Page 22 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

CA.CUISINE
BY LAURA NESS
California Cuisine
Scene and be seen
SAN FRANCISCO
BAY AREA FOOD
San Francisco has more restaurants per
capita than any other U.S. city, and most
of them are good. Old standards that
have been around for decades still hold
their own against innovative new
arrivals. SF’s Mission district has become
a foodie haven and surrounding
communities from Berkeley to Palo Alto
to Napa and Sonoma all bring exquisite
food to the table.
Like everything else in California from
politics to entertainment, food is a
If the Midwest is the bread basket of
America, California is its dairy queen, its
OLIVE OIL PRODUCTS from Victorine
Valley Farms of Livermore, above; chef
Jarden Richardson serving at Pebble
Beach Food & Wine festival, above right.
celebrity-driven business. From the rock
star antics of Guy Fieri to the farm-to-table
phenom that took the country by storm,
the culinary scene is a mix of where to be
seen and those unseen farmers and field
laborers who actually do all the dirty work
necessary to put food on tables. Thanks to
garden-to-table pioneer Alice Waters, who
made growing your own green the new
black before that was even an expression.
Today, California is the largest producer
of agricultural products in the country,
with more than 400 commodities. Nearly
half of USA.-grown fruit, nuts and vegeta-
bles come from the Golden State.
grape goddess, its almond alma mater, its
greenhouse fairy godmother, and, sorry,
Texas, its meat locker. Yes, California does
have happier cows, with dairy being its
largest export, followed by grapes,
almonds, nursery plants, cattle, strawber-
ries, lettuce and walnuts.
Between the Salinas Valley—America’s
Salad Bowl and top strawberry producer—
and the Imperial Valley for tomatoes,
California farmers really put out. In record
numbers they are forming CSAs (Community
Supported Agriculture organizations) and it’s
no surprise that California has upwards of
800 farmers markets, the most nationwide.
20 2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
KIM FAULKNER; LAURA NESS. OPPOSITE: CHEESE THERAPY; LAURA NESS; BREWERY GULCH INN; VISIT LAGUNA BEACH