From Chestertown to São Paulo: Sourdough, Stories & Manio

Billy peeling manioc

Dear MSA Friends,

We’ve just returned from Brazil—grateful, inspired, and still processing what was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Over two incredible weeks, our family had the opportunity to connect deeply with traditional foodways, participate in powerful ancestral practices, and learn directly from communities working to preserve them. There’s so much we’re excited to share—photos, video, insights, and big reflections—but we also want to give this work the space and time it deserves.

The photo at the top of this blog gives a peek into the manioc research we did deep in the Amazon with Chef Atala. And the image to the right? That’s Billy, head down, peeling hundreds of pounds of manioc alongside traditional communities—fully immersed in the work.

While we’re still unpacking (both literally and emotionally), we wanted to give you a first look at one of the most meaningful moments of our trip.

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Spreading the Eat Like a Human Message with Chef Alex Atala

The Handoff

As part of our time in São Paulo, I was honored to be invited by Chef Alex Atala to speak at a private dinner—and to craft the first two courses of the meal. To bring a bit of Chestertown to Brazil, each member of our family carried a loaf of MSAK Airfield sourdough bread in brown paper bags as part of our carry-on luggage, along with Oaxacan string cheese and memelas, all made at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen.

We landed, handed everything off to one of Chef Atala’s chefs at the airport, and it was frozen immediately for the dinner on June 30th.

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First Course

Our sourdough bread, paired with bone marrow, bitter greens, and Redmond’s course sea salt - an unexpected and deeply appreciated addition in a country where bread is not typically part of the meal.

It meant so much to serve our Chestertown sourdough on a table in São Paulo.

Second Course

Memelas, made with nixtamalized maize cakes from the Kitchen, topped with our handmade Oaxacan string cheese.

A true fusion of our travels, research, and purpose—all on one plate.

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We’re sharing two exciting pieces of content with you today:

1. A short reel that captures the energy of the dinner and our time in the kitchen with Chef Atala.

2. The full 45-minute talk I gave that evening, filmed by one of the guests

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Caption on Post

Bill had and has an always thought-provoking, deep, yet highly didactical approach that brings immediate crowd connection, empathy and authority to his anthropological discourse, but with a sense of practical activism. So much so that your family is actually involved in that knowledge and activism and practice what they preach.

It's actually amazing to see and hear and experience a researcher, scientist, who talks about ancestral food, or specifically, like "Eating Like a Human", the title of his newest book, and experience the dishes that he, his son and his family produce in the very own restaurant they created and operate for to practice and disseminate his narrative and research, the Modern Stone Age | Kitchen, Food Lab & Sanctuary (B&B) in Chestertown, Maryland, United States.

Last June 30, on an initiative of the membership club Resid. , within its Get Together program, its members and some guests were able to enjoy this unique experience at a dinner hosted by Dr. Bill Schindler and his family, at Dalva e Dito restaurant with the command of Alex Atala and harmonization of wines by Gabriela Monteleone.

If the flavors of dishes and wines remained exclusive to Resid members. Club, the delicious and deep knowledge of Dr. Bill Schindler, author of “Eat like a Human,” @prazeresdamesa (https://www.instagram.com/prazeresdamesa/) shares with all his followers. Very worth the class! To watch, save and share!

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Please keep an eye on our social channels over the coming weeks—we’ll be rolling out more videos and reflections as we go. There is so much powerful learning from this trip, and we want to document and share it thoughtfully.

Thank you, as always, for being part of this community. We can’t wait to bring what we learned into the work we do here at home.

Best,

P.S. In the kitchen Bill and Billy plating with Alex and out in the dining room, my lovely ladies enjoying the night!