Summer fruit and vegetable salad by David Kinch of Manresa. Photo: Justin Lewis
You can now learn to cook from Manresa chef/owner David Kinch, a world-renowned chef who has won Michelin stars and a James Beard award, and has been crowned champion on an episode of Iron Chef, among many other accomplishments. For more on the simultaneously down-to-earth and astoundingly talented Kinch, read my interview with the Santa Cruz resident. If you are a lover of fine food and you haven’t treated yourself to a meal at Manresa in Los Gatos, I highly recommend booking a reservation immediately.
Chef Kinch is joining his girlfriend, popular food blogger Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim, to teach a series of workshops at Love Apple Farm. Last October, when the 2011 Michelin Restaurant Guide for the Bay Area was published, Manresa kept its impressive two stars. Read more. Kinch also won a Best Chefs in America Award from the James Beard Foundation on May 3, 2010; read details.
The workshops are entitled Day-off Dinners and take place on select Sunday afternoons from noon-3pm. They are bound to be entertaining, informative, and absolutely worthwhile. Love Apple Farm’s web site promises that attendees will learn to cook “deceptively simple, delicious dishes, using techniques from two culinary masters made practical in the home kitchen.”
Each class includes a tour of Love Apple Farm and costs $125. Register and get more information here.
Class Schedule & Menus (menus subject to change based on produce availability; more dates will be added in future)
February 13 – SOLD OUT
- abalone rice clay pot
- simple roast chicken
- green salad with classic vinaigrette
- apple tart with salted caramel sauce
March 6
- orecchiette with broccoli
- braised fish with winter vegetables
- green salad with classic vinaigrette
- almond cake with winter fruit compote
March 27
- prune and root vegetable “stew”
- spice-rubbed pork loin roast
- arugula, orange, fennel salad
- Chocolat Désir cake
April 17
- a study of asparagus
- classic Gigot d’Agneau: roast spring leg of lamb
- new potatoes, peas
- strawberry-almond cake
For those unfamiliar with Love Apple, this biodynamic farm run by Cynthia Sandberg has provided Manresa with wonderful produce for many years – and it is now the restaurant’s exclusive kitchen garden. Love Apple and Sandberg are legendary for more than 100 varieties of heirloom yummy tomato seedlings, which are available to the public for purchase. Recently, Love Apple moved to a new farm off of Highway 17, near Scotts Valley and Los Gatos – interesting note, it’s actually the site of the former Smother Brothers Winery. This new location includes an exquisite space perfect for workshops, so Sandberg has added many classes to her offerings including homemade cheese-making, bee-keeping, and farm-to-fork themes geared towards kids.
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