Tag Archives: Chef Matt Shapiro

Get To Know the Good Works of The Key Room

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Succulent leg of lamb served at a recent demo-dinner at The Key Room.
Succulent leg of lamb served at a recent demo-dinner at The Key Room.

In the Bay Area, there are many places to take top-notch culinary classes, both hands-on and demonstration ones.

But at The Key Room in Novato, while you learn how to make dashi, handmade pasta, or what goes into crafting Kansas City-style barbecue from acclaimed chef Darryl Bell of Napa’s Stateline Road Smokehouse, you’re also supporting a culinary job-training program that teaches skills to troubled youths, veterans, and the homeless.

Founded in 2008, the Key Room is an extension of Homeward Bound of Marin, which has been the primary provider for resources and shelters for homeless individuals and families in Marin County since 1974.

Setting up for dinner.
Setting up for dinner.

Since the culinary program was founded, more than 1,000 people have gone through it, says Paul Fordham, CEO of Homeward Bound of Marin. Five instructor chefs, two who hail from the Culinary Institute of America, teach 70 students each year in a free, 11-week training program. Half of those who graduate go on to get jobs in the hospitality industry, and the other half end up working at The Key Room in kitchen or front-of-house positions.

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Tony’s Seafood Is SO Worth The Drive

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Sublime fish and chips at Tony's Seafood.

Sublime fish and chips at Tony’s Seafood.

 

Marshall, on the northeast shore of Tomales Bay, is not a quick hop, skip and a jump for most of us to get to. But if you make the trek, often along a narrow, twisty road, depending upon the route you take, you will be deliciously rewarded. Much like the end of a rainbow, what awaits is gold.

Or Tony’s Seafood to be exact.

The throwback seafood shack on Highway 1 founded in 1948 by a local fisherman. Last year, the venerable Hog Island Oyster Company, just up the road, took it over, embarking on a massive renovation that shored it up yet kept its seafaring spirit.

The old-school seafood shack has new owners.

The old-school seafood shack has new owners.

How's that for a view?

How’s that for a view?

It reopened earlier this spring. I had a chance to check it out at a media luncheon held on a warm, sunny day — the kind this place was made for.

Tony’s Seafood sits on pilings, jutting out into the blue water. When you dine here, you feel like you’re floating in the sea.

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