Food dreamers

All of DreamPort Harvest Market’s fresh organic foods come from area farms in some shape, way or form, but some of the downtown Port Washington store’s best sellers need to be shaped, formed or baked before they get scooped up and devoured by customers.

That’s where pastry chef Lauren Brill and savory chef Sarah Riedell come in.

Both took different routes to the store Ed and Peggy Callahan opened in 2022 using products from their organic farm and others across southeast Wisconsin, but Brill and Riedell share a passion for food and appreciation for the Callahans giving them creative control over their dishes.

Riedell, 38, of Port has worked in the food and beverage industry for two decades and experienced all angles as a cook, bartender, dishwasher, server and 10 years as a general manager for Subway.

She grew up in Arizona and moved to Wisconsin about 20 years ago. Her parents and stepmother are foodies.

“They definitely opened my eyes to a wide variety of food,” she said.

At Subway, she worked on nutrition.

“My passion to cook and bake went hand-in-hand with that,” Riedell said.

She spent time in and out of culinary school and at jobs in the industry, “working under great people and great teachers,” she said, adding she picked up something different from each one.

Some of her best education has been “getting out there and doing the nitty gritty.”

She got to know the Callahans a few years ago when she was looking for a kitchen to rent. They were out of space at the time, but when they were looking for a chef for their take-out food offerings earlier this year, Riedell jumped at the chance.

“I’m grateful to be here and support Ed and Peggy’s mission,” she said.

Among Riedell’s creations at DreamPort Harvest Market are soups, hummus and flatbread pizzas.

“We’re a scratch kitchen. We work with what we have in the store,” she said.

Two of her favorite foods to make are French macarons and a popular noodle dish.

“I love ramping up a good bowl of ramen,” she said. “You learn to enhance it with the flavors. Ramen’s an art, and you can put a lot of soul into it.”

Brill is from Mequon and a 2016 Homestead High graduate who lives in Bayside. She earned a degree in baking and pastry from Milwaukee Area Technical College and attended a chocolate academy in Chicago with a top chef from Spain who spoke through an interpreter.

She started at DreamPort in May 2023. “It was quite the transition from being in school. It was a challenge, but it was fun to learn what I need to work on,” she said.

When the job got to be too much for one person, Riedell joined Brill early this year.

“We work very well together and we have similar styles,” Brill said.

“We are open to doing multiple things. There are limitless varieties,” Riedell said. Brill makes the focaccia bread, apple cider doughnuts, scones, pies and biscuits, using local ingredients in each.

A career in the kitchen wasn’t Brill’s initial plan. She attended the University of Kansas for vocal performance, but she realized it wasn’t for her.

“I love doing it but I wasn’t cut out to be on a stage,” she said.

Her mother suggested she go into food. Brill loved baking with her grandmother as a child and took some cooking classes.

She started working in the food and beverage industry, first as a delivery driver for Jimmy John’s, which she still does one day per week.

“I found DreamPort online and the concept is really unique,” Brill said. “It’s like a farm-to-table.”

Baking has been an education. It’s more precise than cooking, but Brill has learned how to modify recipes.

“It’s strict but there are things you can change without messing it up,” she said. “Things do take a long time and you have to be OK with failing. Once it comes out (of the oven), you can’t fix it.”

One of her goals is to include as many of the flavor profiles — sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami as possible in each dish “to excite your mouth.

She relishes the changing flavors by season. Now, fall doughnuts have started.

Brill and Riedell appreciate that the Callahans allow them to bring their own artistry to the kitchen.

“They’re so great like that, and we pay homage to the former chef with recipes,” Riedell said.

The focaccia bread often sells out. Brill adds her own flavors, such as oil and garlic, and employs some tips and tricks to enhance recipes.

While the career lets Brill and Riedell chase their passions, it is not easy on the body or the brain.

Brill recently started strength training so she could better lift 50-pound bags of flour.

Brill and Riedell both cook at home with their boyfriends, who also enjoy spending time in the kitchen. Brill also co-owns the Brill and Bell Bakery with her friend that has a spot in the Thiensville Village Market on Tuesdays.

The Callahans grow more than 20 types of apples on 1,300 trees at their Dream Apple Farm on Highway C in the Town of Port Washington. In 2020 they worked with Cornell University to grow a new variety of apple, the cordera.

The former full-time physicians sell their organic apples at their store, along with applesauce and cider, and they grow raspberries and rhubarb used for jam.

They initially contacted 20 area farms to help supply produce for the store, and every one of them agreed.