In my early 20’s, after a few years of working at the restaurants Alinea in Chicago and The Willow's inn in WA, I worked in San Francisco as a sous chef at the restaurant Saison. I had joined the team as they were opening their brick and mortar space and in the span of 4 years time we earned three Michelin stars and a place on the top 100 list. To say it was hard work would be an understatement, though mostly self imposed, I was inseparable from the place.
On my days off, between the necessities, I would spend it exploring art, food, and the terrain of the coast. The concept of a dinner series came to me while exploring the de young museum seeing art broken up in series of works. I loved the idea of dinners being unique to a series, unlike the familiar pop up style. It wasn't long after leaving Saison I started / shed 'a dinner series' and was excited for all the possibilities.
This time in San Francisco was booming and there was abundance everywhere, especially in the food world. I loved the beautiful publications that were just coming out at that time and was inspired to invoke that spirit into my project. ( kinfolk, cereal, wilder, gather, y mas ). This is where the membership + sharing of information concept was formed. I dreamed of making a 'journal' that would be in print and would share about each series and how I could tie that in with a membership model. An ongoing sharing of the work and intentions behind it. Once starting / shed however, I quickly knew it needed to be back home in NM and I quickly made the move and put such things on hold.
Though this inspiration never took place as it's initial seed, it has been a driving force in the work that I do. / shed isn't a restaurant and it's impossible to capture it's ethos from merely a dinner. It's an ecosystem of forces that hide in the daily practices. Our subscription is an attempt at sharing and honoring these forces, and through it comes our first publication.
This book is an attempt at capturing our path to authenticity and words that guide our every action. A book of 'Dichos' ( phrases ) that can be looked to daily. It’s been years in the making and hours of printing and binding. We’re thrilled to finally share it with you all.