Josh Even, Tosca Cafe, featuring Lonely Mountain Farm
Saturday, July 23, 2016, 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 at the farmers market, featuring Lonely Mountain Farm.
Josh Even was introduced to the restaurant industry after college, working as a bartender at San Francisco karaoke restaurant Kansai. He returned to his native New York, but after working at the legendary Odeon and French bistro Le Gigot (where he made the transition from server to cook), he enrolled at the French Culinary Institute. He subsequently accepted a line cook position at Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield’s West Village gastropub The Spotted Pig, and was later appointed chef de cuisine of The John Dory shortly after it opened. Now Executive Chef of Tosca Cafe, Even collaborates with Bloomfield to create a menu that features classic yet modern Italian, minus the red-sauce kitsch, having made the bold move to serve food at one of San Francisco’s most iconic bars.
First-generation farmer Kenny Baker of Lonely Mountain Farm found his calling in agriculture working at local farms in Santa Cruz County. In 2009, at age 25, he leased six acres in the foothills of Corralitos to start his own organic farm. Currently, the farm is operating on 10 acres of family-owned land. The intensively farmed parcel is very dynamic, with dairy goats, laying chickens, honeybees, orchards, and beautiful produce all finding their place. Kenny, Molly and their small farm family have found their niche growing unusual vegetable and herb varieties, heirloom beans, and cut flowers and selling directly through farmers markets and to chefs. They say, “Our philosophy is embedded in organic principles and strongly influenced by systems thinking, natural resource conservation, and diversity.”
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.