Mike Jewell & Katie Dirnbauer is #MadeForKnoxville.

High quality, attention to detail, and genuine care for the local community–these three things have built the foundation for a sustainable sausage making company. Mike and Katie started Stolen Streetlights with the intention of expanding the culinary experiences of the East Tennessee region in a thoughtful way.

Stolen Streetlights sources their ingredients from a woman-owned farm and runs out of Real Good Kitchen, a woman-owned commercial kitchen; beyond that, Mike and Katie have set intentional standards to ensure that their money and their food goes back into the local community. They have a zero waste policy, which enables them to provide locally sourced food to individuals living in the neighborhood. They also use their business as a means to educate customers about the benefits of sustainably sourced food and provide an opportunity to try new flavors. 

“We make the most sustainable sausage in Knoxville.”

 In Their Own Words…

We make the most sustainable sausage in Knoxville. We source local, pasture raised pork from a woman-owned farm, that we process into sausage in a woman-owned, commercial kitchen. Almost every dollar we spend goes back into the local community. We do not throw anything away. At the end of the day we feed anyone in the area that is hungry and if we have “ugly” sausage (too short, casing broke or it’s the leftovers that won’t fit through the stuffer) we give it to the residents of Morningside Apartments behind Real Good Kitchen.

Covid 19. Ha! Everyone’s “big pivot”. We both found ourselves working in the restaurant industry again in 2021. Mike was the Chef de Cuisine and I was the Beverage Director of the same restaurant. We both realized we had a knack for high quality and attention to detail. But most importantly, we realized that we were passionate about educating customers in a really approachable way, which we want to expand this region’s culinary experience in a way that is inviting and encouraging for everyone.

Lessons learned: Patience. In literally every way possible.

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