David Kinch.
The commute to Silicon Valley has long been a staple of life in Santa Cruz, and not in a good way. Certainly it’s hard to believe that anyone has downright romanticized it the way David Kinch has. The celebrated chef, who has lived in Santa Cruz since 1997, wouldn’t give up the drive even if he could, because for him “the hill” represents a solid dividing line between his professional life at Manresa in Silicon Valley and his personal life at home in Silicon Beach.
“When I drive to work, I make this slow transition,” says Kinch. “I find one part of my life slowly fading away, and the other part coming into focus.”
As Kinch’s success and fame have grown, even some in Santa Cruz have wondered why he’s never fled Surf City to join his contemporaries—like, for instance, David Chang of New York’s Momofuku in the big city. In his new cookbook, he discusses why the Bay Area is a perfect match for his culinary philosophy. But there are personal reasons he loves what he calls “the college town, the stoner town, the surf town”—and not just because he’s an avid surfer himself.
“Balance is everything,” he says. “The vibe of Santa Cruz is a great balance to what I do over the hill. I can walk to movie theaters, I can walk to restaurants, I can walk to bookstores.”
Nor does he ever feel tempted by the call of the celebrity-chef meccas. “I did my time in New York,” he says. “I could have stayed, but I made a choice to move to California. I’ve worked in urban areas my entire life. I’m kind of over it.”
Kinch’s best-known professional connection to Santa Cruz is Manresa’s symbiotic partnership with Love Apple Farms, a cutting-edge arrangement in which Cynthia Sandberg’s farm grows exclusively (and biodynamically) for Kinch’s culinary creations. It all started because of Sandberg’s championship skill at growing tomatoes, which had him buying tomatoes from her for a couple of years before they sealed the deal.
“That planted the seeds, ha ha,” says Kinch.
Like Sandberg’s plants, Kinch’s roots are now firmly planted. “We bought the building, we bought the land. We’re not going anywhere,” he says. “I’m happy here.”
