Over the last few years, Flamingo Estate, a local Los Angeles brand, has quickly catapulted to national recognition. This is in part because their products have been blessed by Queen Oprah herself via her favorite things list, but also because the company’s storytelling and imagery flawlessly markets local fruits, vegetables, and the products born from these items as luxurious. Scrolling through Flaming Estate’s photography on social media offers elements of seduction, indulgence, and above all, a deep reverence for mother nature’s gifts. Before writing this post, I was already a huge fan of their products. After spending time researching more of the brand and founder story, I’m genuinely even more inspired to see the company expand their mission.
The product that convinced me to initially write this post is their Smoked Morita Chile Honey - our cheese and charcuterie boards never go without it and have come to be defined by it. The morita chiles are both smoky and fruity and pair insanely well with the sweet, local SoCal honey. Time after time, I’ve witnessed those who “just aren’t into spicy foods” slowly become addicted.
We’ve drizzled it over gouda, manchego, brie, gruyere, port salut, and feta, which leads me to the conclusion that one could drizzle it over any cheese. Just last week we made grilled pizza with fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella, spicy salami, and a drizzle of the Smoked Morita Chile Honey. Honey, let me tell you - it was DIVINE! And in full transparency, when we snapped the photo above, we just drizzled it over fresh, toasted seed bread and “cleaning up” the photoshoot was delicious.
We gifted my sister and her boyfriend with a jar over the holiday season and they’ve made some insanely gourmet meals with it - from baked feta & crackers to chicken over plantain tostadas, and even an avocado tomato salad. Do I need a post dedicated to their homegrown recipes?
Note that Flamingo Estate makes their products in small batches, so this is always at risk of selling out. Best you stock up - we already have!
One tip when using it - the chiles rise to the top of the honey over time, so be sure to give it a good stir before each use to keep the flavor more consistent.
While our obsession with this honey goes deep, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few other highlights:
Roma Heirloom Tomato Candle; you can also purchase it as part of their 3 Sisters Candle Set, which made Oprah’s favorite things
Heritage Extra Virgin Olive Oil - crafted from some of the best olives in California
Flamingo Estate Cookbook - this is filled with 150 recipes made within the Estate in collaboration with chef friends; it has been blessed by Martha Stewart…need I say more?
I’m also very personally hoping that Flamingo Estate will reissue its dog shampoo with milky oats, aloe vera, and french lavender and hand sanitizer with rosemary, vetiver, hinoki, and eucalyptus. Both products are staples in our home, but are no longer available for purchase.
About the Founder
Before we jump in…I recognize that this is the first post that highlights a solo male founder and not a female. I am making exceptions in certain cases because, in my mind, there are some brands that are so extraordinary that I want to share the products and founding stories with this audience. I was moved to write this newsletter because I personally want to be increasingly conscious of exactly where my money is going when it comes to the products I purchase and the brands I therefore support. I hope that anything you discover here will inspire you as well…. And back to our regularly scheduled programming….
Richard Christiansen’s life has come full circle.
He was born and raised in rural Australia and describes his upbringing as akin to “little house on the prairie.” His parents were farmers who struggled financially to keep their property, so throughout his childhood, they came up with ways to creatively generate additional income streams. For a period of time, his parents figured out a way to bring tourists to the family farm in order to introduce them to an imaginative depiction of “Australian farm life through history.” Richard vividly remembers putting on a show with his twin brother, often shearing sheep for the audience. Unfortunately, his parents ultimately lost their farm - an event that has stuck with Richard.
Eager to move to a more metropolitan area, Richard went to law school, moved to London, and hustled to make a living by working at bars in the evening. Having a knack for managing an array of personalities, one evening, a patron suggested that he work in advertising. Intrigued, he ultimately landed a role at Benneton in Italy; the company was considered highly progressive with its messages and diversity, so it was an extraordinary training ground. Richard excelled and was asked to become the Creative Director of their magazine in his early 20s. Shortly thereafter, as he was feeling somewhat stifled by content requirements, he received an offer to start his own magazine out of Stockholm called Milk.
After failing to secure funding for Milk’s future, he held a few other positions within major publications, but ultimately decided that he wanted to create his own ad agency. Although his agency, Chandelier Creative, struggled to gain clients in the beginning, he ultimately convinced Nordstrom and then a host of luxury clients, including Hermes and Cartier. Richard grew Chandelier outside of NYC to Hong Kong and Paris and scaled his team to 80 people - all while working with the top design houses and photographers.
When he turned 40, he realized that he was burnt out and, on a whim, ended up purchasing a house atop 7-acres of hillside in Los Angeles that would ultimately become his famed Flamingo Estate. When he first moved into the house, his parents visited and helped him plant 600 trees across the property. As he started to slow down and spend more time in nature, he became more conscious of the impact he was having on the environment within his own land.
When the pandemic hit, Chandelier lost all of its clients almost overnight and Richard was motivated to find a way to keep his company and his people employed. When he learned that a friend of a friend was going to lose her farm because all of the restaurants she was supplying temporarily shut down, he helped her sell veggies in the parking lot of his office. From there, over the course of a few weeks, the brand Flamingo Estate came to fruition. He started to invite chefs into his home to use the ingredients from his garden to make gourmet recipes.
Richard ardently believes that “mother nature is the last great luxury house” and that there is an abundance of pleasure to be gained from the garden. The bounties produced provide the opportunity to live a high-quality life with high-quality goods - from the food we eat, to the products we use on our bodies, to the scent of the candles within our homes. In just 3 years, Flamingo Estate now has 120+ SKUs sold through their eCommerce site and delivers local farm boxes weekly to 150,000+ houses across the Los Angeles area.
Richard has authentically gone back to his roots. He is currently spending his time reconnecting with farmers, and his mission is to help farms across California and beyond become regenerative, eliminating the use of pesticides. In listening to him speak and reading articles about his efforts, it’s clear that Richard and his team are just getting started. I’m so looking forward to what’s next.
To pleasure from nature.
x jz
Images | 1 | @b.g.mckay | 2 - 4 | Shot on my iPhone | 5 - 9 | Flamingo Estate | 10 - 11 | Mecca | 12 | Departures
Note: I do not get paid for nor make money off of this post. All opinions are my own.