Edible Books

The match made in culinary heaven began with a box of tomatoes. Not just any tomatoes. Heirlooms. And not just any heirlooms or even ones that Manresa’s David Kinch had ever heard of. These were Cynthia Sandberg heirlooms: Paul Robesons, Arkansas Travelers and Sexy Beasts. Kinch had only to hold one in his hand—ripe and delicate, so fresh off the vine from Sandberg’s Love Apple Farms that it was still warm from the sun—to know he had met the partner he needed to take his restaurant to the next level.

The timing for each could not have been more serendipitous. Kinch, who had opened Manresa in Los Gatos in 2002, was searching for a way to make local cuisine more unique. Sandberg, an attorney turned tomato farmer, wanted to diversify and liked the idea of working with one customer. When Sandberg showed up at Manresa’s back door one evening in August with a box of her signature heirlooms, Kinch says, “I had no idea that, through Cynthia, Manresa was about to find its voice.”

Kinch has compiled the story of that de- finitive partnership, of his own journey to be- coming one of the finest chefs in the area, if not the country, and a sampling of recipes created by the restaurant last year, into a stun- ning book—Manresa: An Edible Reflection— that Ten Speed Press will release in October.

Trying to replicate in your own home the cooking of a chef who has been named Best Chef: Pacific by the James Beard Foundation and Chef of the Year by GQ might seem daunting, as it should be. Eric Wolfinger’s exquisite photographs alone are enough to stop any amateur chef in his or her tracks, and many of the recipes are, as Kinch notes, “ambitious.” Shards of Scallops with Buckwheat-Nettle Dumplings, Nasturtium and Asparagus Gazpacho, for one. Black Sesame Bavarois, Strawberry, Fennel, for another. There are also less intimidating ones—like 25 Tomatoes, Pistachios and Allium Flowers, see next page—but it’s Kinch’s ultimate hope that the book will inspire readers to challenge themselves the way his staff does daily in their kitchen.

You do not have to be a cook to appreciate this book. The story of how one chef has parlayed the rich bounty of our particular area into his signature cuisine is fodder enough for a fascinating tale. Since his early days apprenticing in kitchens in Europe where he was inspired by his heroes—Alain Chapel, Paul Bocuse and Maison Pic— Kinch knew he wanted to create a small, personal restaurant to capture both an individual style and a sense of place. “After I had eaten at a few of these establishments, it dawned on me that even if the town was un- remarkable, the environment added an important context to the meal,” he writes.

After working in Europe, Kinch spent time in New York and Japan before settling in northern California and running Sent Sovi Restaurant, a bistro in Saratoga, when he finally had the opportunity to buy his own restaurant. Already a resident of Santa

Cruz—Kinch’s other passion is surfing—he wanted to stay in the area. After looking at countless possibilities, a small ramshackle building in Los Gatos, tucked down a little one-way street, caught his fancy. Here in this graffiti-scarred abandoned building, he could envision creating a space where he could focus more deeply on his craft. Yet, even as he perfected his skills, experimenting with the wealth of foods this area offers, Kinch was not satisfied. He needed a more specific translation of place, more control over his ingredients, a more finely tuned vision. He needed Sandberg.

Creating the perfect collaboration required a few years of fine tuning, planning together what the farm would grow and responding to what worked—or didn’t. They experiment continually with new plantings, seeds swapped with chefs like Sean Brock and Alain Passard, plants that have caught Kinch’s eye on his travels, such as Charentais heirloom melons from France. They even get ideas from old gardening books. Then there are the surprises Sand- berg likes to throw his way. “She always has something new she won’t tell me about,” Kinch admitted recently by phone.

“Love Apple Farms is Cynthia’s business,” Kinch says, thankfully, admitting that running a farm is more grueling than running a restaurant. “Our work together is a collaborative effort. We can decide what we want to grow and cultivate it to the level we want.” Nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, the farm is 15 minutes from Kinch’s home and 12 miles from Manresa, so he’ll stop several times a week to see what’s com- ing. The arrangement is simple: Kinch and his staff work daily on what the farm sends to the restaurant. All of it. Even the carrot tops and lettuce bolts. “Our relationship with the farm is the single most challenging thing we face in the kitchen,” he says.