rounded hospitality skills , worked for a corporate restaurant group as chief marketing officer . Then in 2017 at 31 , Gabe spun off his own consulting firm doing concept , strategic marketing development , and culinary planning for different restaurant groups . Hospitality was now in his blood , and he was at the top of his game .
“ We did everything from create the menu to market the restaurant concept and train the staff . It was fun . We had a great team ,” says Gabe . Then COVID hit . “ We had to pivot from high concept and marketing strategy to helping change restaurants to do takeaway and market themselves as meals-to-go .”
Two years prior in 2015 , Gabe met Amanda Siegel , chief of staff at a New York hedge fund . Although coming from different worlds , they shared a passion for food and entertaining . “ She is most definitely the hostess with the most-ess ,” assures Gabe . Considering her Aix La Chapelle family farm , the thought was head to Maryland where Amanda could be closer to family and where Gabe could possibly open a farm brewery . But a case of cold feet ensued — not quite ready to leave their life in New York . By 2021 the Gabe and Amanda were married and had their first child when the pandemic hit , and New York became Covid ’ s poster child .
This time the move to Maryland took hold , and the dream to open a farm brewery became a joint one with Amanda and her considerable creative talents a partner and co-owner . “ Amanda came up with name Landmade as it is exactly who and what we are . We are making things with natural ingredients coming from our land ,” Gabe enthuses .
Back to the challenges of opening a farm brewery : Gabe seems like the kind of guy who eats obstacles for breakfast . After much hoop jumping through endless regs and a good deal of guidance from Jeremy Criss and his Office of Agriculture team , Landmade was approved .
Gabe and Amanda want Landmade to be known for its good food and traditional and farm beers . “ We want people to come for lunch or dinner and enjoy a good meal … they don ’ t even have to have a beer . We think it tastes better with a beer , but that ’ s up to them !” Gabe laughs . “ Were brewing in very traditional styles , like lagers , and in our experimental approach with our farm beer , we use 100 percent Maryland-grown product to create a beer that is naturally fermented and has that sourness people are looking for through natural fermentation .”
Like any small farm operation , being nimble and fearless are all part of the daily experience . Gabe will be the first to say he is not a farmer , but he respects everything about the agricultural process and is willing to learn through experimentation and commitment to an excellent food and beverage experience , while trying to be regenerative as possible with a compost program and a soon-to-be closed loop irrigation system .
Landmade offers a predominance of lager beers that take about 6 to 8 weeks to release . It ’ s a precise process with a very rigid schedule . Then there are the farm beers where herbs , produce and other ingredients come together in a kind of grand experimentation . Too much lime basil this year ? Let ’ s make a beer with it ! And it worked ! Landmade has an experienced team of agriculturalists who manage the gardens . Their two brewers have complimentary approaches and are true alchemists conjuring fantastic combinations from farm fresh ingredients sourced almost exclusively on site . Gabe talks about the farm as a laboratory of sorts , a cre-