Growing up on the lower Columbia River, Don was forced to eat fresh vegetables from his father’s garden, homemade bread, scratch food from his mother’s kitchen, and milk from his Aunt Geraldine’s cow, Betsy.

After a brief career in construction, Don realized that the real magic in his life had revolved around his mother’s cooking and the church basement smorgasbords. Along with Peter de Garmo, Don started Pastaworks, a local pastaficio and imported food emporium in 1983. In 1998, Don founded Casa Bruno, a direct wine import and distribution business that focused on family wineries from the Mediterranean and the Pacific North West. Don is reputed to be the first dues paying member of Slow Food in the USA (1991).