OPEN City—the city as farm

OPEN is a project of Jerome Waag and Sam White, who both work at Chez Panisse in Berkeley while pursuing individual artistic practices. When I attended OPEN restaurant’s “soil” project at New Langton Arts back in March, I couldn’t wait for their next installation. From the website: “OPEN restaurant’s new project, ~OPEN CITY~, looks at the urban environment as a site for the production of food. Scheduled for Saturday, September 13, 2008 at New Langton Arts, we are planning a dinner made entirely of produce harvested, foraged or crafted within the Berkeley-Oakland-San Francisco perimeter. This event will be a way to showcase the many aspects in which the city produces food, from urban farming to foraging to community and private gardens. We hope to include a wide variety of practices so if you are a gleaner, gardener, forager, farmer or anyone involved in urban food production contact us at seed@openrestaurant.org.

“You can participate by providing produce that we will purchase at market price or through a contribution to your organization, but of course any donation is welcome. More importantly we look forward to further forms of collaboration as a way to engage the audience about what you are doing. Let us know if you are interested in a more active participation and we will find a way to make it part of the event. There will also be large black boards with information as well as a map for locations.

“This event will be an alternative and informal way for people involved in urban food issues to meet, exchange ideas and get exposure as well as experience the many flavors of the city and it is open to everyone.

“The center of the meal is a ratatouille, a summer vegetable stew, which will be made from the largest amount of sources possible as to give a true flavor of the area, for the rest local chef will improvise with the large variety of produce collected. We are looking for seasonal vegetables including PEPPER, TOMATO, EGGPLANT, ZUCCHINI, CUCUMBER, GREEN and SHELL BEANS, SALAD GREENS, ONIONS, HERBS, GREENS but also CHICKENS, EGGS, BUTTER, OIL; anything you would like to share is welcome since we are going to do a lot of improvisation.”

OPEN City—the city as farm
Sat. Sep. 13th, 2008

New Langton Arts
1246 Folsom St.
Cross: 8th St.
San Francisco, CA

415-626-5416
website