Growing a Memorable Space
Gerard Minakawa’s Sweetshoots in Manton…
Right in the middle of the sleepy town of Manton, the new Sweetshoots acts as the perfect pit stop for those exploring Northern California.
In its couple of months of being open, hunters, bikers and lots of local kids have frequented the café/market/watering hole/local hangout.
Award-winning industrial designer Gerard Minakawa opened Sweetshoots in October during the annual Manton Apple Festival. The place was formerly a dive bar/market called Manton Corners but had been closed for seven years before Minakawa reopened it as Sweetshoots (the general market originally opened in 1902). Now as an all-ages establishment, many locals said that they’ve been in Sweetshoots more in its first few weeks of being open than they have in their many years of living in Manton.
“A lot of kids come through here, play games, and buy ice cream. I like that vibe that kids bring. It’s comfortable, you can hang out for a while, jump on the free Wi-Fi, hang out on the patio,” Minakawa says. Inside Sweetshoots is a refrigerator full of necessities, a freezer with frozen pizzas and apple pies, shelves with craft beer to enjoy on the patio. There’s a rolling pool table that can be moved outside during Wednesday cinema nights as kids eat popcorn and watch a movie on the projector screen. The big grassy fenced-in yard with bamboo trees lining it has a cornhole setup and ends with a neat metal/bamboo stage, what Minakawa calls the “Dumpster nest” because he pulled the bones of it out of a trash can in Las Vegas eight years ago after the Electric Daisy Carnival festival.
Although they have not been open that long, Sweetshoots is already known to have the best caramel macchiatos, mochas and chai tea in town. “I thought this was a drip coffee kind of town, but that’s not the case,” Minakawa says. With live edge wooden tables to sit at (and a bamboo laminate checkout counter), he eventually wants to have a kitchen and offer more made-to-order food so he can start selling wine.
The name “Sweetshoots” comes from Minakawa’s other business in growing and building bamboo art sculptures. Minakawa is originally from New York City, born to a Bolivian Japanese father and an Argentine mother. His parents live in Manton as well; his dad speaks five languages.
Minakawa studied industrial design in Santa Barbara, evaluating bamboo furniture, and then did freelance furniture design for a while. In 2000, he went to Kyoto, Japan, to visit his sister and found bamboo in everything. “It’s used in kitchen devices (like whisks), basketry, painting, gardening. It’s part of the forest,” he says. “It’s very ubiquitous. I think you’d have to be blind to go there and not somehow touch bamboo. Bamboo is a lifestyle, a part of history, it’s an integral part of the culture.”
Minakawa made “grass furniture” for three years, then went to Bolivia for three years and worked with indigenous artisans, finding more inspiration. “The creativity was astounding,” he says of his time there, talking about a guy he found in the jungle who made canes out of animal bone.
Eventually, Minakawa wanted to settle down and work in the United States again for its stability and opportunity to see through his long-term goals, like growing his own bamboo. He originally imported different species of bamboo commissioned to design into furniture (the front window trims are made of Guadua bamboo imported from Columbia) and art festival structures, but now grows his own “sweetshoots” bamboo species (scientific name: Phyllostachys dulcis) that can get up to be three inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. This type of edible bamboo is fast growing and cold-hardy, surviving in temperatures of 5 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
This sweetshoots version is also used in stir fry dishes, and the leaves can be steeped into tea. “It’s good for your hair,” Minakawa says. Minakawa is also cultivating Madake bamboo at Sweetshoots, which will hopefully provide shade in a few years.
Plus, it takes a lot to snap bamboo. “It’s known for its strength and flexibility. In spirit, I try to be like that,” he says.
That’s why there are wheels on the pool table, and a pop-up cinema. “I try to make this place flexible, adaptable, a multidimensional space,” Minakawa explains. It’s one of the only spots in town for kids to go to; Minakawa notices that when they get dropped off the bus coming from Red Bluff, they end up at Sweetshoots.
“Offering essentials every town should have,” Minakawa says, he also wants to build a sculpture garden, make Sweetshoots a music/performing arts venue where the functioning bamboo permanently grows.
“We have a lot of builders here, and we’re trying to figure out how to harness that talent to make a world-class establishment; create a memorable place that people want to drive to,” he says.
Since nothing had really been done to the building since it was built in 1902 by German carpenters Theo and Frank Paselk, Minakawa had to completely renovate the space. He kept the original footprint of the place, including the ceiling, back wall and subfloor, but had to rip out and redo the plumbing, electrical, HVAC and everything else. Wires crossed over each other in the ceiling, and Minakawa said the original wood was “crispy.” Revitalizing the space with sturdier materials not only made it more welcoming, but has also made it more fire resistant. “I was motivated to see this place reopen. It took 120 years, but it can now we’re here,” Minakawa says. •
Sweetshoots • 31280 Manton Road, Manton
(530) 768-8740
www.sweetshootscafe.com
