At any given moment, the menus at our restaurants in San Francisco offer a glimpse into what’s in season in our NorCal backyard. Our chefs are always developing new compositions based on seasonal produce that our favorite farm partners have available, and we love the creative challenge of using a single ingredient as inspiration for a new dish that allows it to shine.
When working with high-quality, in-season ingredients from these expert purveyors, our job as chefs is to stand back and allow that item to steer the course – a tip that’s just as relevant for home cooks when working with an ingredient you’re stoked on too.
This month, we’ve been all about the late winter greens. We're going to dig into why they’re a dream partner for pasta, but first, let's start with the source.
Over the past few years, we’ve cultivated a relationship with Florence Fang Community Farm in Bayview-Hunters Point, the most diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood in San Francisco. At Florence Fang, co-founder and farmer-in-charge Faheem Carter oversees the Bayview Black Farmers Program which rehabilitates both the land + spirit of this community through healthy, locally-grown, all-organic food. The program provides plots and farming tools for local farmers to grow organic, non-GMO vegetables, while also offering the opportunity for that produce to feed farmers and their families, stock food pantries, and supply farm-to-table restaurants in the area.
Through our Flour + Water team volunteer days at the farm, we’ve seen firsthand how Faheem’s leadership is creating hope for a sustainable food system within this neighborhood. It’s a mission we’re proud to support and champion as the Black community disproportionately faces environmental and economic injustices that impede resident access to nutritious food. Faheem is working tirelessly to change that in Bayview.
Every February, we collaborate with Faheem to identify a surplus ingredient on the farm and create dishes at our restaurants utilizing that item as a fundraiser for the Bayview Black Farmers Program. It’s always an inspiring experience for our restaurant teams to not only harvest the ingredient, but to come back to the kitchen and develop a dish that puts that item + this incredible program in the spotlight.
This year, we’re putting the farm's produce center stage with dishes that include sourdough pansotti with collard greens and nettles at Flour + Water, casunziei all'Ampezzana at Penny Roma, and a cavolfiore pie at Flour + Water Pizzeria.
For all of you who aren't local, we recommend snagging a bunch of greens at your local market and adding them to this classic aglio e olio recipe from our blog.
You’ve likely noticed we’re a little greensessed over here. They’re great to bulk up soups like our Macaroni + Winter Vegetable Stew, add color and a welcome contrast in richer dishes, and in simple compositions, they function similarly to a “sauce” with the way they wilt + cling to the noodles.
It’s why our brains immediately landed on pairing Faheem's kale with our take on spaghetti aglio e olio. Originating from Naples, Italy, aglio e olio (which translates to garlic + oil) traditionally features just a handful of ingredients: pasta, garlic, olive oil, and chili flakes. It’s brilliant in its simplicity —Italians are pros at this— but we can’t help but go a little California on this classic.
Because spaghetti doesn’t have any nooks and crannies for veggies to burrow into, greens are the ideal pairing. Their cling-factor when cooked means they will naturally wrap around those golden strands, so you get a bit of green in every bite (without the need for defiling this dish with parsley).
You can find the full recipe here, and to learn more about ways to support Florence Fang, check out their website.
See you all next week. (There’s a rumor going around that March is National Noodle Month…)