Arun Gupta, DOSA, featuring McGinnis Ranch
Saturday, June 2, 2018, 10:30 am - 11:15 am
Stop by the CUESA Classroom for a cooking demo featuring the seasonal bounty of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. This demo will highlight a farmer-chef relationship forged and sustained at the farmers market, featuring McGinnis Ranch.
Arun Gupta, a New York City native, fell in love with cooking while studying abroad in France. After a semester of long dinners with his French host family, Arun got the bug and started cooking for himself and his friends any chance he could get. Small weekday dinners grew into large barbecues and multi-course tasting menus in his parents’ apartment and before he knew it, there was no going back.
Despite this love of cooking, Arun’s path to the professional kitchen was unconventional at best. Arun enjoyed a brief career teaching chess at a Montessori school in lower Manhattan. While seeking advice on whether to go to culinary school, Arun was pointed in the direction of Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern. After only a trail and a brief interview, Arun was surprised when Mike asked him if he wanted a job. He quickly accepted, eschewing culinary school for the chance to learn from the bottom up at one of New York’s most famous and well respected restaurants. Over the course of close to five years at Gramercy Tavern, Arun expanded his knowledge and appreciation of fresh local ingredients from many trips to the Union Square Farmers Market.
In 2012 Arun left Gramercy Tavern to become the opening Chef de Cuisine of Maysville, a two-star restaurant in Manhattan. Over the course of his time there, Arun was able to focus on teaching and training young cooks and create a menu sourced almost exclusively from local farms. He developed strong connections with farmers and further developed his skill for working with and sourcing local and sustainable produce.
After close to ten years working in restaurants in New York, Arun was ready for a change. Fate led him to California, Anjan and Emily Mitra, and the DOSA team. He likes to inform his menu planning and pantry by asking himself: “If traditional Indian dishes had originated in Northern California, what ingredients would we be using?”
Howard McGinnis started McGinnis Ranch in 1968. He is mentoring his daughter, Sandi, and his granddaughter, Sara, to pass on the many hard-learned lessons of the trade. Sandi and Sara wish to continue farming, keeping all the long-time employees. They are in their third year of transitioning to organic. All products are directly marketed through farmers markets.
All demos take place in the CUESA Classroom (under the white tents in front of the Ferry Building) and are free to the public, with recipes and samples for all.