The upcoming International Food Bloggers Conference could just have easily been called the Love Food Conference. Bringing together people who love to create good food, love to write about good food, and love to photograph good food. And talk about good food, and of course, eat and enjoy good food.

300 chefs, speakers, writers, photographers, bloggers, foodies, ‘tech savvys,’ all come together for the 2nd Annual International Food Bloggers Conference in what has become a highly anticipated event. And what better city than Seattle, and what better place, than Theo Chocolate to host this ‘coming together’ of food enthusiasts.

IFBC is the brain child and is orchestrated by those wonderful folks at Foodista.

IFBC = Food + Writing + Technology…..and this year, bambu joins in!

bambu loves food too, and our products provide an ideal canvas for carefully prepared and creatively presented food. And since sustainability and modern cuisine are key themes of this event, it was a natural that we would partner up with Foodista and the IFBC. Our Certified Organic, Compostable bamboo  All Occasion Veneerware® plates and utensils are the equipment of choice for the Saturday’s event.

Among the scheduled events will be, James Oseland, Editor-in-Chief of Saveur, as the keynote speaker for this event.

Other scheduled events include:

* The Art of Recipe Writing
* Food Writing with All Five Senses
* Law and Ethics in Blogging
* Digital Food Photography

We will be on hand to share our range of food preparation and and serving products – all made from renewable materials, and produced responsibly.

For the Love of Food. It’s all about creating and sharing stories, building community, and celebrating good food. We’re thrilled to be a partner in this event.

food bloggers unite

The Plank at Boqueria, New York

Good friend and creative mind, Beth Ronsick checked in, and spotted our long favored ‘long board,’ The Plank, at Soho eatery, Boqueria is a hip bistro in Soho on Spring Street. Check out the 100+ rave reviews from Yelp here

In the words of one reviewer, OH MY GOD, IT’S GOOD! (her all caps, not ours!) Nice to know our products are being used to serve such savory and wonderfuly appreciated food.

Definitely making a stop here on the next visit to New York. And not because they use our products.

Thanks Beth.

Fish and chips, Genevan style. Breaded Perch. Yummy.

We caught of glimpse of Karen’s ‘art’ as she was zooming through clarklewis keeping patrons happy during a Friday afternoon lunch in Portland a few weeks ago. clarklewis is the woodsy modern bistro that we have been trying to get to for years each trip back to Portland, Oregon. It was a wonderful lunch in an open and airy, semi-industrial space.

Karen’s magnificent tattoo caught our eye and we just had to stop her mid-tracks for a closer look.
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It was great meeting Karen. She told us the artistry was done by the folks at The Parlour, a self-described ‘cruelty free/vegan friendly’ hair and tattoo parlour. Cool with us. It is Portland, after all.

We told her about bambu, and presented her with her own bambu Spork which she is ‘modeling’ here.

On the other coast, an ambitious blending of architecture, performance, and sculpture atop the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by two brothers.

We were first tipped off to the Starn brothers when they constructed a similar piece in their Brooklyn studio.

They tell their story here..

The New York Times writes a full story of their most recent project here. Big Bambu involves the work and high balance work of several climbers and is a work of art that is constantly changing.

Check out this 3D rendering of their installation. Go to their website for more images.

There is more on this project and other works on their Facebook page.

The other cool part is that the The Beastie Boys,

‘You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop’

provides the music inspiration for this project.

The installation is ever changing and runs through October. We’ll be sure to check it out when we visit New York in August.

Eyes wide open……

A prime example of this, is a presentation given by Deb Singer, the founder of Singer Sustainability. Ms. Singer shared a insightful presentation that brought forth several key principles that lead to success in the marketplace. And used three example companies to illustrate her points.

We were delighted (and, admittedly a little humbled), to be cited as one of the companies that gets it right. The other is a company we have long admired, Preserve. Nothing wasted. Everything gained. The fine folks at Preserve are creating solutions and solving problems in fresh and colorful ways.

Link to the presentation here – http://slidesha.re/ciWfuR

Deb Singer is no stranger to the world of sustainability. bambu first connected with Deb Singer during her tenure at Whole Foods where she guided the organization towards Whole Living, a whole new store concept. In her talk, she shares her experience and knowledge to offer a relevant perspective on sustainability in housewares.

While sustainability was the focus, design considerations are essential. Being ‘green’ is not enough. And it echos an idea that we frequently remind ourselves of,

‘it is not just about your beliefs, or your words, but about your actions.’

Green Products Exhibition
Another example of the ‘green movement’ building momentum in the industry is the focus the industry is putting on innovative and new products. Green Products Exhibition featured products that use alternative materials, are designed for disassembly, or that add value through social and environmental benefits. bambu had four products selected for this exhibition. Hybrid Cutting Board Series, for the first time introducing bamboo and cork together – two highly renewable materials. Our wonderfully organic and charming ‘Coco Bowls’ made from reclaimed coconut shells, and our Spork & Cork.

Green Products Exhibition

It has been seven years since we’ve been back in San Francisco to the city that we once lived. It was nice being home see new and old friends.

We had the opportunity to sit down with the folks at NASFT, the non-profit association that holds the Fancy Food Shows in San Francisco and New York in the summer.

Below is the interview and introduction to our brand and newest and most popular products for 2010.

The way we live is unsustainable. Our actions and our decisions have environmental consequences. Ecologically sensitive design has to become an integral and permanent part of our lives.

1000 New Eco Designs by Rebecca Proctor is an impressive look into contemporary interior products that are at once ecologically sound and beautifully designed.

Proctor takes on the impressive task of identifying 1000 interior and homeware designs from around the world in this showcase reference book.

An essential resource for consumers, the book includes a simple rating system to help cut through the eco maze. Each design is accompanied by icons that show at a glance the product’s ‘green’ credentials – highlighting the use of recycled, renewable and locally-sourced materials as well as non-toxic, low-energy and low-wast manufacturing processes.

The idea that being sensitive to the environment needn’t mean sacrificing good design is one that we firmly believe in.

We are honored to be included in this global showcase of design excellence.

Five (5) of our collections are included in this reference book including our All Occasion Veneerware®, Serveware, Coiled Lacquerware bowls, our super Chop Block, and our Cork creations.

Besides bambu, there are other more established brands like Dorat, and Droog from Amsterdam, and Artecnica, as well as lots of fresh ideas from many emerging designers and artists. This is worthy of buying and referencing often.

Nishihara-san is the inspiration and master chef of Kajistu the michelin star awarded restaurant in New York. Here’s a recent review on his NY restaurant in the NYTimes. Nishihara-san does amazing things with vegetables. From his seasonal selections, interesting discoveres, extraordinary combinations, preparation and final presentation, each item is a masterful creation.

Nishihara-san with the assistance of Harris Salat, hosted a Japanese cooking workshop in Saveur’s test kitchen in New York two weeks ago. From Soba noodles and dipping sauces, the journey proceeded from there.

Harris writes well of his evening in Scenes from a Japanese Cooking Workshop.

We were delighted to be invited to join this special event. The entire evening’s fare was presented on bambu products. Soba noodles served in our Naked hand-coiled Lacquerware bowls. Fresh vegetable salad on our All Occasion Veneerware® and the implements of choice? Naturally, bambu Snapstix® – our version of the chopstick.

Vegetables on Veneerware®

Harris Salat is an admired talent in his own right. Writer, cookbook author, student and teacher of Japanese culture, we have been exchanging insights back and forth about Japanese authors, favorite foods, master bamboo basket weavers, and favorite places in Kyoto.

Read his Japanese Food Report for an inside look and genuine appreciation for the food (and culture) of Japan.

Thank you Nishihara-san, and Harris. You have thrown a masterful event. Plan to see you in February.

Keep it extraordinary.

We catch up with Entourage on HBO whenever we can. While watching Season 6 we were surprised (and delighted) to see our products show up on the show. We have a bit of history with with the cast – (more on that below.)

In Episode 3 the boys are sitting down to a meal prepared by Johnny Drama (the only one who appears to actually cook anything). It’s Turtle 30th birthday and he joins the group to congrats and well wishes (moments later he receives a Ferrari from Vince and a Porsche from his girlfriend- only in tvland!)

They sit down to a midday meal on the deck. Vince is telling Turtle why he should not feel depressed, but feel on top of the world. (Don’t we all wish, sometimes, we had a friend like Vince, sometimes?) Then, Johnny Drama serves himself up a salad, it looks like. With bambu Curvy Servers. Yup, there they are. Nice.

Which leads us to another Entourage story. You see, we have a bit of history with the gang from Entourage.

Not too long ago, our Customer Care team in New York received a call from Adrian Grenier’s people. In Hollywood circles, Adrian is a genuine environmentalist and passionate advocate for the green movement. As fans, we were thrilled to receive his call.

He had been working on a home in Brooklyn. Built to environmental spec. Spectacular. It was finally finished, and he was ready to open his doors and share it with friends. We didn’t get the invite, but he did want to have some of our product for his housewarming. We said, ’sure.’ In fact, we did one better, and jumped into a car and hand delivered a whole assortment of stuff. It was great.

Adrian ‘thanked’ us. And gave us the below photo. Written on it is,

Hey Bambu Peeps – Thanks for the Grubware — Adrian ‘Vince’

Thanks Adrian. We’re fans. Don’t know what all this means, except that it is a bit of thrill. Especially when you’re sitting in Shanghai, head down everyday, doing the stuff that matters to keep a company moving and growing. And then you look up, and there, on the tv, on a random day at a random time, a world away and a thousand miles more, is the result of something you’ve been a part of making. It stops you. It isn’t huge, but it is kind of cool.