YOLO Spotlight - Erin Morris of Zest West!

It’s Thursday so it’s YOLO Spotlight time! We continue to celebrate Women’s History Month and present another woman small business owner in Woodland. This week we are pleased to highlight Erin Morris, owner of Zest West and Woodland native.

Erin is a savvy businesswoman, but also easy to talk to and fun to hang out with. We were lucky to catch up with her because free time is rare for her and she is always juggling several things at one time.

Erin grew up in Woodland and graduated from Woodland High School. In high school she hung out with the “art” crowd and felt comfortable with them even though she claimed she isn’t an artist. (We disagree, because if you have seen any of her cakes there is definitely an artistic bent needed to produce those works of art.) She baked for fun growing up and attended college in Santa Cruz, thinking she would become a teacher. After college, she attended The Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, CA and went to work as an assistant pastry chef at a private beach club in Rhode Island. Her husband, Cory, is a Rhode Islander.

While at culinary school Erin met her “culinary soulmate”, Gabriella. After knowing each other for two weeks they knew they wanted to work together to pursue their dream of opening a bakery. They opened Zest in Connecticut in 2012 and joined their vision of using fresh and seasonal flavors in pastries. When Erin returned home a few years ago, she opened Zest West, and the rest is history!

Zest West had not even been opened a year before the pandemic hit. The bakery did not suffer as big a change as many businesses because they were able to stay open and are not dependent on indoor dining. People couldn’t celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other events with parties so Erin focused more on cakes, allowing people to commemorate their milestones with a great cake. Zest has been happy to celebrate the special event weeks with other downtown restaurants and had fun developing special pastries to fit the various themes. (We learned that something called “grey stuff” really exists and is delicious.) As the weather turns warmer, Erin looks forward to getting back to offering salads and light sandwiches and encouraging the use of her back patio for cake tastings and small meetings.

FUN FACT #1:

Erin loves being part of people’s special moments by making the perfect cake (or other items) to celebrate. Everyone at Zest West enjoys what they do. Most of them are from Woodland and are invested in the community. Being part of the community is a major bonus for Erin and she has donated her talents to non-profits to help those organizations that need it.

FUN FACT #2:

Owning a business is a 24/7 gig, right? So what does Erin do to keep her sanity? We asked about free time and she replied, “What’s that?”. Her special pleasure is time to hang out with friends and talk about anything but work. And she just signed up for TikTok so she can watch stupid videos and turn off her brain. If there is any time left over for a family vacation they go to Hawaii or the East Coast. The kids are easy going and are happy to go anywhere.

FUN FACT #3:

There is no such thing as a day off when you are a business owner. Erin gets up early to respond to phone messages and emails, gets the kids ready for school, manages paperwork, errands, and usually works at Zest from 9 am on. Saturday means 4 am to 5 pm and Erin can be found there when the bakery is closed to catch up on things that need her attention. Her saving grace is that husband, Cory, does more than his share.

WHAT’S GOING ON AT ZEST WEST?

1.       Erin noted that there are now three bakeries on Main Street in the downtown Woodland area. She feels, however, that they are all different and offer different things. Zest West takes pride in sourcing most of their ingredients locally. They work with small farms and try to stay seasonal, meaning offerings can change over the year. Erin feels it is vital to support other small businesses and feels that not only is this one way to accomplish this, but it enhances the taste of her pastries.

2.       They have survived the past year and are still here! Erin feels tired much more than before because COVID19 has added a whole new layer of thing to consider and manage. She is fortunate that her crew has willingly followed the guidelines and understand the importance of safety measures, but, like everyone, is more than ready to see the end of the pandemic.

3.       Erin anticipates continuing her participation in Woodland’s Farmer’s Market this year. It is where she got her start in Woodland by letting people know Zest West and what pastry goodness they have to offer. And she also looks forward to being able to expand the use of her back patio, which is nicely set up and provides a pleasurable outdoor experience.

It is always great to see a hometown girl make good, especially when it involves great, yummy food. We have personally deliberately forgotten to eat breakfast before an early morning shoot just to be able to run over to Zest West and grab one of the breakfast sandwiches. Or not being able to distinguish whether their brownie is a brownie or actually fudge, which is, of course, a really bad problem to have. (ha!) Or have our noses pressed to the window of Zest to see if they made any of their chocolate mousse bombs, which really are THE bomb. Head over and try them all, you will see what we are talking about.

Put Zest West on your rotation schedule of supporting local eateries. You won’t be sorry.

And thank you, Cory, for all your help in making this happen. It is truly a community service for us all.

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