Seasonal
LOCAL
DELICIOUS
Private Chef for the Bay Area Palette
SHARING IN THE BOUNTY
Made in California: Home to those who wander and those who dream, to those who build and to those who just stop for a minute to have a look-around, California is home to many a dreamer. I’m one such transplant. Like many before me, I left New England and landed in California, a place where its so easy to find love and joy. One reason I fell in love with this place is California’s Mediterranean-inspired, hyper-seasonal bounty - and we get to enjoy it year round. The rustic cooking style pioneered by the likes of Alice Waters and Judy Rogers is an inspiration and a starting-point for the conversation I try and initiate with my cooking.
CRAFTED IN THE KITCHEN
I love to forage. Whether its in a damp forest after a gentle winter rain or at a mid-summer farmers’ market, its a true satisfaction to find and share the freshest and the best. I’ve been working the pots and pans in local kitchens since the Clinton administration and coaxing maximum flavor remains a constant joy.
FRESH INGREDIENTS
We Bay Area people know we are blessed. Just look around. One such blessing is we have and appreciate the finest produce and products. I build menus that use seasonally-driven ingredients to highlight what the bay has to offer. Think asparagus and favas in the spring, tomatoes in the summer, squash in the fall, dungeness crab in the winter.
A SENSE OF PLACE
A sense of place goes beyond local ingredients and seasonality. I love California and its melting pot of cultures and culinary traditions and the food traditions here are an inspiration. A grape or a coffee bean tells the story of where it was grown, and really so does everything that comes out of California soil. This is a story I wish to share with you.
Chef David
inspiration move me brightly
I’m a New England boy, raised by lobster and chowder people. But I got to ramblin’ and came west looking for inspiration, and I found it in the kitchens of Bay Area culinary royalty. One magical day, I humbly presented myself to revered chef Michael Wild of Oakland’s Baywolf and somehow charmed him into giving me a chance. Two and a half years later, I had the confidence and the chops to move on and up to other kitchens like Rivoli, Alma, and Bacar and made my way from line chef to sous chef to, today, a private chef.
In 2004, I had the good fortune to spend two years in Costa Rica where I led the kitchen at a friend’s new place, one that would become a legend, El Patio. In this executive role I spent two years designing menus, sourcing ingredients, hiring and teaching staff, and running the back of the house team. Creating nuevo latino dishes at El Patio for locals and tourists alike is perhaps my proudest accomplishment and I marvel that now, more than 20 years later, El Patio is still bustling.
From lobster pots in New England to haute cuisine for the most discerning palettes, from private parties in Pac Heights to delectable and intimate affairs exquisitely delivered on a San Francisco back porch in July, I’m proud to source and share the bounty with you, your family, your friends, your colleagues and with anyone you want to impress.
