Coastal California Chefs Supporting Farms
(Pictured at left, our appetizer tonight at Gabriella Café: heirloom tomato salad with cucumbers and mozarella.)
A request from Sam over at Becks & Posh got me to thinking. She asked food bloggers which local restaurants support local farms. So I have started asking the farmers who buys from them.
Joe would also like you to know that you can get a 20-pound box of his dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes for only $40 (so you can make those slow-roasted tomatoes I wrote about). E-mail him if you want details, or so you can find him at a farmers market.
See the list with links, below.
Also, check out Amy Sherman's most excellent blog, specifically this entry, which names the top ten list of vegetables and fruits most likely to contain poisonous residue from pesticides. Amy writes: "Research suggests that by substituting organic versions of these items, you can reduce up to 90% pesticide residue from your diet."
The list:
* Apples
* Bell Peppers
* Celery
* Cherries
* Grapes (imported)
* Nectarines
* Peaches
* Pears
* Potatoes
* Red Raspberries
* Spinach
* Strawberries
This is going to turn into an ongoing project for me, but let's get this thing going.
UPDATE: October, 2005
This is a list of restaurants that buy directly from some farmers I know.
FARMS & GROWERS
Dirty Girl Produce
Mariquita Farm
Two Small Farms
Everett Family Farm
Rancho Gordo
Sunshine Organic (aka VB Farms)
SAN FRANCISCO
A-16
Acme Chophouse
Americano
(in the newly-opened Hotel Vitale at the Embarcadero) Aziza
Bix
Blue Plate
**Boulette's Larder
(Ferry Plaza building)
Boulevard
Delfina
Desiree Cafe
Fifth Floor
Foreign Cinema
Frog Hollow Bakery (Ferry Plaza building)
Globe (no website) Greens
Hawthorne Lane
Hayes Street Grill
**Incanto
Jack Falstaff
Jardinière
**Kokkari
Le Petit Robert
Levende Lounge
Liberty Cafe
(no website)
Market Bar
Mijita
**Millennium
**Quince
Range
Rose Pistola
(no website)
**Slanted Door
Slow Club
Town's End (no website)
Waterfront
**Zuni
(no website)
Zuppa
OAKLAND, BERKELEY, EAST BAY **Chez Panisse
Dopo
Eccolo
Oliveto
SANTA CRUZ
Engfer Pizza Works
Gabriella Cafe
(Santa Cruz)
Oswald (downtown Santa Cruz: no website)
Pearl Alley Bistro
(Santa Cruz)
Ristorante Avanti
(Mission Street, west side of Santa Cruz: no official website)
River Cafe (River Street, just off Highway One)
Seabreeze Cafe
Sestri
(Santa Cruz)
Soif Wine Bar
(Santa Cruz)
Theo's Restaurant (Soquel)
SILICON VALLEY/LOS GATOS
Manresa (Los Gatos)
SOUTH BAY/PENINSULA
Piatti Santa Clara
MARIN
Marin Sun Farms Butcher Shop & Restaurant
in Point Reyes Station
Pizzeria Picco
in Larkspur
NAPA AND SONOMA
French Laundry
Pilar
MONTEREY, CARMEL
Stokes Restaurant
Isn't Seabreeze Cafe in Santa Cruz today?
These all sound like very yummy restaurants, I wish more of them were in town! I can speak for Engfer Pizza Works & Gabriella Cafe both being extremely delicious. As for the rest I'm sure with all the local produce they can't go wrong. I've been wanting to try Soif for awhile, nice to know they buy local. Yum!
Posted by: Pink Sun Drops | 15 August 2005 at 09:03 PM
There are two: I had to find out from Joe which one he meant. (One is in San Francisco.)
We ate dinner at Gabriella tonight, as a matter of fact. Rebecca is the only executive chef in a Santa Cruz county restaurant, I believe. An alumni of Chez Panisse, she used to farm, too!
Posted by: Tana | 15 August 2005 at 09:11 PM
Tana - ha ha - I should pass the buck to you like Jen passed it to me :) - compiling this list has grown to big for me. I just don't have the time right now.
Maybe we should make it an ongoing project, rather than one than needs to be done within the August time frame.
I was even thinking of setting up a spearate blog just to hold all the info,
thaks - this is really interesting info.
-sam
Posted by: Becks & Posh | 18 August 2005 at 12:24 PM
Does anyone know of a small farm/estate with a nice barn that is rentable for weddings & receptions in the Santa cruz area?
Posted by: Corrine | 25 April 2007 at 08:10 AM