Mission Mission

This is a special report by our pal Jess Stuenkel, a real-life San Francisco architect:

September is Architecture and the City month which means all the architecture geeks like me and non-architecture geeks (likely like you) get a month of seeing, hearing and talking about architecture in the city. Tonight Local Mission Eatery opened its doors for a community dinner and discussion about the restaurants concept and big-picture design process.

The name, Local Mission, couldn’t be more fitting as the restaurant is all about local sourcing and providing for it’s community. All the produce is purchased at local farmers markets daily by Yaron, the business owner, or his business partner Jake des Voignes the exectutive chef. The restaurant even has it’s own little farm outside the city where they raise chickens and grow what they can in the space they have. And they want you to know exactly where it comes from and what they are doing with it.

Here is an excerpt from their about page:

Our mission includes you. We hope you shop at the farmers market, bypass the supermarket, and cook from scratch: Simmer vegetables for your stock, peel tomatoes for your sauce, and roll-out dough for your crackers. We’ll help you. Ask us questions, join our cookbook library, take our cooking labs, stand at the open kitchen and observe.

With these same local and community oriented values they created the space. The architects at atelier KS worked closely with chef Jake des Voignes to provide his optimal cooking environment. The chef got out his work gloves to help build the cabinetry and when builder Sterling Tougas opened up a wall and found old growth redwood slats, the architects detailed them into the ceiling that directs you through the long skinny space. Speaking of locally sourced! The wood that constructs the entryway as well as the long community table came from the building a few doors down which was also under construction. All the tile came from just over the bridge in Sausalito, and the building supplies from Mission lumberyards. All topped off with mural by local screen printer Jon Fischer representing every intersection on 24th St. from Valencia to Vermont.

Yaron stated at dinner, “Owning a piece of the street is a big responsibility, as is employing people and feeding people.” He sees this responsibility to his community the same as his responsibility to his family, and that’s nothing less than good, local food, prepared from scratch for the people.

Also, if you haven’t gotten a chance to participate in Architecture and the City, check out the last few days of events here. The Rem Koolhaas movie on the 28th should be really good and best of all it’s free!

Thanks, Jess!

[Photo by Rahmin Sarahi]

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