SHED Narrows Fields for GM, Chef

Anticipation is building for the a new Healdsburg market, gathering place, cafe and event venue.

"The building should be completed by the end of October," said Cindy Daniel, co-owner with husband Doug Lipton of the two-story, 9,700-square-foot project at 25 North St. "We'd like to be in before the holidays."

Daniel said she is in the process of identifying and hiring a general manager and head chef. SHED will have a kitchen on each floor, including a full catering kitchen upstairs as well as a cafe serving breakfasts and lunches.

"We have some candidates," said Daniel, who, with Lipton, also runs HomeFarm, a 16-acre peach orchard, vineyard and produce farm in the Dry Creek Valley. "From there, we will build a team -- and we will have some people working with us on a project basis, as vendors and for various events."

Daniel admits that SHED is a dream project that merges a lifetime of hers and Lipton's enthusiasm for community, sustainable lifestyles, the arts, environmental stewardship and support for local produce and food.

"One of the underlying visions is that this will be a place where you can see things in process," Daniel said, pointing to the location of a big sink that will be out in front for washing produce. "We're not just going to have things in boxes on shelves."

In the same way that the remodeled Ferry Building in San Francisco dovetails with that city's thrice-weekly Farmers' Market, SHED will complement Healdsburg's weekly

"I think there will be a great symbiotic relationship," said Daniel, former owner of and a yoga and dance practitioner. "I can imagine people going to the Healdsburg Farmers' Market and then stopping here for coffee and a bite of breakfast."

SHED will have some fresh local produce, but Daniel said it won't be designed to compete with the selections at the Farmers' Market.

"We'll have some bulk local grains and legumes, and a very curated selection of things that are not readily available elsewhere," she said. "Some things like special vinegars and olive oils."

SHED will also feature "tried and true" kitchen cookware equipment and canning supplies, cast iron pots and the like.

"We'll also have a refrigerated case with homemade products and to-go meals," she said.

The cafe, to be located on the side facing Foss Creek, will have a deck for outside seating overlooking the water and will  serve breakfasts and lunches. Adjacent to the cafe will be a bar serving fermented drinks such as wine, beer, kombucha and sodas.

"It will be more than a wine bar," she said.

In the patio area, Daniel will offer some vegetable starts and fermentation equipment.

Upstairs, Daniel and Lipton will offer space for private catered events including wedding rehearsal dinners and birthday celebrations, as well as community events such as concerts, dances, poetry readings, film series and art shows.

"We will also offer workshops on seed saving, pantry stocking and other topics for people who want to learn about sustainable living," she said.

Daniel and Lipton, who has a Ph.d in environmental science from UC Berkeley, and their two sons -- Oliver, 17, and Henri, 20 -- have lived in Healdsburg for 16 years, having moved here from San Francisco. However, they have both been involved in farming issues for more than 30 years, Daniel said.

Daniel declined to reveal the cost of SHED, saying it was privately financed and a labor of love.

"We're putting our whole selves in to it," she said of SHED. "In one way or the other, we've been thinking about this for years -- it's evolved over time."

For more information about SHED, see its Facebook page. Or see this other Facebook page.