for food, my culinary background, and carpentry to make a small business. We didn’t expect it to grow as rapidly as it has, but we are very proud and happy and love nothing more than making pieces people love as much as we do.
2. What is your typical day like? What would your favorite weekend be like?
Typical day now is very different to this time last year. I have trained as a carpenter through a traditional apprenticeship in the UK, and always having a love for food I eventually started working in professional kitchens and woodworking became my side thing and hobby. My typical day of the last few years was waking at 4:00am to work breakfast or pastry section at a large hotel then coming home after to work on my woodworking or home renovation projects.
My day now definitely comes with less stress for the most part, and I don’t have to get up nearly as early. Normally around 6:30-7 am I make a cup of tea and head out to the workshop to work on whatever orders I may have and try and make some pieces for our website and local stores we work with in between.
Our favorite weekend would be spent in a new city eating our way around it and exploring, something of a rarity this year unfortunately; but we have been able to get up to Tahoe or the local lakes this summer which has been nice.
3. How do you develop your products and how would you like your brand and work to grow?
A lot of it is imagination. I think the more you do certain things you start to develop your style. I’m not reinventing the wheel here but trying to make things people have been doing forever, but with my own little touches like our two rounded two squared chopping boards I hadn’t seen before by just kind of playing with different ideas and it has been a huge hit!
The future is anyone’s guess, but we hope to keep making beautiful and functional pieces for your home.
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