Forage. Gather. Feast.: A Wild Dinner with Maria Finn
This is a seated dinner. Price of dinner includes one paired beverage (alcoholic or N/A). Additional beverages will be available at the event. Review our reservation and cancellation policies here.
Food can be found everywhere if we take the time to pay attention. Foraging, the act of gathering wild food for free, is to connect with our ecosystem. It can balance out the modern fast-paced life, and create beauty, pleasure, and community.
Not sure what to think about this primal act of survival? Or perhaps you are intrigued by foraging and want to know more? Take a seat at our dinner table for a special evening with Maria Finn, local author of the wild foods cookbook, Forage. Gather. Feast. which came out April 2024. Her book encourages you to rewild yourself and to follow nature as a guide for what to eat. Maria will tell stories, share concrete ideas and pragmatic takeaways on how nature and good food can teach us to live more regenerative, authentic, and joyful lives. Our dinner tables will be filled by Chef Gracie Schatz's creations. A forager herself, Gracie collaborated with Maria on a menu featuring local wild ingredients. Dine, learn, and be inspired!
Copies of Forage. Gather. Feast. will be available for purchase at the event.
MENU
Elderflower Lemon Spritz
Grazing Board of Smoked Pickled Mushrooms, Seaweed Butter, Homemade Crackers, Wild Pickles
Wild Greens Centerpiece Salad of Sorrel, Miner's Lettuce, Wild Mustard, Nasturtium, and Edible Flowers with Mulberry Vinaigrette and Wild Spices
Nettle Dumplings with Morel Dashi and Ramps
Soba Noodles with Freshly Harvested Seaweed, Uni Butter, and Smoked Black Cod
Cherry Rose Sorbet with Rose Hip Orange Vinegar Reduction, Preserved Cherry Blossoms, Fresh Cherries, and Bay Nut Crumble
*Menu subject to change due to ingredient availability
This menu contains the following common allergens: Fish, Wheat, Dairy, Tree Nuts. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to attend, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.
Let’s Eat Together!
Maria Finn is an author and chef who creates food & art experiences inspired by wild places. Her cookbook, Forage. Gather. Feast. was published in April of 2024 by Sasquatch Books. She lives on a houseboat in Sausalito with her truffle hound, Flora Jayne, her two tabby cats and her native oyster garden, collectively named Billy. She is the founder of Flora & Fungi Adventures, where she hosts wild food-centric adventures from California all the way north to Alaska and The Institute for Ecosystem Based Living with pop-up events that bring together science, art and food. She also gives truffle talks, tastings and truffle hunting demonstrations with Flora Jayne. For more information visit MariaFinn.com.
Gracie Schatz has been in the food industry for over fifteen years. In her career, Gracie has worked in a variety of places: as a baker and private chef in Eugene, OR, farming and cooking in Italy, raising pigs in the Sierra Foothills, butchering at the Fatted Calf in San Francisco, managing Avedano’s in Bernal Heights, cooking at Bay Area restaurants Molina and Cala and her own pop-up restaurant, Bread and Bones Supper. In Eugene, she started her own food justice nonprofit, Marigold Cooking Collective. After working with 18 Reasons as a guest instructor for the past 7 years, Gracie has decided to move from Eugene to San Francisco and join us as our head Chef. Her dream is to never stop learning about delicious food, to never stop exploring the many nuanced ways that food brings us joy, connection to culture, identity, seasons and community. 18 Reasons feels like the perfect place to explore this dream and she is so excited to be here!
