Crates of farm-fresh produce sit stacked in Namu restaurant in S.F., which sells the produce to support local agriculture.
On Sunday mornings, customers file into San Francisco’s Namu restaurant for a Korean-inspired brunch.
For some, however, the kimchi fried rice and sizzling okonomiyaki are merely an afterthought. The real reason for the visit is to pick up one of the produce-filled crates that line the bay windows out front.
The boxes are part of chef and co-owner Dennis Lee’s Community Supported Agriculture program, launched just two months ago as an alternative to the more traditional farm-to-consumer, subscription-style CSAs.
Filled with manageable amounts of vegetables and fruit for both individuals and families, the program also provides a direct line to the chef. It’s about more than just getting ingredients for dinner.
“The aspect of supporting and building a community around food is really important to me,” says Lee, who grew up in restaurants and has long been a proponent of supporting small farms.
To that end, Lee tried plenty of CSAs for his own family but always found problems with them. Most notably, he says, was the lack of variety and copious amounts of certain fruits and vegetables, which would inevitably go to waste.
“Even a big family doesn’t eat five bunches of radishes in a week,” says Lee.
Plus, having to subscribe to a weekly or biweekly service doesn’t make sense for every busy family.
A connection to County Line Harvest, a Petaluma farm, gave him the idea to start his own program.
“They were doing these rogue markets week to week, selling out of restaurants,” he says. “They did it here for a few weeks and got a good response.” So good, in fact, that when County Line stopped the market, customers protested.
Lee says he mulled it over and decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I’m at every market all the time anyway,” says Lee. “I figured, ‘Why not buy the extra stuff and create the boxes myself?’ “
It may be more work than he bargained for - Lee admits this is more of a service than a profitable venture right now. But he says he’s not out to build a brand.
His program allows customers to order a box up to about 36 hours before pickup. For $3 more, no advance orders are required; just walk in on a Sunday morning and purchase one, until they’re gone. No need to commit to a weekly service.
A preordered small box, for one to two people, costs $15; a large box, feeding three to four, is $25.
Because the boxes are made up of produce from several farms, the selection can be relatively broad.
The produce is coming from County Line, Star Route, Torosian Farms, Dirty Girl and others, says Lee. A recent crate contained German butterball potatoes, Little Gem lettuce, shiitake mushrooms and lemongrass, among other items.
Because of Lee’s Asian background, customers might wind up with things they wouldn’t otherwise select. What may be a turnoff to some - what to do with those sheets of kombu? - Lee sees as an opportunity for teaching.
“It’s really important for me to educate people beyond what they’re normally exposed to,” says Lee, who, in addition to the kombu, or Japanese seaweed, might include daikon or shungiku, a fragrant Asian green.
A weekly e-mail from Lee accompanies the box, instructing consumers on how to best use their produce.
“I don’t really give recipes,” he says, “but I’ll tell them what to do with each vegetable.” For last week’s lemongrass, for example, he wrote, “Chop this up and make tea or add to soup. Add to your galbi marinade and marinate fish.”
“I think it gives people a sense of accomplishment when they can manipulate the product themselves,” Lee says. And he wants to know how it all ends up. At the conclusion of the e-mail - a request: “Please send me pictures of the stuff that you guys cook!”
On any given week, customers who order the CSA can also supplement their vegetables by purchasing ready-to-cook proteins, like chicken wings in a Thai-style marinade, seasoned hamburger patties and miso-marinated fish.
“I always thought that was a problem with other CSA programs,” Lee says. “What if you want protein? If you have to go to the store to buy that anyway, why not just get the produce you need, too?”
To round out a meal, pints of pickled vegetables and Korean chile hot sauce are available for purchase inside the restaurant.
The best part? While you’re there, you can sit down and have some killer kimchi fried rice.
