Manny largo

Chef, farmer, fermentation obsessive. Growing Fazenda in the Azores with my wife.

19/10/2026

This page is meant to be about Fazenda, experiments, travel. For the time being, while I’m inspired, I’ll include my substack stories on here. Hope you enjoy.

Let’s get a coffee, relax, we don’t have to rush.

Exiting the coffee shop, emotions hit me. Stemming from my right ear, a Korean woman playing on the public piano. Idk what it was. But it brought me back to childhood. And my father, who would spontaneously say let’s run. The fat child I was he would win of course. But he would always think of something to do that would make me feel good. A weird thing he would do is hug trees tightly. Until the wood scratches his skin. Or bathe in the lake. I never realized it but a hippie I guess. Anyway, that idea of spontaneity I guess has stuck with me. And with Margo, I sense there’s moments where we’re rushing to see everything. And luckily I catch those moments in time and put us at a halt, sit down and order a fig leaf latte.

Thanks dad.

18/10/2026

8am. Yuzuru Kajiya and I were discussing import/export contracts between Japan and the US. And why farmers in Japan buy hay from the US because of the limited land Japan has.

And this thought just woke me up at 1:52 am to write this.

Margo and I planned a visit to Kajiya Farm, a 20 year old farm specializing in garnishes, greens, and vegetables.

During our time here, we discovered how many people we have crossed paths with. One connection in particular was through my time at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Chefs and farmers from Blue Hill spent time at his farm, sharing techniques and ideas. Kajiya also grows Blue Hill’s infamous habanada peppers, produced by Dan Barber’s seed company, Row 7, which he co-founded.

And during our stay with Yuzuru we cooked dinner together. Some Wagyu, peppers, and baguette over the coals.

Of course, being a chef, he asked me to cook the Wagyu. As intimidating as it felt, it was second nature to me. So second nature, I asked him to bring me some miso, butter and vinegar.

He races back from his home with miso made by his mother. A family tradition just how my mother makes her own aji, Ecuadorian hot sauce. I browned the butter until fragrant nutty, and whisked it into the miso. Added his persimmon vinegar for acidity and shared it with our meal.

With momentum, I asked him if he ferments his peppers and he exclaimes he’s been wanting to make hot sauce but never had the time to experiment. So I showed him the technique of fermenting the peppers, just how I learned through Blue Hill.

It impresses me how important trade is, in large scale and small. Not just between countries, but between individuals. Sharing goods, ideas, creativity, and inspiration.

Thank you, Yuzuru Kajiya, for inviting us to your home. And we hope to have you someday in our home in the middle of the Atlantic.
Good night.

15/10/2026

ROO’S HALLOWEEN FARM! 🐓

Innocent until proven guilty. 😈

Are you ready? Can you survive?

It’s only a click away…

🔗 Link in bio 🎃

14/10/2026

Osaka has been so good to us. Current events.

08/10/2026

Manny: Where is……..
Margo: MR DONUT!!

We’re on our way to a sumo exhibition in Sayama, just northwest of Tokyo. An event I’ve looked forward to for months.

Exiting Sayama station, I ask Margo “where is…” and she reacts “MR DONUT!!”

A donut shop known for their tapioca-like texture and trademark toppings. It’s an obsession.

The moment she said that we turned and found one right behind us.

Of course, we ordered more than two. And indulged at 8 in the morning. But, when in Japan?

…I’ve been enjoying writing a lot lately, and Substack has become the place where I keep these little moments from our lives.

If you enjoy the writing, the full story is over there. Link in my bio.

Thanks for reading.

05/10/2026

Fazenda is taking a new direction.

This has been a spectacular year for us. We’ve made so many new relationships and started building something bigger than Margo and I could have imagined since we began in 2022.

We have a ton of ideas we want to share with you, including new ways of bringing Fazenda into your home. In time, we’ll share more.

We’re still a little farm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but we’re excited to grow in new ways. Through stories, new endeavors, and creative ways of growing and cooking that carry the spirit of Fazenda with you.

For now, we’re heading into a little hiatus to travel, and come back with inspiration to share.

Until then, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you’ve sat at our table, taken home a plant, followed along from afar, or simply found an idea here that stayed with you. We’d love to know what Fazenda has meant to you.

Manny & Margo

27/09/2026

Radishes.

A spicy vegetable. Also a funky one, if mishandled.

I’ve had trouble preserving them for long periods because, after a while, they can develop that sulfur flavor.

So this time I burned them on the grill, put them into a 2% ferment with Aleppo, coriander and peppercorns, then five days later moved them into a sweet, vinegary pickle.

A year later, they’re still in my fridge.

Surprisingly, they’ve developed almost chocolatey notes. Sweet, a little savory, still bright.

I tested panna cottas with homemade buttermilk, yogurt and raw milk. In the end, I liked the clean taste of the milk best.

Preserved radish. Radish top oil. Fresh radish batons. Clementine.

A first course that started with trying not to waste a radish.

I wrote a little more about this on Substack. Link in bio.

27/08/2026

CLIMBING MOUNT PICO

7,700+ feet above sea level. Grueling 10 hour hike. Proud of us all for accomplishing such a feat. Many doubts along the way, but we did it all. As a team. 1 step at a time. One pep talk at a time.

24/08/2026

TEXTURES.

Lately I’ve been thinking twice before I discard anything. What can I do with it? So I decided to dehydrate the gazpacho pulp.

An intense, savory flavor. A great way to reinforce the dish. But why stop there? Turns out it’s also great on delicate fruits. Surprisingly, it brings out their sweetness and makes the mouth water. Next, an idea to make a butter with it. Because why not.

24/05/2026

Nibbles.

The first opening bites here.

A carrot cornet filled with orange preserves and fromage blanc. The carrots were lacto fermented last year, and the cone itself was made using dehydrated carrots from the same harvest.

Alongside it, a day-harvested Tokyo turnip with olive caramel and labneh. Fresh, sweet, buttery.

I wanted to show a contrast between old and new. Preservation and immediacy. One bite shaped by time, the other by the morning harvest.

We’ve also started making more of our own dairy here. Yogurts, cheeses, cultured creams. Not because we’re trying to be clever, but because I want to work closer to what the Azores is truly known for: incredible fresh milk.

Endereço

Horta
9900-020

Website

http://fazendagranja.com/, https://open.substack.com/pub/mannylargo, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/roos-halloween-farm/i

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