Gary Podesto

I’ve always built things—be they in my mind or with my hands. The plate and page have become my chosen mediums. One appeals to all the senses, the other makes an appeal for a world beyond our senses—a world of the imagination. The tension point between the two is where I create. Someone once said artists are born and craftsmen are made. I would agree I've become a craftsman of my trade through years of study and praxis. My career as a cook is not evidence of my artistic aspirations but proof of my commitment to quality, creativity, and hard work. Am I an artist? I can only look back at the things I’ve created and ask “have I posed worthwhile questions” and “have I endeavored to answer them?” Those answers may never come. I may find I was not born an artist. Either way, I’m grateful for my curious nature and humbled by the beauty its muse reveals to me.

www.garypodesto.net

An instructional photo montage for an original recipe I developed as part of a creative consulting project with a winery in San Luis Obispo, California.

Sometimes from this hillside just after sunset

The rim of the sky takes on a tinge

Of the palest green, like the flesh of a cucumber

When you peel it carefully. - Robert Hass

Born and raised in the Sacramento valley, Gary is steeped in California sunshine and local values. Stints traveling in Europe inspired his exploration of the foundational cuisines of the West and his trips to Asia have provided valuable context for the traditions of the East. These influences combine to yield a modern interpretation of California cuisine — a nouveau style of seasonal cooking utilizing the best ingredients available to deliver nutrient-conscious yet approachable cuisine inspired by the local environment. Gary started learning about cooking at his grandmothers’ apron strings, growing up with an appreciation for the traditions of Old World cuisine prepared with love and skill. While studying literature & publishing in college, he took a job at Spice Creek Cafe in Chico, California where he apprenticed under Chef Rebecca Stewart. There he learned the intricacies of fusion cooking by exploring the limits of many regional cuisines. He spent the next decade continuing his exploration in Northern California, developing his farm-to-table ethos managing farmers’ markets and cooking with seasonal products. In 2016 Alice Waters asked him to join the team of cooks working in the celebrated kitchen of the downstairs restaurant at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. He's been happily manning the stoves and tending the hearth there ever since.