Shows
Forever Neighbor PodcastReem Assil of Reem’s California (S3EP1 - SEASON PREMIERE)Send us a textGood morning neighbors, and welcome to Season 3 of the Forever Neighbor Podcast!We are delighted to share our conversation with Reem Assil, founder of nationally-acclaimed Reem’s California (2901 Mission St @ 25th St), an Arab bakery and restaurant that builds community across cultures and experiences through the warmth of Arab bread and hospitality. Her team recently announced their next venture: a flagship bakery and cafe in Jack London Square in Oakland, CA. In keeping with her community oriented values, Reem has pioneered a decolonized funding model in partnership with WeFunder, in...2025-07-1545 min
Forever Neighbor PodcastSPECIAL EPISODE: Dan Interviews Ramzi! (SEASON 2 Post Credit Scene)Send us a textHey neighbors! You asked for it, so here it is! Our executive producer Daniel Blacktree sat down with Ramzi to talk about the milestones that got us here, and where we’re headed as a growing podcast community!Season 3 premieres NEXT WEEK and we have some INCREDIBLE guests lined up! Stay tuned and happy July!Produced by Daniel Blacktree and Ramzi Budayr.2025-07-0813 minForever Neighbor PodcastSeason 2 Wrap Party Recap (S2EP5 - Epilogue)Send us a textWe are so grateful for all the incredible entrepreneurs, creatives, and community members that brought our Season 2 Wrap Party to life! Special shoutout to the Square team for the financial + production support. To Dario + Mo for being the most amazing hosts, Emma + Justin for connecting us with the band and incredible flyer artist (not to mention their delicious oysters), to Eileen + Johnathan for the beautiful espresso cart, and to Sam + the Bi-Rite family for those AMAZING desserts.We love our community and CAN'T WAIT to host more events this year!2025-07-0214 min
Forever Neighbor PodcastSam Mogannam of the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses (S2EP4 - SEASON FINALE)Send us a textI am struggling to put into words the excitement and awe I feel in reliving my conversation with Sam Mogannam, second-generation owner of Bi-Rite Market and founder of the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses.Sam embodies every value I want to live by (both personally and professionally), and has built a company that spreads love, integrity, and passion in every interaction. I'm only two and half years into my journey as an entrepreneur, and am very much in the thick of it, so it's hard to imagine a world in which I...2025-06-2446 min
Forever Neighbor PodcastEmma Thomas-Sand + Justin Esposito of LO-FI OYSTER CO (S2EP3)Send us a textHappy Tuesday neighbors!You can't tell the story of community building in the Bay Area without highlighting the incredible pop-ups that bring so much creativity and accessibility to our food scene.Enter LO-FI OYSTER CO, founded by Dolores Deluxe alumnus Emma Thomas-Sand + her partner Justin Esposito. LO-FI OYSTER CO. is an entertainment based event at the intersection of Ambient & Straight Ahead Jazz, Natural Wine, and Oysters focusing on bridging the gap between experimental music, visual art, wine making, & culinary communities as well as providing a gateway for these networks...2025-06-1733 min
Forever Neighbor PodcastEileen Rinaldi of Ritual Coffee (S2EP2)Send us a textHappy Tuesday everyone, and welcome back to the Forever Neighbor Podcast - this season brought to you by Square! We are honored to welcome founder and CEO of Ritusl Coffee, Eileen Rinaldi, to the pod this week! Eileen and her team are celebrating 20 years of Ritual (!!!), a brand that pioneered third wave coffee in San Francisco, and started right here in the Mission at 1026 Valencia!I was amazed to hear about their incredible growth in the early years, their journey as a roasting business, and their recent expansion into S...2025-06-1035 min
Forever Neighbor PodcastDario Barbone of Studio Aurora (S2EP1)Send us a textHello neighbors, and welcome back to the Forever Neighbor Podcast - this season brought to you by Square!Our first episode of the season features renowned chef + entrepreneur Dario Barbone - founder of Alimentari Aurora and the recently opened Studio Aurora (located at 302 Valencia St. + 14th in the Mission District of San Francisco). Studio Aurora has very quickly become my favorite new business in SF, thanks to Dario's impeccable taste in food, wine, art, and people. His partnership with Fault Radio, which broadcasts live from Studio's mezzanine, brings so m...2025-06-0331 minForever Neighbor PodcastBIG PODCAST NEWS!Send us a textTime to let the cat out of the bag!We are thrilled to be working with Square to bring you Season 2 of the Forever Neighbor Podcast - with our first episode premiering TOMORROW, June 3rd at 7AM PST!We are so grateful for the opportunity to tell these stories, and are humbled to share the mic with a few of the small business owners that make San Francisco such a vibrant, exciting place to live.Learn more about this collaboration, and about Dolores Deluxe, at The Bottom...2025-06-0201 minForever Neighbor PodcastAmanda Flores of Flour + Water Hospitality Group (S1EP22 - SEASON FINALE)Send us a textHappy Monday neighbors!We are THRILLED to bring you our inspiring conversation with Amanda Flores, Senior Director of Operations at the Flour + Water Hospitality Group, and founder of the Bay Area Restaurant Collective.I first met Amanda when I worked at Flour + Water in the lead up to opening DD, and was immediately drawn to her warmth, passion, and compassionate leadership style.We dove into her strategies for building community, the importance of leading with values, and how her work with the Collective promotes a more collaborative...2025-05-2055 minForever Neighbor PodcastPrince Boucher of Mission Athletic Club (S1EP21)Send us a textHey neighbors!It's a pleasure to bring you my chat with Prince Boucher, Mission resident and founder of Mission Athletic Club - a tennis community that hosts FREE OF CHARGE social tennis games throughout San Francisco. Prince is such a passionate guy who is genuinely interested in bringing people together, and his work is so inspiring to me and countless others! I wasn't even a tennis fan before this conversation, but Prince's enthusiasm is so infectious, I've already signed up for a volley!There's a little catch: you may...2025-05-1347 minForever Neighbor PodcastSPECIAL EPISODE: State of the Store Vol. 3Send us a textHey gang!We have been pushing so hard over the last few months, both at the store and with this podcast, and there are some EXCITING changes on the way!Make sure to stick around until the end of this episode for a cool podcast related announcement too! :)Love you so much,Ramzi + the DD TeamProduced by Daniel Blacktree and Ramzi Budayr.2025-05-0610 minForever Neighbor PodcastNabeel Silmi of Grand Coffee (S1EP20)Send us a textHappy Monday neighbors,I'm so stoked to finally have our friend and neighbor Nabeel Silmi on the podcast this week! Nabeel is the owner and founder of Grand Coffee, a neighborhood institution with roots in the Mission dating back to 2010. Since opening their first location, Nabeel and partners have expanded into a second, larger cafe space on Mission Street, plus a roastery in the East Bay. I've witnessed many local brands scale and lose that "by the neighborhood, for the neighborhood" feel, but what Nabeel and the team have b...2025-04-2950 minForever Neighbor PodcastMohit Kohli of Fault Radio (S1EP19)Send us a textHey neighbors - hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!I'm thrilled to bring you my conversation with Mohit Kohli, managing director of Fault Radio and cofounder of the newly opened Studio Aurora on 14th & Valencia.Fault Radio is the ultimate cultural multi-hyphenate: online radio station. music archive, SF non-profit, and in person platform for up-and-coming local artists. Their mission is to provide their community with the tools and support needed to hone their craft, expand their networks, and elevate their presence in the Bay Area and beyond.2025-04-2247 minForever Neighbor PodcastAnand Upender of York Street Cafe (S1EP18)Send us a textHappy Monday neighbors!I am so excited to share my conversation with Anand Upender, founder + operator of one of my favorite creative projects in the Bay Area, York Street Cafe!We recently hosted York Street at DD, and I was blown away by Anand's creative vitality, attention to detail, and commitment to building community. Every York Street activation is an opportunity to try something new and meet new people - two of my favorite activities in San Francisco. :)This was such a fun recording for so many...2025-04-081h 02Forever Neighbor PodcastLisa Rowland of BATS Improv (S1EP17)Send us a textHappy Monday neighbors!So excited to share my conversation with Lisa Rowland: Dolores Heights resident, community member, mother, performer, improviser, teacher, and AMAZING HUMAN BEING!Lisa is involved in so many endeavors: from her work as Artistic Director and mainstage performer at BATS Improv, to her founding of the Improv Playhouse of San Francisco and Awkward Dinner Party, to her decade plus run as a touring improviser and teacher across the globe.I could talk to Lisa all day, and am so inspired by her unabashed love...2025-04-0157 minForever Neighbor PodcastJanelle Nelissen of The Sage Creatives (S1EP16)Send us a textHappy Monday neighbors!I am so stoked to be sharing my conversation with the one and only Janelle Nelissen: SF resident, community member, day one Forever Neighbor supporter, and owner/operator of The Sage Creatives: a branding and digital marketing agency whose purpose is to support small businesses in bringing their visions to life.Janelle and I connected via this very Instagram page, and I knew from our first interaction that she would make an amazing interview subject. You can hear the passion and dedication in her voice, and...2025-03-2456 minForever Neighbor PodcastSPECIAL EPISODE: State of the Store Vol. 2Send us a textHey neighbors! Hope you've had a fantastic weekend.I wasn't planning on sharing another store update so soon, but a LOT has happened over the last two weeks and I wanted to take some time to capture the moment.There's still a lot to process, and we'll see how long this shift in business levels will last, but we are unbelievably excited for the future.See you all at the shop!Produced by Daniel Blacktree and Ramzi Budayr.2025-03-1816 minForever Neighbor PodcastBrooke Ley of Corner Sessions SF (S1EP15)Send us a textHello neighbors!So excited to bring you my conversation with Brooke Ley, Pittsburgh native, Dolores Heights resident, and self-proclaimed "Professional Fan" (of jazz, sandwiches, community, and more)!Brooke and I first connected over - you guessed it! - sandwiches, but our mutual love for music is what sparked our first collaboration: a live concert featuring her new band (in honor of our 3 year anniversary).Since then, Brooke has been kind enough to invest her time and resources to host a series of live jazz concerts on the...2025-03-1143 minForever Neighbor PodcastKatie Porter of Porter Vintage (S1EP14)Send us a textHi neighbors!We're very excited to present our conversation with Bay Area native and fixture of the Mission, Katie Porter, owner + founder of Porter Vintage!Katie launched her brand in 2016, starting with a collection of vintage clothes she got from her legendary Aunt Lizzy that grew into a pop-up shop in her driveway just a few blocks away from Dolores Deluxe. From there. and with the help of her community, she's expanded + spread to a weekly pop-up at City Station, a collection on Haight St, and as of this...2025-03-031h 07Forever Neighbor PodcastSPECIAL EPISODE: State of the Store Vol. 1Send us a textHey gang!We're taking a little break from our traditional interview format this week to update you all on the state of the store, and our small but growing sandwich business. Truth be told, I'm usually superstitious when it comes to celebrating positive financial news (for fear of jinxing our progress), but my team recently reminded me that celebrating our victories is just as, if not more, important than studying our failures.As we look towards this summer and the rest of the year, we'd love to hear from...2025-02-2507 minForever Neighbor PodcastByron Lee of Slug Bicycles (S1EP13)Send us a textHey neighbors!Please welcome our friend, neighbor, and fellow entrepreneur, Byron Lee to the pod this week!Throughout his experience as an Industrial Designer, Byron has been fortunate enough to work alongside some of the industry's top designers, contributing to timeless design solutions for leading companies. We caught up with Byron less than a week after the official launch of his titanium bike + lifestyle brand - Slug Bicycles! What a treat to capture this once in a lifetime moment (for anyone who's gotten a new company off t...2025-02-1855 minForever Neighbor PodcastDaniel Blacktree of 23rd & Dolores (S1EP12)Send us a textHappy Monday gang!I've come to appreciate so many things about this podcast and the community it is amplifying, but my favorite feature is the ability to go deeper with the wonderful human beings that make up my neighborhood. Enter Daniel Blacktree, a longtime resident of Dolores Heights who's going on 20 years in the Bay Area, and someone I am honored to consider a friend! As Dan pointed out during our recording, he isn't here to promote a specific project or business. Rather, I asked him on to "promote" a...2025-02-1154 minForever Neighbor PodcastJimmy Foti of Turtle Island (S1EP11)Send us a textHello hello everyone!This installment of the Forever Neighbor Podcast features an in-depth interview with our friend Jimmy Foti of Turtle Island, one of my favorite food pop ups in the Bay Area!Jimmy slings East Coast style breakfast sandos out of a built-out trailer, with his sandwiches featuring a soft, pillowy Kaiser roll, perfectly cooked runny eggs, American cheese, and other toppings including but not limited to the best lemon aioli in the breakfast game, crispy hashbrowns, insanely lacy bacon, and more!For our listeners in...2025-02-041h 16Forever Neighbor PodcastChristopher Truitt of The Reluctant Somm Podcast (S1EP10)Send us a textHappy Monday, everyone!So excited to welcome our friend and neighbor, Christopher Truitt, to the pod! Like all the guests we've had on our show, Chris wears many hats: father, husband, sommelier, wine rep, consultant, and host of one of my favorite locally produced podcasts, The Reluctant Somm! Chris was kind enough to have me on his podcast a few weeks ago, and I was really inspired by the beautiful environment, crisp production and open format of his show (it was my first time being interviewed for a long-form p...2025-01-281h 14Forever Neighbor PodcastPhilip Wood of Sound Made Public & CITIZEN:Citizen (S1EP9)Send us a textHappy Monday to all of you and thank you for the incredible support since the start of the year!We've got a pretty philosophical one for you today, courtesy of my friend and neighbor, Philip Wood. You might recognize the company Sound Made Public from a previous episode; indeed, I met Philip through his lovely wife Tania (fan favorite guest on Episode 3 of this very podcast)!True to his last name, Philip Wood started his first business as a craftsman, building and selling chests of drawers as a teenager...2025-01-141h 21Forever Neighbor PodcastJoshua Chemparathy of Sinwise Farms (S1EP8)Send us a textHappy New Year neighbors!We are thrilled to welcome our dear friend and very first vendor-partner at Dolores Deluxe, Joshua Champarathy, to the podcast!Joshua is the creator and owner/operator of Sinwise Farms, a company producing hand-crafted chai and coffee beverages made with fresh, sustainably-grown ingredients from Joshua's family farm in Southern India. We talk at length about Joshua's beginnings, from liquor store ice-bagger to data scientist to entrepreneur. I've always admired Joshua's genuine curiosity and knack for GREAT questions, and while this was meant to b...2025-01-061h 38Forever Neighbor PodcastAmelia Eudailey of Chef Hej Hej (S1EP7)Send us a textGood afternoon neighbors! Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend and are gearing up for a festive end to 2024!Today's podcast features one of my favorite creators in the Bay Area: Chef Amelia Eudailey of the popular Swedish hot dog pop-up. Chef Hej Hej! It took recording this podcast for me to realize that Amelia actually debuted her concept at Dolores Deluxe - a genuine shock to me given how professional, beautiful and delicious her food was from day one! She's since been slinging hot dogs around the Bay A...2024-12-3055 min
The Reluctant Somm: Wine & Hospitality Podcast#36 Ramzi Budayr, Owner and Operator of Dolores DeluxeThis weeks episode I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ramzi the owner and operator of Dolores Deluxe AND the host of the Forever Neighbor Podcast which focuses on all the incredible neighborhood folks that we all have the pleasure of living near. A fascinating journey running his own catering company at 15 years old, eventually making it to Eleven Madison Park, moving to Paris for culinary school, and so much more before opening his own place. Such a blast and I'm so happy to have a place that feels like an extension of home to stop in.
2024-12-281h 45Forever Neighbor PodcastC-Y Chia & Shane Stanbridge of Lion Dance Cafe (S1EP6)Send us a textGood morning neighbors, and happy holidays!We are honored to welcome renowned chefs C-Y Chia (they/them) & Shane Stanbridge (he/him), founders of the beloved Lion Dance Café, to the podcast this week! The shape and scope of Lion Dance Café has evolved many times since its inception in 2013 - from pop ups throughout the Bay Area, to their years operating out of a loft apartment, to a brick-and-mortar opened at the height of the pandemic - and all the way back around. Over their decade-plus in the Bay, the...2024-12-231h 20Forever Neighbor PodcastAmesia Doles of Botanic Panic (S1EP5)Send us a textHey there, neighbors! We are so excited to share our interview with Amesia Doles, owner/operator of the STUNNING plant shop Botanic Panic on 18th & Valencia (located in the heart of the Mission District)!Amesia launched her venture at the height of the pandemic, using government loans to purchase and outfit a vintage van for use as a nomadic "brick and mortar." She recently transitioned into the side space within Fellow Barber, operating her nursery seven days a week.We talk about the impact that ONE sale can make...2024-12-1652 minForever Neighbor PodcastKen Turner of Turner's Kitchen (S1EP4)Send us a textHey gang! We are honored to welcome Ken Turner, owner of neighborhood staple and revered sandwich shop, Turner's Kitchen! A native Californian, Ken began his culinary career at the beloved Zuni Café, where he had the incredible opportunity to work with the talented Judy Rogers. He quickly blossomed from a young oyster shucker into the Chef de Cuisine, where he worked closely with both Chef Judy and the current owner, Gilbert Pilgram. Ken opened Turner's Kitchen in November of 2015. Over the last 9 years, Ken has grown Turner's into a destination for de...2024-12-0958 minForever Neighbor PodcastTania Ketenjian of Sound Made Pubiic (S1EP3)Send us a textTania Ketenjian is the co-founder and editor in chief of SOUND MADE PUBLIC, a creative agency based in San Francisco that believes what we hear changes the way we see the world. SOUND MADE PUBLIC was founded in 2017 with Philip Wood and has since produced podcasts, sound installations and public art projects with MoMA, LACMA, USPS and many others. Tania’s passion lies in the art of the interview and she has interviewed a wide range of artists and thinkers from filmmaker Lena Dunham to spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, believing th...2024-12-041h 08Forever Neighbor PodcastCathay Bi of Dumpling Club & Stripe (S1EP2)Send us a textCathay Bi is a chef, writer, musician, political activist, mother of 2, and one of the leading minds in the San Francisco small business community. Many of you may have met her during her chapter as the owner of Dumpling Club (a beloved restaurant just a few blocks down from Dolores Deluxe that closed in 2023). We recorded this episode on November 6th - the day after the general election - so the results were definitely front of mind. It made for a deeply genuine and vulnerable discussion - one that highlights just how important...2024-12-031h 25Forever Neighbor PodcastCharles Chen of Basuku Cheesecakes (S1EP1)Send us a textJoin us on the Dolores Deluxe patio for a conversation with Charles Chen, founder, CEO, and chef of Basuku Cheesecakes. We discuss how he got his start, how his company has grown over the last four years, and how the pandemic has impacted San Francisco's food & beverage community. Follow @basukucheesecakes on Instagram or visit www.basukucheesecakes.com for more information on his delicious products!Produced by Daniel Blacktree and Ramzi Budayr.2024-12-031h 22
TAKE AWAY ONLYFEW FOR ALL: COMMUNITY OVER COMPETITIONFinding themselves suddenly out of work, Ramzi Budayr, Tyler Curtis and Mallory Cayon combined their considerable hospitality talents and energy to launch Few For All, a meal kit service specializing in fresh pastas, sauces, cookies and cinnamon rolls. Since launching in March, they've also donated more than 5,000 pounds of their pasta to the LA Regional Food Bank, helping to rally against food insecurity. Hear how they've grown, what they've learned, and how Few For All plans to help protesters as demonstrations grip Los Angeles.2020-06-0429 min