Slow Food Nation '08

Marketplace

Market Curators: Kristen Schroer and Temra Costa, CAFF; & Ron Pardini, Urban Village

• Kristen has over six years of work experience in food and agriculture, ranging from hostessing at a French restaurant in West Hollywood to working with a farm-to-school program in rural Esparto, CA. A UC Davis graduate, Kristen joined CAFF in 2006 and was responsible for the coordination and production of a 48-page first edition local food guide to the Greater Bay Area, and a 32-page third edition local food guide to the Central Coast. She is currently working with regional collaborators to develop a first edition local food guide to the South Central Coast.
• Temra holds a Bachelor of Science in International Agriculture from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and possesses diverse family farm organizing experience dating back to 1996 when the USDA was threatening the integrity of organic standards. Temra joined CAFF in 2003 to coordinate the two programs of Farm to School and Buy Fresh, Buy Local in the Sacramento Valley. In 2006 she opened CAFF’s Oakland office to expand Buy Fresh, Buy Local to the nine-county Bay Area region. She is currently working on a book titled: Women, Dirt and Food: Stories from America’s Fields, Kitchens and Classrooms.
• Ron Pardini is the Executive Director of Urban Village Farmers’ Market Association begun in 1997. Located throughout the Bay Area, Urban Village Farmers’ Markets offer a rich shopping experience where consumers can find the finest tree-ripened, vine-ripened, just-picked, sumptuous produce, fresh ranch eggs, artful baked goods, fresh cut flowers, fresh locally caught fish, unique prepared foods, and local handcrafts.

Slow on the Go Curators: Sylvan Brackett, Chez Panisse; & Larry Bain, Let’s Be Frank and Nextcourse

• Sylvan Brackett worked in the Office of Alice Waters for five years before becoming Chez Panisse’s first Creative Director, managing special events, graphic design and press. He is co-author of The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco and the founder and owner of Peko Peko catering.
• Larry Bain’s career has been dedicated to proving that businesses can “do well by doing good.” A 25-year veteran of the restaurant world, Bain started three ventures with Traci Des Jardins: Jardinière, Acme Chophouse and Mijita Taqueria. He is a founder of Nextcourse, which aims to improve awareness of healthy food, particularly within underserved communities. In 2005, he founded Let’s Be Frank hot dogs with his partner Sue Moore. He is also working with the City of San Francisco and the National Parks to refine their food sourcing and offerings.

Soap Box Curators: Benjamin Fahrer, Permaculture Alliance of California; and Katrina Heron

• Benjamin Fahrer is a Permaculture designer, educator, activist and farmer. For the last ten years, he has been working with a diversity of frontline organizations and non-profits throughout Northern California to teach and promote ecological design and responsible land stewardship. He sits on the Advisory Board of The Urban Permaculture Guild and is a registered teacher in Permaculture Design from the Permaculture Research Institute in Australia. Currently he is a Land Steward, on the coastal bluffs of Big Sur in Central California and is working with communities on creating regenerative solutions for local food security.
• Katrina Heron is a writer and editor and a director of Slow Food Nation and the Chez Panisse Foundation. She has served as editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, a senior editor of The New Yorker and Vanity Fair magazines, and an editor of The New York Times Magazine.

Water Stations Curator: Noelle Ferdon, Food and Water Watch

• Noelle organizes California campaigns to raise consumer and legislative awareness about issues such as the impacts of factory farms on the environment and our food supply, and the decline in abattoirs servicing family-scale producers. She is currently working on a restaurant campaign with the City of San Francisco to promote the use of tap water over bottled water. Before joining Food & Water Watch, Noelle worked as a social justice advocate in Northern California. She is also actively involved in the Slow Food movement and co-founded the local convivium in her hometown.

Victory Garden

Victory Garden Curator: Amy Francheschini, Victory Gardens 2008+ & Futurefarmers

• Amy is an artist and educator. She founded Future Farmers in 1995, as a means to bring together multidisciplinary practitioners to create new work. In 2002, she founded Free-Soil. Her solo and collaborative work have been included in exhibitions internationally including ZKM, Whitney Museum, NYMOMA and SFMOMA. She is the recipient of the Artadia Award, Cultural Innovation, Eureka Fellowship and SFMOMA SECA. BFA, San Francisco State University; MFA, Stanford University. She is currently teaching graduate seminars in the MFA program at CCA and is a full time professor in the Art and Architecture Department at USF.www.futurefarmers.com

Come to the Table

Come to the Table Curator: Michelle Meany, Management Team, Ferry Building Marketplace

• Michele Meany has been involved in various food projects affiliated with non-profit organizations for over a decade. She chaired the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala for three years, working with chefs, including Thomas Keller, Traci des Jardins and Tom Colicchio, and nationally recognized food writers. In 2000, Michele joined the development team of Wilson Meany Sullivan (WMS) on the historic Ferry Building as the tenant coordinator for the Marketplace, securing artisan producers and chefs who represent the Bay Area’s thriving sustainable food community. Currently, she is working with WMS on the redevelopment of Treasure Island as a sustainable urban community.

Eat-In

Eat-In Curator: Jim Denevan, Outstanding in the Field

• Set between the soil and the sky, Outstanding in the Field’s long, linen-draped table beckons adventurous diners to celebrate food at the source, bringing together local farmers and food artisans, chefs and winemakers to explore the connection between the earth and the food on your plate. Since its founding in 1999 by chef and artist Jim Denevan, Outstanding in the Field has hosted over 100 dinners in farmlands from Anchorage, Alaska to Nantucket, Massachusetts.www.outstandinginthefield.com.

Food Declaration

Food Declaration Curator: Michael Dimock, Roots of Change

• Michael Dimock is President of Roots of Change (ROC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Its purpose is to spawn a sustainable food system in California by the year 2030. Michael has focused on agriculture and the food system since 1989 and has worked on both ends of the spectrum, as a marketing executive in Europe for Riverbend International, a global agribusiness company, and as an organic farmer in Sonoma County. Since the early 1990s, he has been helping communities, NGOs, and businesses to build consensus and implement plans related to agricultural policy and marketing, resource stewardship, and sustainability. From 2002 to 2006, Michael served as the first Chairman of Slow Food USA. In addition to US activities, Michael served on the President’s Committee of Slow Food International from 2003 to 2007 where he worked with five other international leaders and Carlo Petrini, Slow Food’s founder, to set the movement’s international strategy.

Taste Workshops

Taste Workshop Curator: Laura Martinez, The Artisan Palate

Laura Martinez is the owner of The Artisan Palate, a company that supports the flourishing artisan food industry through tasting events, copy writing, freelance food writing, and celebrations of real food. Her food training comes from a deep appreciation of the aromas and flavors produced by seasonal, local, and regional foods, ongoing research for food-related stories and articles, several practical yet enjoyable years behind The Pasta Shop’s cheese counter, ongoing coordination of sensory and taste evaluations for the California Olive Oil Council, volunteer work with CUESA at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza, service as a founding board member of the California Artisan Cheese Guild, and a lifetime of happily cooking for a large and appreciative family.

www.theartisanpalate.com

Taste Pavilions

• Beer Curator: Dave McLean, Magnolia Pub & Brewery and Alembic Bar

  David McLean is the Brewmaster and Owner of Magnolia Pub & Brewery and Alembic Bar, both on Haight Street in the heart of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Magnolia is a small-batch, artisan brewery and pub: the beers are handcrafted using carefully sourced ingredients. Alembic opened in late 2006 and has quickly become one of the country’s premier cocktail bars, helping to restore the craft and art of cocktail creation. He has worked with Slow Food San Francisco in presenting two artisan beer and food festivals and continues to work to integrate more Slow Food values into his establishments.

  www.magnoliapub.com

• Bread Curator: Steve Sullivan, Acme Bread

  Steve Sullivan, founder and owner of Acme Bread, became interested in baking 25 years ago while bussing tables at Chez Panisse. Inspired by Elizabeth David’s cookbook “English Bread and Yeast Cookery,” he began baking in the Chez Panisse kitchen at Alice Waters’ request. In 1983, he and his wife, Suzie, opened their first-now legendary-bakery. Today, three shifts of bakers work around the clock, seven days a week at the Berkeley bakery in order to meet customer demand for Acme’s nationally acclaimed artisanal breads.

  www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/acme_bread_company.php

• Charcuterie Curator: Marissa Guggiana, Sonoma Direct

  Marissa Guggiana started Sonoma Direct in 2005 with a mission based on her great-grandfather’s hundred years of accumulated wisdom: take chances, act with integrity and learn to make sausage! As she says, “it’s a new company with an old soul” and a mission to spread access to fresh, grass-fed, family farmed and sustainably raised meats, as well as organizing the Sonoma County Meat Buying Club. Guggiana is also a co-leader of Slow Food Russian River convivium and a founder of the Secret Eating Society, a group that hosts underground events and publishes a quarterly journal of food and culture.

  www.sonomadirect.com

• Cheese Curators: Peggy Smith & Sue Conley, Cowgirl Creamery and Lynne Devereux, Butter Communications

  Peggy Smith became involved in the food industry during her college years at the University of Tennessee. Smith worked for several restaurants before joining the kitchen of Chez Panisse in 1979, where she worked for 17 years. In 1997, Peggy joined Sue Conley to create Tomales Bay Foods in downtown Point Reyes Station in western Marin County. The Tomales location included Cowgirl Creamery, a cheese-making facility utilizing Straus Creamery organic milk. In 1999, they opened Artisan Cheese, which was replaced seven years later with their wildly popular Ferry Plaza store.

  Sue Conley studied for a year at the City College Hotel and Restaurant Management School, worked at The Hotel Obrero and at the 4th Street Grill in Berkeley and then co-opened Bette’s Oceanview Diner. After moving to Point Reyes Station, she made the acquaintance of Ellen Straus, matriarch of the Straus Family Creamery, her husband Bill, and their son Albert, who had ushered in the dairy’s move to organic status. Inspired by the Strauses and the beginnings of this brand-new organic dairy industry, Sue decided to sell her shares in Bette’s Diner and open a business in Point Reyes: Cowgirl Creamery.

  Lynne Devereux, President of the California Artisan Cheese Guild and Principal at Butter Communications, is also participating in curating the Cheese Pavilion.

  www.cowgirlcreamery.com and www.buttercommunications.com

• Chocolate Curators: David Salowich & Seneca Klassen, Bittersweet Café

  After working as an actor for many years, David Salowich’s lifelong culinary curiosity got the better of him, and he began cooking and baking professionally. After working in Chicago, and Seattle, Salowich finally settled in San Francisco. His first foray into chocolate was with the Scharffen Berger company, where he opened and managed their store at the Ferry Plaza Marketplace. He is now the chocolate buyer and merchandise manager at Bittersweet Café.

  Seneca Klassen is the founder and co-owner of Bittersweet Café. He manages product development for all of Bittersweet’s drinking chocolates and the Bittersweet Origins line of premium handcrafted chocolates. Klassen also runs Bittersweet’s community outreach and training programs, including guided tastings and public presentations on the natural and cultural history of cacao and chocolate. As a lifelong enthusiast, he brings Bittersweet’s chocolate and cacao passion to staff, customers and broader community.

  www.bittersweetcafe.com

• Coffee Curators: Andrew Barnett, Ecco Caffè, Tony Konecny, tonx.org and Eileen Hassi, Ritual Roasters

  Andrew Barnett got his start in the coffee industry in the 1970s at San Francisco’s Higher Grounds Café. In 1999, he founded Ecco Caffè, a premium roasting operation, which seeks to secure, purchase, roast and serve the world’s finest coffees. Ecco strongly supports the sustainable efforts of farmers and organic farming techniques. Barnett travels to build personal relationships with top growers around the world. He also serves as a sensory judge for the Cup of Excellence Coffee program and the World Barista Championship. Eileen Hassi of Ritual Coffee and coffee consultant Tonx Konecky have also participated in curating the coffee pavilion.

  Tony Konecny began his descent into coffee madness as a barista and roaster at Seattle’s seminal Victrola Coffee and later went on to bend the coffeebar genre as part of Intelligentsia Coffee’s Los Angeles project. He maintains the strangely popular yet infrequently updated coffee blog tonx.org, consults for and advises coffee roasters and retailers, and likes long walks on the beach. Later this fall he will return to the Northwest to further pursue his coffee ambitions and continue the never ending hunt for edible wild mushrooms.

  Eileen Hassi is the founder and owner of Ritual Coffee Roasters, a quality-obsessed coffee company based in San Francisco. Ritual seeks out small farmers growing exceptional coffees and applies a seasonal approach to coffee. In addition to traveling to meet with coffee farmers, judging coffee competitions, and telling other people how to run their cafes, Eileen can be found behind the bar pulling shots at any of her three coffeebars.

  www.eccocaffe.com, tonx.org and www.ritualroasters.com

• Fish Curator: Tom Worthington, Monterey Fish Market

  Tom Worthington is the partner with Paul Johnson of the Monterey Fish Market, which for 30 years has been the purveyor of fresh fish and seafood to the Bay Area’s top restaurants. Both have become highly sought-after experts on issues related to the seafood industry, with a focus on environmentally responsible and sustainable practices. Their network of friends and advisors include representatives from the National Marine Fisheries, National Fisheries Institute and Fisherman’s Associations, environmental activists, educational and health experts and chefs.

  www.montereyfish.com

• Honey Curator: Priscilla Coe, Beekeper

  Priscilla Coe works in food public relations in San Francisco and is a hobbyist beekeeper in Sonoma. A longtime student of many aspects of holistic healing, including apitherapy, the therapeutic use of the honeybee products for healing, she has attended a number of American and international apitherapy conferences, and is a regular contributor to the Journal of the American Apitherapy Society. She is also an advocate of biodynamic farming and gardening. Katia Vincent, co-owner of Beekind Honey Shop and founder of the Bee Symposium, and Tim Muhrlin, bee education expert, are helping to curate this area.

• Preserves Curator: Casey Havre, Loulou’s Garden

  Casey Havre is a fourth-generation Californian who preserves the recipes and traditions of her Gold Rush ancestors. She made her first pickle with Mrs. Volgaletti the same year that she helped to create Calaveras county’s first winery. After years of gleaning, canning and sharing the bounty of each season with her friends and family, she created Loulou’s Garden: a small company dedicated to producing entirely hand-made jams, preserves and pickles. She splits her time between an organic farm in the San Joaquin Valley and her family’s house in Calaveritas, a legendary ghost town.

  www.loulousgarden.com/StoreFront.bok

• Ice Cream Curator: Sean Boyle, SF Gelato

  After an early career in technology, Sean Boyle became interested in ice cream production and began a small, made-to-order ice cream company called SF Gelato. He sells his all-organic, seasonal ice cream at farmers’ markets and special events from an old-fashioned Italian ice cream cart. He began selling to local restaurants Incanto, Maverick and Front Porch in 2008. In his free time, he also manages the Dolores Park Movie Nights, screening films for free in the park each month.

  www.sanfranciscogelato.com

• Native Foods Curators: Bernadette Zambrano, Urban Gardener and Researcher; Lois Ellen Frank, Native Foods Chef of Red Mesa Cuisine

  Bernadette Zambrano is an urban gardener, seed collector and saver, and researcher. She believes that everyone needs to know how to grow their own food and medicine. Zambrano worked at the native plant nursery in the Presidio of San Francisco, and she presently gardens at various sites throughout the Bay Area. She also conducts research for a documentary on the indigenous perspective of corn/maize. She is a co-founder of the Terra Madre Fund for Indigenous Women and has served as a board member of the American Indian Contemporary Arts in San Francisco.

  Lois Ellen Frank is a Santa Fe, New Mexico based chef, author, Native foods historian and photographer. She is an anthropologist with particular expertise in Native American Cuisine. Her diverse academic and working career mean that Lois is a widely published expert in her field. Most recently, Lois has started a Native American Cuisine Company named Red Mesa. Red Mesa cooks for private events, parties, corporate meeting and gallery openings and Native events and organizations all over the United States.

  Sous chefs of the Native Food Pavilion
  Walter Whitewater is a professional chef from Pinon, Arizona and is from the Diné (Navajo) Nation with extensive experience in food from the Southwest.

  Sandy Garcia

  www.nativeland.org

• Olive Oil Curator: Peggy Knickerbocker, Author

  Peggy Kinckerbocker is a free-lance food and travel writer and author living in San Francisco. She is a longtime contributing editor to Saveur and Gourmet. She has written for Food and Wine, House and Garden, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. Peggy serves on the Board of the Chez Panisse Foundation and is Vice President of the Board of CUESA and of the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market.

  www.peggyknickerbocker.com

• Pickles & Chutney Curator: Michelle Fuerst, Homemade

  Michelle Feurst has cultivated her indelible passion for rustic, seasonal food working in restaurants such as Zuni Café and Chez Panisse. Her time in the kitchen has taught her a deep respect for ingredients and farmers, the integrity of a simple meal, and the importance of diligently tasting food from beginning to end. Currently, she has delved into the craft and science of making pickles and fermented foods. You can find her teaching cooking classes both privately in homes and at large.

• Spirits Curator: Greg Lindgren of Rye, Rosewood Bar and 15 Romolo & Allen Katz of Souther Wine and Spirits

  Greg Lindgren is the co-owner of Rye bar in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. He and his partner Jon Gasparini have been creating and operating bars for ten years. A member of the United States Bartenders Guild, Lindgren promotes the use of fresh fruits and herbs and small batch spirits, and is an active proponent of the principles of Slow Food.

  Allen Katz is the Director of Mixology & Spirits Education for Southern Wine & Spirits of New York. He is also the host of The Cocktail Hour, a weekly program on Martha Stewart’s Sirius Satellite Radio. In addition to presenting food and beverage seminars for public and private groups, Allen has worked both as a business consultant and in cocktail development for some of the most recognized brands in the beverage industry. Allen also devotes time to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Slow Food U.S.A.

  www.rosewoodbar.com

• Tea Curator: Alice Cravens, Modern Tea

  Alice Cravens shares delicious tea and food with restaurants such as Chez Panisse, Zuni Café, Delfina and others and in 2006 opened Modern Tea, a restaurant and retail shop in Hayes Valley. Since then, a neighborhood following has blossomed and has led to additional involvement with the community as Modern Cooks, an after school garden to table cooking program for local youth. Both subtle and strong, this all proves to Alice once again that tea is a great connector.

  www.moderntea.com

• Wine Curator: Renato Sardo, Organizer of Slow Food San Francisco’s “Golden Glass” and former Director of Slow Food International

  Renato Sardo was the founding Director of the Slow Food International Office, incubating the movement outside of Italy. Since leaving Italy to live in California three years ago, Sardo has worked as a consultant for the new Jack London Market in Oakland and has designed taste workshops for the Real Food Festival in England. For the past two years, he has organized Golden Glass, the annual fundraiser for Slow Food San Francisco that attracts over 2,000 people.

  www.thegoldenglass.com