Introducing: A Very Good Sauce

Hello and happy Thursday. In a season of endless fun announcements, I come to you with two very exciting fun announcements (for those paid subscribers who received a similar email yesterday, there is still one more FUN announcement in here for you). 

Since life nearly never goes according to plan and when it rains it pours, etc., a thing that was supposed to come to life last December is coming to life….now. 

Yes, without further delay, A Very Good Tomato Sauce is born into the world. A sauce that is, as promised, very good. This is not marinara. This is tomato sauce. A tomato sauce that has texture, with visible sliced garlic and bits of tomato. Tangy and sweetened only by the onions and tomatoes themselves. The flavors are familiar but fun. The ingredient lists are minimal. 

When we first opened First Bloom, we stocked the fridge with things like brothy beans and chicken stock and tomato sauce– things we made to bolster the pantry and kitchen that perhaps you knew how to make, but just didn’t have the time to do so. But soon, demand outgrew the time we had to make the things, and the fridge space to store it all. And then, I had a baby and then I really didn’t have the time, and, well, the fridges have been a little more lonely since, which isn’t how any of us wanted this to go. 

Regarding tomato sauce, I have always said I think you should just make it yourself. It’s so easy! And this is true. But people change and my views have especially changed since marrying a person who doesn’t really cook. And now it’s kind of like, well, “if you’re going to drink, I’d rather you drink at home.” So if my husband is going to make me pasta or something, I need to know that the sauce he’s using is good. As good as if I had made it. And now, it basically is. 

So, when you can’t make it yourself, there’s A Very Good Tomato Sauce. Three of them, in fact.

One, a Classic Garlicky Tomato, my gold standard, my all-purpose. You can use it for lasagna, simmer meatballs, to build a ragu or eggplant parmesan, or for your friend’s “pizza night” you both look forward to and dread because the pizza is never that good but you like to encourage the hobby. It’s the blank canvas of your dreams.

Two, Spicy Tomato with Fennel. My favorite, it’s made with fennel, toasted fennel seed (fennel two ways?) and just enough crushed red pepper flake to earn the name spicy but not so spicy that someone who doesn’t like spicy couldn’t enjoy it (I think). It’s the one I’m most likely to  serve simply over a bowl of al dente rigatoni with nothing other than a heavy sprinkling of cheese and one single chef's kiss.

Three, Caramelized Shallot and Anchovy. Modeled after (but not a replacement for) Thee Shallot Pasta, heavy on shallots and reminds you that you absolutely do love anchovies. It’s tangy, salty and just this side of sweet in a caramelized, jammy way. Perfect for tossing with bucatini and finishing with finely chopped raw garlic and parsley.

Regarding distribution, we are starting small because that’s what I like to do. It feels right. But if you are a small grocery or retail store across the regional United States and are interested in carrying the sauce, let us know! 

Send us an email at wholesale@firstbloomcornerstore.com / isabelle@firstbloomcornerstore.com and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. 

For now, it’s available online for shipping (within the United States only), right here.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. 

Very soon, you’ll be able to find it on the shelves at First Bloom, our little corner store in The Catskills. And starting November 5th, you’ll be able to find it at First Bloom….in the city. 

Yes, because we LOVE NEW YORK from top to bottom, we are popping up in The Big Apple from November 5th to November 30th at 61 Hester Street (Casetta Wine Bar). 

We’ll be setting up (temporary) shop, stocking shelves with our favorite pantry items from upstate and beyond, handmade ceramics and home goods from some of our favorite people as well as taking over the small cafe menu so you can snack on things while you drink wine after you shop, or maybe before you shop, because shopping after a glass of wine is one of life's greatest pleasures. 

More on this soon, watch this space. 

There are far fewer people involved in this project than one might think, which makes this probably both more enjoyable and much harder, but I’ll take harder if it means more enjoyable any day– Thank you to everyone involved, it’s the joy of a lifetime to make something you care about and watch it come to life. 

Operations, logistics & general problem-solving by Narni Summerall and Isabelle Lubin / Label creative direction by Polonsky & Friends / Hand-drawn lettering by Sara Steege / Watercolors by Audrey Weber / Photos by Molly Matalon / Sauce lovingly produced in small batches by Jorge and Michael at City Saucery in Brooklyn, New York.