GARY PODESTO

Born in California’s Sacramento Valley, Gary Podesto learned to cook at his grandmother’s apron strings where food was tied to memory, season, and care. His understanding of the food system came later—shaped through years of cooking, working with producers, and seeing firsthand how flavor, ecology, and land stewardship are inseparable.

Travel through Europe and Asia deepened his perspective on regional cuisine as an expression of place—where culture, landscape, and daily life converge to support resilient systems.
After earning a university degree in English literature, he trained in restaurants and managed farmers’ markets, developing a style of cooking grounded in hyper-seasonality, direct sourcing, and ingredient integrity. In 2016, Alice Waters invited him to join the downstairs kitchen of Chez Panisse Restaurant, where he spent the next decade cooking in a tradition that treats food as both craft and cultural expression.

Alongside his current work as a private chef and event facilitator, Gary serves as Culinary Advisor to Climate Farm School, where he designs interactive food programs that connect people to regenerative farming, soil literacy, and climate-conscious cooking. His work focuses on using cooking as a medium for understanding—bringing abstract ideas about resilient food systems into tangible, shared experience. 

At the center of his practice is a simple question: how can a meal deepen our relationship to the land and to one another? 

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