25 June, 2018 - Cavallo Point - The Lodge at Golden Gate, Chef Mike Garcia, Bob Costarella, Costarella Seafoods

Slow Living Radio celebrates families and sustainability in today's show with the "family" of Cavallo Point Lodge. We hear about their dedication to forging friendships and being at the forefront of environmental practices.  Our show features their head chef, Mike Garcia and one of his "family of purveyors", Bob Costarella, of Costarella Seafoods.

Chef Michael Garcia
Cavallo Point Lodge – The Lodge at Golden Gate

Michael Garcia is a head chef of the award-winning Murray Circle at Cavallo Point Lodge where he strives to create dishes that reinvent San Francisco’s multicultural flavors with a modern twist.

A San Francisco native, Chef Garcia spent several years working through the ranks of many legendary San Francisco hotels and restaurants, including Cliff House, Farallon, Stars by celebrity chef, Jeremiah Tower, and the Palace Hotel. Over the span of his career, Chef Garcia’s accomplishments include his position as the executive chef and partner of SOCIALE in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood and as the executive chef, manager, catering chef and partner of TOAST Restaurants in Mill Valley, which he successfully opened in 2003 and helped build its impressive reputation as a fun neighborhood eatery serving creative, quality fare. In addition to his position at Murray Circle, Chef Garcia manages Left Coast Depot Restaurant, a reputable family-style restaurant that he has owned since it opened in 2012.

Chef Garcia wrote a best seller cook book, “A Toast to the Home Cook,” which published in 2010 and has sold over 6,000 copies.

About Cavallo Point Lodge

Cavallo Point – one look tells you this is a very special place. Look deeper and you'll find an innovative partnership.

Cavallo Point – the Lodge at the Golden Gate is located in Sausalito, in Marin County, California, at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, just minutes from San Francisco and an hour from the Napa Valley. Known for stunning views of the bridge, bay and city, the lodge welcomes guests with 142 hotel rooms and suites, both Historic and Contemporary, the acclaimed Murray Circle Restaurant & Farley Bar, premier Healing Arts Center & Spa, cooking school, Mercantile, art gallery, hiking, yoga and a myriad of activities. .

Murray Circle Restaurant

Culinary artistry, local flavors

Cavallo Point's acclaimed restaurant, Murray Circle, is one of the Bay Area's top culinary destinations. Highlighting refined modern Northern California cuisine anchored to its Marin roots, the freshest local ingredients and stunning Golden Gate Bridge views, a meal here is inspired.

Settle into the elegant yet comfortable dining room accented with beautifully restored tin ceilings, fine art photography and toasty fireplaces. Outside, soak up the sun on plush outdoor seating on the historic porch, with sweeping views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Farley Bar

Cozy atmosphere, creative cocktails

Just like its namesake Farley, the popular San Francisco Chronicle comic-strip character created by the late Phil Frank, Farley Bar is a Bay Area favorite. Understated and relaxing, it offers a small-plate menu, creative cocktails, cozy fireplaces, leather club chairs, and a bar crafted from a fallen tree. Farley Bar's merry mix of lodge guests and locals provides the social heart of Cavallo Point.

Slow Living Radio's Steve Andrews on the deck of Cavallo Point Lodge
with Chef Mike Garcia and Bob Costarella

Bob CostarellaOwner, Costarella Seafoods

Bob Casterella, from San Francisco The Movie

Costarella Seafoods is a family-owned and operated seafood distributor located in the world famous Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, CA.  In business since 1991, Costarella focuses on providing fish considered sustainable by the world's most veritable sources:

Since 1991 Costarella Seafoods have been providing the bay area restaurants and markets with quality fresh, frozen and Costarella label smoked seafood. Bob Costarella and the crew pride themselves on personal and knowable service. Products are sourced from a range of local boats, domestic and international vendors with a close eye on quality and sustainability. The company delivers 6 days a week in the bay area. Costarella Seafoods and its vendors are haccp approved by the federal government and inspected regularly by the FDA and California department of public health . The state of the art facility is located on pier 45 and visitors are welcome to stop by and say hello anytime during business hours.

The owner, Bob Costarella, helps maintain the company's family business feel while providing over three decades of experience in a complicated seafood industry.  

From an article on SFGate.com: 

Costarella keeps an eye on the bay, but he's not drinking in the postcard views of Telegraph and Russian hills, Alcatraz or the blue hills of North Bay behind it. Instead, he gauges tide levels, notes wind direction, watches the chop of the waves. It's a lesson learned from an old Sicilian fisherman who told him the ocean is like a book.

"You can open it up, but you have to know how to read it,'' Costarella recalls. "The ocean will give up a lot of information if you know how to read it."

The San Francisco fishing industry emerged in the 1850's with the expanding population of Italian immigrants. Traditionally, Italians fished from Mediterranean style sailing feluccas in the open sea fishing grounds that ranged from Point Reyes to Monterey. Many of these Italian family names are still represented at Fisherman's wharf, where the bounty of the waters outside the golden gate is brought ashore for all to enjoy.