Stories From Story Feast Collective

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Jody Eddy 12/8/25 Jody Eddy 12/8/25

Photographer Spotlight: Bailey Bassen at St. John’s Abbey

Bailey Bassen, Photographer | Story Feast at St. John's Abbey

Bailey Bassen reached out with a generous offer to photograph our inaugural gathering and delivered images that took our breath away. Meet the eye behind the lens.

Story Feast photography Bailey Bassen St Johns Abbey autumn monastery dinner — *Minnesota was at its autumn best on the day of our event at St. John’s Abbey.*

Most of the images on this website exist because Bailey Bassen reached out with a generous offer: Would we be interested in having her photograph the event?

We'd never worked together. We'd never even met. But something about her portfolio, and her willingness to take a chance on a brand-new gathering, made us say yes immediately.

It was one of the best decisions we made.

A Leap of Faith

Photographing a Story Feast gathering is not a simple assignment. Our events unfold across hours, in multiple locations, with dozens of moving parts. At St. John's Abbey, that meant capturing:

Three simultaneous tours spread across the monastery grounds
A cocktail hour with 180 guests
A multi-course dinner by candlelight in a historic dining hall
The chefs, the partners, the details, the atmosphere
Interviews I conducted with key collaborators

I wasn't sure how to prepare someone for all of that. So I wrote Bailey a very detailed shot list, every moment, every partner, every angle I hoped we'd capture, and trusted that it would be enough.

Then the day arrived, and we barely crossed paths. I was managing the event. She was somewhere else entirely, doing her work. I caught glimpses of her moving quickly through the crowd, camera raised, but we didn't have time to check in.

I had no idea if we'd gotten what we needed.

And Then the Photos Arrived

When Bailey delivered her files, I understood.

Every moment was there. The tours: all three of them, happening simultaneously in different corners of the abbey were captured beautifully. The food, the table settings, the candlelight. The guests laughing, the chefs plating, the pottery glowing in the candlelight. The quiet moments and the joyful ones.

I still don't know how she did it. I imagine her sprinting from the organ workshop to the pottery studio to the church to The Great Hall and back again, catching every shot on the list and dozens I hadn't thought to ask for.

She didn't just document the day. She deeply understood it.

A Joy to Work With

Beyond her stunning work, Bailey was an absolute joy, professional, easygoing, and fully committed to capturing something special. She showed up ready, asked the right questions, and then disappeared into the work with quiet confidence.

If you're planning an event in Minnesota and need a photographer who can handle complexity, move fast, and deliver images very quickly that make you catch your breath, Bailey is your person.

Nearly every image on this site is Bailey's, unless otherwise noted. We're so grateful!

Learn More About Bailey →

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Every Wednesday in my Substack newsletter, What’s Good Here, I share a new, well-tested recipe alongside guides, how-tos, interviews with inspiring people, and stories about what it means to live a good life. Every other Friday I also share five original recipes plus a step-by-step guide to host a Fantasy Feast inspired by your favorite movies, books and television shows.

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Jody Eddy 12/1/25 Jody Eddy 12/1/25

Tour Spotlight: Organ Building & Woodworking at St. John's Abbey

Organ Building & Woodworking Tour at St. John's Abbey for Story Feast

Before dinner, guests toured Abbey Woodworking and the new organ building workshop, where a thousand-year Benedictine tradition is alive and thriving. A look inside one of our Story Feast tours.

St Johns Abbey organ building workshop Martin Pasi woodworking monastery — *An organ blueprint at St. John’s Abbey*

A behind-the-scenes tour at our inaugural Story Feast gathering

Every Story Feast gathering includes more than a meal and a cocktail hour. We invite guests to explore the places where they dine, to understand what makes them extraordinary. At St. John's Abbey, that meant offering three optional tours before the cocktail hour. Every single one filled to capacity.

This is what we love about Story Feast guests: you come curious!

A Thousand Years of Benedictine Craft

The tour of Abbey Woodworking and the new organ building workshop wasn't just a behind-the-scenes look at a facility. It was a window into a tradition that reaches back more than a millennium.

Benedictine monks have been building pipe organs since at least the ninth century. As they spread across Europe, they carried with them not only prayer and scripture, but practical arts: bronze-casting, glass-making, wood-carving, and organ building. The monastery was a place of learning and making, where skills were passed from master to apprentice, and craft was considered a form of devotion.

Ora et Labora, pray and work, is the Benedictine motto. At St. John's, the two have never been separate.

The Workshop

Abbey Woodworking has operated at St. John's since the monastery's founding in 1856. The monks harvest lumber from their own 3,000 acres of forest, mill it on site, and build furniture that lasts for generations. Pieces made over 90 years ago are still in daily use.

In 2023, a brand new 30,000-square-foot woodshop opened, and with it, something remarkable: Saint John's Abbey Organ Builders, a world-class organ building workshop led by Austrian-born master builder Martin Pasi.

Pasi is among a small group of builders worldwide who create mechanical-action pipe organs entirely by hand, using methods unchanged for centuries. Every pipe is cast from molten lead. Every key is carved from cow bone. Every component is made in-house, one organ at a time.

He came to St. John's in 2019 to install an expansion of the Abbey church's organ, adding nearly 3,000 new pipes to the original 1961 instrument. During those seven months, he fell in love with the place. When he heard the monks were planning a new woodshop, he proposed something bold: merge his life's work with theirs.

Now, Pasi and his team build organs in Collegeville, training the next generation of builders in a craft that might otherwise disappear.

St Johns Abbey organ building workshop Martin Pasi woodworking wood shop monastery — *The woodworking shop at St. John’s Abbey*

What Guests Experienced

On the evening of our gathering, guests walked through the new facility with members of the team. They saw raw lumber stacked for drying, tools arranged with monastic precision, and pipes in various stages of completion. They heard stories about the organs Pasi has built, for cathedrals in Omaha, Houston, and Cincinnati, and about the abbey's long history of making things by hand.

They also heard something harder to articulate: the quiet hum of a place where work is done slowly, carefully, and with intention.

Visit St. John’s Abbey Organ Builders →

Looking Ahead: 2026–2027 Season

For our upcoming season, Story Feast tours will be even more expansive. You'll have the option to spend a few days, or just one, or even just an hour, (or none at all if you’re strictly there for the feast!) immersing yourself in a place. Visiting off-site locations that tell the story of a location. Meeting the makers. Understanding the sense of place and identity that makes each location extraordinary.

Because a great meal isn't just about what's on the plate. It's about where you are, who made it, and what that place means.

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Interested in partnering with us for a future gathering? See partnership opportunities →

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Jody Eddy 11/24/25 Jody Eddy 11/24/25

Partner Spotlight: Milk & Honey Cider At St. John’s Abbey

Milk & Honey Ciders at Story Feast’s Inaugural Event

We picked up kegs, Pommeau, and tulip glasses… and stayed for a cider tasting by the bonfire. A spotlight on Milk & Honey Ciders, our partner at St. John's Abbey.

Milk and Honey Ciders tasting Minnesota craft cider Story Feast Tours — *A cider tasting at Milk & Honey Cider, photo: Jody Eddy*

Some partnerships begin with an email. This one began with a bonfire.

A few days before our gathering at St. John's Abbey, we drove out to Milk & Honey Ciders, which is just down the road from the abbey, to pick up their contribution to the evening: kegs of their Estate Cider, bottles of their Pommeau, and, at their insistence, the proper tulip glasses to serve it in. They care about how their cider is experienced right down to the shape of the glass.

What I didn't expect was to stay for a tasting by the bonfire.

The Cidery

Milk & Honey sits in the rolling hills of Stearns County, just north of St. Joseph, Minnesota. The taproom overlooks their orchard, rows and rows of heirloom and traditional cider apple trees stretching toward open fields. It's the kind of place where you're invited to walk the grounds, watch the pressing operation, and settle in with a flight while the afternoon disappears.

Founded by Peter Gillitzer and partners, Milk & Honey focuses on dry, tannic, highly aromatic ciders made with minimal intervention. They source heirloom varieties from across the country, apples with names like Calville Blanc d'Hiver, Arkansas Black, and Kingston Black, and blend across multiple years of production. The result is cider that tastes like wine: complex, layered, meant to be savored.

Their motto: Let the apples shine.

That Afternoon

We arrived to pick up the kegs and ended up by the bonfire, tasting few of their crisp, refreshing ciders as the sun dropped behind the orchard. We talked about cider, about community, about what it means to make something by hand in a world that rewards speed.

The next day, they'd be pressing apples in the production room, fruit already harvested, the whole space fragrant with the aroma of bright, fresh apples. I wished I could stay for that. Next time.

What We Served

At St. John's Abbey, guests enjoyed Milk & Honey's Estate Cider throughout the evening. It’s dry, aromatic, and a perfect counterpoint to the richness of the meal. After dinner, we poured their Pommeau: a blend of apple brandy and fresh-pressed juice aged two years in barrels. Warm, spiritous, with notes of caramel, oak, and dried fruit. Served neat, in those tulip glasses, exactly as intended.

Visit Milk & Honey

The taproom is open Thursday through Sunday, year-round. Bring your own food, order a flight, and settle in. Each season offers something different: cozy winters by the fire, fall harvest energy, summer evenings on the patio. It's worth the drive.

Visit Milk & Honey Ciders →

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Interested in partnering with us for a future gathering? See partnership opportunities →

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Jody Eddy 11/17/25 Jody Eddy 11/17/25

Partner Spotlight: Northstar Kombucha at St. John’s Abbey

Northstar Kombucha at Story Feast’s Inaugural Event

Northstar Kombucha partnered with Story Feast at our inaugural gathering at St. John's Abbey. Small-batch, organic kombucha brewed in Minnesota.

Northstar Kombucha bottles Story Feast Partnerships Sponsors St Johns Abbey — *A bottle of Northstar Kombucha was sent home with every guest in their Story Feast goody bag.*

One of the joys of hosting Story Feast gatherings is connecting guests with the makers behind what they're eating and drinking. At St. John's Abbey, that included Northstar Kombucha, a small-batch kombucha company based locally in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Throughout the evening, guests enjoyed Northstar's Raspberry Hibiscus kombucha, bright, refreshing, and a perfect complement to the rich courses coming out of the kitchen. And when they headed home, each guest left with a goody bag with one of the Northstar flavors: Grapefruit Basil, Lavender Ginger, Raspberry Hibiscus, White Peach, Strawberry Rose, Cherry Elderberry, Honey Ginger, and Blueberry Maple.

A Building Full of Makers

A few days before the event, I drove to pick up the kegs and goody bag bottles myself, and love where Northstar calls home.

They're based in a shared maker space that houses a small community of independent producers, each one crafting something by hand. It's the kind of building where you walk in for kombucha and leave with a deeper appreciation for the people doing the slow, careful work of building something real. This is what Minnesota's food and beverage scene looks like at its best: collaborative, community-rooted, and absolutely extraordinary.

About Northstar Kombucha

Northstar Kombucha is brewed in small batches using organic ingredients and live cultures. Their flavors are creative but balanced, the kind of kombucha you actually want to drink, not just tolerate for the health benefits. Full disclosure, it’s one of my all-time favorite kombucha brands so when they said yes to partnering with us for our inaugural event, I was over the moon!

You can find Northstar at co-ops and specialty grocers across Minnesota, or order directly from their website.

Visit Northstar Kombucha →

Northstar Kombucha bottles Story Feast St Johns Abbey Partnerships Sponsorships — *Northstar Kombucha’s ginger hibiscus kombucha being served at our Story Feast event at St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota.*

A Note on the Founder

We always invite our partners to join us at gatherings and we love when they can share their story directly with guests. One of Northstar's founders, Dan Fischer, couldn't make it to St. John's that night. When I invited him he explained that he was on dad duty with his kids. And honestly? That's exactly the kind of person we want to partner with!

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Interested in partnering with us for a future gathering? See partnership opportunities →

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Jody Eddy 11/10/25 Jody Eddy 11/10/25

See the Menu: A Harvest Feast at St. John's Abbey

Story Feast Menu

The menu from our inaugural Story Feast gathering at St. John's Abbey, Minnesota: a multi-course harvest feast by James Beard semifinalist Mateo Mackbee and Erin Mackbee of Krewe and Flour & Flower Bakery.

For our first-ever Story Feast, we gathered 180 guests in the historic dining hall at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, the same room that has sheltered Benedictine monks for generations.

The meal was created by Mateo and Erin Mackbee, the husband-and-wife team behind Krewe Restaurant and Flour & Flower Bakery in nearby St. Joseph, Minnesota. Mateo is a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Midwest. Erin's Flour & Flower was named one of the best bakeries in America by The New York Times in 2024.

But their impact goes far beyond awards. Since opening in 2020, Mateo and Erin have become anchors of the St. Joseph community: confronting social justice issues, championing local producers and other culinary establishments in the region, and proving that a small-town restaurant can change the culture around it and inspire community members to create a support system rooted in empathy, kindness, and of course, incredible food! Their food honors both ancestry and a circular economy that sustains itself and thrives.

Their presence at our table made this gathering unforgettable and we were so honored that they created this extraordinary, carefully planned meal and joined us at the Story Feast table!