The Sonoma Table

May is Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month – a month that is dedicated to celebrating and recognizing the contributions, histories, and cultures of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. It's a time to honor their rich heritage and the important role they play in shaping the cultural, social, and economic landscape of the country.

Next month let’s celebrate our AAPI Dames, friends and family members by supporting their businesses or even simply enjoying some special meals!

It is also great timing to feature one of our fellow AAPI Dames, Dame Michelle Wood, and her exciting news about her purchase of the Jimtown Store! Many of you know how special Jimtown has been to so many Sonoma County (and beyond) residents and we are beyond thrilled that Michelle will be continuing its legacy.

The Jimtown Legacy

“There’s just something about Jimtown," I said to a friend who was visiting. She has never been to Jimtown and I have to tell her the happy and somewhat sad news in one sentence. That yes, you’re lucky, today the store happens to be open, but that it will also soon be permanently closing.

The Jimtown Store was more than a store. Opened originally in 1893 it was a general store to serve the community of Alexander Valley and neighboring valleys. It became so much more than a store in 1991 when Carrie Brown and her late husband John Werner purchased Jimtown. With their love and energy, their multitude of talents, their supportive friends and family, Jimtown flourished into what everyone now knows as…Jimtown.

She recovers from the sudden feeling of loss for a place that she had come to know as I had come to know it. Over the years in specialty food sales, we had followed the success of Jimtown from its spreads sold nationwide to its famously charming The Jimtown Store Cookbook.

Carrie’s famed spreads were sold in almost every specialty store in the country. They were a means to sell the idea of Jimtown, the place, to consumers who relished comfort food and old fashioned Americana. Everyone had a favorite, from the chopped olive salad with its layered flavors of olives and tangy capers, to the fig and olive spread, a take on a French/Italian recipe of combining black figs with black cured olives. When visitors would come to Jimtown, they could enjoy a sandwich that showcased the Jimtown spread that they had come to crave.

The first time I met Carrie Brown, it wasn’t at Jimtown, she was standing at the cheese counter at the Franklin Street branch of  Whole Foods in San Francisco. My boss, Ray Bair, was asking Carrie how many tubs could we have to sell to our customers. My gaze was transfixed on this woman in her fabulous, well appointed, and fun outfit and her incredibly friendly demeanor. I vowed that I would get there, to this place called Jimtown and soak it all up.  

As life happens in the food business, it took me some years to visit Jimtown and fall in love. I loved the casual, intentional atmosphere. The incredible attention to detail from the products that Carrie sold to the history of the building that fell open and welcoming to anyone who crossed the threshold. I could see why she had visitors from all over the world. Her customers had evolved over the years but continued to represent every class from the migrant worker to the wealthy landowner and from the firefighters that would stage their trucks in the parking lot to the countless cyclists that would rest their weary legs after their long rides. Her host of regulars would come in every day for their favorite sandwiches, her chili, or my favorite, the most addicting chocolate pudding.

I eventually moved from San Francisco to Healdsburg as the new owner of the local cheese shop and I got to know Jimtown. I would send all of my customers to pay a visit to Jimtown. I would give them the directions that would help them happen upon the store the way I did. They would see the sign pointing towards the store and then the red truck in the parking lot. The buttercup yellow painted building with green trim would imprint into their memory that feeling of arriving somewhere very special.

When I took my friend to Jimtown for her first and last visit, the whole way I thought about what would happen to this fantastic place. How much had happened in the years of Carrie’s ownership from the tremendous successes and beautiful memories to the hardship of wildfires, floods and loss of employees. How the world was changing and how sad it would be if this historic building would fall prey to a characterless new owner.

Carrie, the trailblazer, who had revived Jimtown to a new glory, would most certainly not succumb to that type of greed but who could blame her if she wanted to get out while she could. In the meantime, while we waited to see what would develop, Carrie would continue to support the programs that she had begun in her home of 30 years. Carrie is a fierce supporter of nonprofits that support the arts, the environment and human services.  You’ll find Carrie at a jazz show or at the farmer’s market or dining in a local independent restaurant. She is not shy about her beliefs but she is always tactful. She is generous with her time and her experience and any of us are lucky to be in her corner.

Two years ago, another trailblazer came along.  Chef, cyclist and philanthropist Michelle Wood, who had been running her company Dim Sum and Then Sum in Sonoma County,  found the real estate listing for Jimtown.  For years while training in Alexander Valley, Michelle frequented Jimtown while she rested there with her cycling team enjoying Jimtown’s offerings.

In the spring of 2022, Michelle was hired to cater a wedding for another local chef and cyclist. At the wedding she realized her client was one of the last chefs to work at Jimtown, Peter Brown, (no relation to Carrie).  At the wedding, Michelle met Carrie Brown and got a sense of what was transpiring with Jimtown.

Michelle had been professionally cooking in parallel to her longtime career in laboratory management. She had been considering leaving the food industry. She had had her ups and downs as well. Never having enough staff, working out of an incubator kitchen, not being able to land on her feet in a permanent location. She had considered looking for a retail store but had not found anything that she really liked. Michelle remembered how she felt about Jimtown. The first time she walked into Jimtown she was overcome with a deep sense of belonging.

Michelle started to think about seeking support to make this dream a reality. What if she could be that person, the new owner of Jimtown. Did she have enough chutzpah to raise the funds that she would need to buy Jimtown. Michelle also collects vintage items including a treasured stove that she is working on reviving to its former glory and using it! Michelle makes comfort food that her customers crave. She sells her food at festivals, at countless farmers markets and caters large and small parties.  As if she is not busy enough, she volunteers for various nonprofits and started her own nonprofit that mentors at-risk youth by teaching them life skills including cooking.

Michelle built a business plan and put a bid on Jimtown. Almost 18 months later, Michelle’s dream has become a reality. Shock and awe are the two emotions that ran through her when she got the news. She is busy planning her next steps along with keeping her business going. Simultaneously, Carrie is planning her next steps. She is excited for her future and elated that she leaves Jimtown in such capable hands. Carrie encourages Michelle to let her ideas flow and let the expression of Jimtown flourish.

Michelle, whose belief system is as deeply rooted as Carrie’s, understands the importance of preserving the timeless authenticity of Jimtown to serve the community for future generations.

I know we are in good hands. Jimtown & Then Sum will open soon.

—Written by Dame Doralice Handal