The Farmplate Blog

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Manresa Restaurant’s David Kinch now calls the California coast home. Kinch, who was GQ’s Chef of the Year in 2011, is fanatical about the ingredients he uses in his cooking.  

That’s why the award-winning chef struck such a unique relationship with a champion produce grower near his Los Gatos restaurant. Cynthia Sandberg and her Love Apple Farms have worked almost exclusively with Kinch and Manresa for about six years now. Sandberg owns the farm, but she and Chef Kinch work together closely to raise the best possible ingredients for Kinch’s signature style of cuisine (Kinch, a James Beard Award finalist, has serious cooking chops, having bested Bobby Flay in Iron Chef America in 2009).

About two years, ago, Sandberg traded her two-acre plot of land for a 22-acre farm and now grows about 300 diverse species, as well as a number of experimental crops. Sandberg has even started animal production with goats and chickens, and this year, she’ll raise pigs. The farm already produces its own cheese, eggs, yogurt and butter.

Despite his close relationship with Love Apple Farms, Kinch still eschews the farm-to-table classification. “We never refer to ourselves as a farm-to-table restaurant,” says Kinch. “Our mission is to find the best possible ingredients we can possibly find and then cook them the best that we can. We’re just micromanaging our supply source,” he says of his relationship with Love Apple Farms.  

Using fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients is “just good common sense and the foundation of good quality cooking,” says Kinch. Still, as he reveals about his unique setup, being so fanatical about ingredients isn’t for everyone. “I don’t recommend to anyone to do what I do. It’s an expensive proposition,” says Kinch.

We asked Kinch who else does a great job using the best ingredients. Here’s his “short list” (click on the links to learn more about these great restaurants and producers):

Flour and Water Restaurant • San Francisco, CA 
Commis Restaurant • Oakland, CA 
Garden Variety Cheese • Royal Oaks, CA  
Dirty Girl Produce (strawberries) • Santa Cruz, CA 
Chez Pim (jams) • San Francisco, CA

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Images courtesy of Manresa Restaurant

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Jeff Gangemi is FarmPlate's Director of Partnerships and Communications. A lover of both local and far-flung foods like soup dumplings and carnitas tacos, Jeff believes in the power of food, writing and entrepreneurship to effect social change.