San Francisco Blog

Executive Chef Jonnatan Leiva of Jack Falstaff (398 2nd St.) has planned a whole new set of "Growers Dinners" for 2009 in order to bring diners closer to where their food comes from and the people that are responsible for it, from the farmers to the chefs.

We spoke with the affable Leiva back in November as he was preparing a bison and beer dinner. His passion for food, cooking and bringing people together is infectious.


The first event of the year takes place tomorrow night, followed by one Growers Dinner per month. The current schedule is as follows:

•Tuesday, February 24: Hamada Farms Dinner with exotic fruit and vegetable grower Cliff Hamada and chef Staffan Terje (Perbacco)

•Tuesday, March 24: Liberty Duck Dinner with Jim Reichardt of Sonoma County Poultry and chef Jen Biesty (Scala's Bistro/Top Chef)

•Tuesday, April 21: Pozzi Lamb Growers Dinner with Joe Pozzi and chef Jonnatan Leiva

•Tuesday, May 19: Wine Forest Mushroom Dinner with Jamie Lauren (Absinthe/Top Chef) and Connie Green of Wine Forest Mushrooms

•Tuesday, June 23: Bohemian Creamery Cheese Dinner with cheese makers Miriam Block and Lisa Gottreich and chef Dominique Crenn (Luce)

Growers Dinners at Jack Falstaff are $85 per person (excluding tax and gratuity, including wine pairings), and begin with a reception at 6 p.m., with dinner served one hour later. Call 836-9239 for more information and reservations.

It's been an exciting couple of days for those of us who have to forage for food in the somewhat sterile section of SoMa known as Mission Bay. Just last Thursday we got Tsunami, a new Japanese joint for after-hours sake and sushi. And yesterday The Creamery opened its doors on Fourth and Townsend (a lovely spot for those of us who wait in the cold for the 47, 30 or 45 bus lines). We'd been curious about the coffee house --which we'd initially thought would be an ice cream parlor or cheese stop with such a name-- since we saw it on Eater's Plywood Report in January. So we dropped by for some caffeine earlier today.  

One would think even those with their hearts dead set on opening a restaurant would be lying low during these uninspiring economic times. So some of us were surprised to see the empty space between Panera Bread and Philz Coffee (right across the street from SF Weekly's world headquarters) evolving into a rather sleek restaurant named Tsunami -- which opened its doors to the public just this afternoon.