Our menus are inspired by the bounty of Northern California and informed by the world class experience of our chef and culinary team. We utilize naturally raised meat, free range poultry, a global pantry, sustainable seafood and produce from our organic garden and local farms.
Each menu we create is seasonal and customized for the occasion. We take many factors into account when custom designing a menu including the purpose of the event, venue layout and kitchen facilities, who is attending, the expected weather and what ingredients will be in peak season. To view pictures of our food and events watch the slideshow on the homepage.
Our Philosophy
We believe great food is crafted when the best ingredients are skillfully prepared with passion.
Ingredients
We care about our clients and are proud to serve you the finest ingredients available anywhere. We spend a tremendous amount of time sourcing ingredients and working to prepare them in elegant, creative and innovative ways.
Produce
We’re passionate about our produce! So much so that we’ve invested in our own garden on the grounds of Kunde Estate Winery.
Much of our remaining produce is hand selected at Berkeley Bowl market, in the morning before they’re open to the general public, and we carefully inspect every case that’s delivered from farms and purveyors. Working directly with small, family owned farms connects us with people that take as much care in growing organic vegetables, herbs and fruit as we do in serving them.
Meat, Poultry and Dairy
We feature meat and poultry that is naturally and humanely raised and among the most flavorful on the market, whether it is pork, lamb, beef, chicken, quail or squab. We offer clients a choice of grassfed beef or Natural Angus beef. Much of our poultry, dairy and artisan cheeses come from nearby Sonoma County producers.
Seafood
We serve the freshest sustainably farmed fish and wild fish that is not in severe danger from overfishing. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a helpful seafood watch list of endangered and recommended fish.
Our Pantry
Our pantry is stocked with an assortment of the best condiments, oils, vinegars and dry goods from around the globe. On a given day one might find Indian poha rice flakes; Japanese white soy sauce; extra virgin olive oils from California, Italy, Spain, France and Morocco; fleur de sel from France and pink salt from the Himalayas; pomegranate molasses from the Middle East; Sparrow Lane vinegars from Napa and Szechwan peppercorns from China.
Bread and Coffee
Every element of the dining experience is important, which is why we serve fresh baked artisan breads from the best bakeries in the Bay Area, including Acme and Semifreddi’s.
We offer coffee from Equator Estate Grown Coffee, including their fabulous organic, free trade sumatra. Equator provides the house coffee for famed establishments such as the French Laundry restaurant.
Preparation
We staff our kitchen with chefs that have culinary degrees and have trained in the finest restaurants. Properly cooking a piece of fish or correctly seasoning a sauce can be the difference between mediocre and exquisite. Locating the freshest fish is an essential first step but a well trained chef also properly butchers the fish, keeps it iced at all times, selects the right pan for sautéing, dries the fish off before seasoning, seasons it properly, and so on.
Our repertoire of cooking techniques range from the most traditional, such as grilling over wood or using a mortar and pestle, to the contemporary, such as making silky smooth ice cream to order with liquid nitrogen.