March 22, 2016 – The famous farm-to-table partnership between Love Apple Farms and David Kinch’s Manresa restaurant will come to an end next week. “We will no longer be growing for Manresa after March 31st,” confirmed Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farms. “It’s been great fun growing for a world-class restaurant and I don’t regret it, but all good things must end.” Sandberg plans to focus on new projects, like relaunching the World Tomato Society.
Kinch was unavailable to answer questions about where he will be sourcing his produce from now on, but issued the following statement through his PR firm: “As both Manresa and Love Apple Farms continue to grow, we will be doing so independently and will no longer be exclusive partners. We are honored to have inspired not only our guests but other chefs and farmers around the globe with our unique partnership, which will forever be part of the Manresa and Love Apple Farm story.”
Sandberg says she is looking forward to moving on with World Tomato Society that she founded two years ago. “We just received new venture capital funding and hired a CEO and will have proper offices in Los Gatos,” she said. The society is designed to be something like the American Rose Society or the Dahlia Society—creating a global community for people who grow, cook with or just love to eat tomatoes.
They are currently in the process of cataloguing 5,800 varieties of tomatoes and revamping the society’s website. The 22-acre farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains will operate as the research arm of the society, with 100 percent of the growing space dedicated to tomatoes. There Sandberg will focus on testing, trials and revival of old varieties. A seed bank is also in the works.
Sandberg will also continue to offer gardening classes at Love Apple Farms and conduct her annual tomato plant sale in Scotts Valley, which starts on Easter Sunday. “I’m going to stick to things that made us stand out in the first place and that we’re really good at,” she said.
Asked what she likes so much about tomatoes—which are also known as love apples and are the namesake of the farm—she says: “I’ve often pondered why I fell in love with them. Ii think it’s the diversity of colors and diversity of shapes and sizes. There are striped tomatoes and red, green, purple ones…and they taste pretty darn good too!”
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At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
