We're so happy to share that donabe were featured in Design Milk's Taste column, in "How a Humble Clay Pot Redesigns the Ritual of Eating" by TJ Girard. The story takes readers to SingleThread Farm in Healdsburg for FieldNotes, an annual gathering of chefs, winemakers, farmers and artisans. A highlight was a donabe workshop led by chef Kyle Connaughton, where guests cooked communal dishes in Iga-yaki donabe, including a smoked salmon course in the Ibushi Gin donabe smoker and a duck hot pot finished with Inaniwa udon.
The article also traces Kyle's long relationship with donabe and with Naoko, his co-author on DONABE: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking. In 2011, the two traveled to Iga, Japan, and stayed with the Nagatani-en family, eighth-generation potters since 1832, whose donabe TOIRO brings to the U.S.
Thank you to TJ Girard and Design Milk, and to Kyle and Katina Connaughton, for sharing the joy of donabe.
Happy Donabe Life!
