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Our Food2021-02-12T00:45:40-08:00

Our Kitchen is The Heart of Golestan

At Golestan we nurture our children with love, kindness and also good food! We only serve whole foods – all meals and snacks are prepared in-house by our kitchen team. We even bake our own crackers and bread. All our ingredients are fresh, organic and to the extent possible, local. All our meat is grass fed and pastured/free range, delivered directly from Marin Sun Farms.

  • Fruits and vegetables are seasonal and sourced from local farms through Veritable Vegetable*.
  • We only serve full fat organic dairy products, our yogurt comes from Strauss Family Creamery.
  • All of our dry goods are sourced from Hummingbird Wholesale*.

At Golestan, we promote healthy and conscientious habits from an early age; this includes eating habits. We continually expose children to different ingredients and flavors so that they may develop a palette that is open to a variety of tastes. When not in a global pandemic (like in the photo above), the children sit around the table with their teachers and enjoy family–style meals. In 2020-2021, all meals are served in each indoor/outdoor classroom and enjoyed from a physically safe distance.

*These companies are B Corporations.

Check out our food blog below for recipes on our favorite dishes and snacks.

A Message From Golestan’s Chef

Julia
Julia

“The food pedagogy of Golestan is an ideal model for any school community looking to nourish their children, the planet, and one another.”

Hello Friends.

This blog is a little window into the Golestan Kitchen. Amidst the bustle of our daily kitchen duties, I will try to keep this page updated with recipes and pictures. But first, I suppose I should introduce myself and how my life path has led me to my current role of Golestan Chef.

To be honest, I don’t really like to use the word “chef” to describe myself. I am not professionally trained as a chef. I just love to prepare and share food. The only “chefy” role I feel like I can live up to is a pastry cook, as that is where I have spent the most of my culinary career and where I have received the majority of my informal training.

I began baking in professional kitchens when I was 13-year-old, when I begged a pastry chef to allow me to work for her for free after school. This changed my life in a profound way. This tiny farm-to-table restaurant introduced me to the concept of simple food: buying quality ingredients and cooking them with respect. Through the back door near our pastry station, farmers would drop by still dewy strawberries and vintners would bring their dustiest wines for us to try. My love of food deepened into an appreciation for food communities and how nature, people, and businesses can all work symbiotically to keep a community nourished.

This appreciation of food communities has led me on a twisted and fruitful path to Golestan. Along the way I have earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, made baguettes for a Vietnamese sandwich stand, taught nutrition education in public schools, was a butcher’s assistant, a private chef, a starlight 4am in the morning shift croissant baker and more…

Like I said, the path has been twisted! But I am so grateful to where it has led me. If I have learned anything so far, it’s that there are no black and white answers to questions of how to cook, shop, or eat. However, there are some values I believe in and try to emulate through my life and my food:

  • JOY for the amazing people and plants I interact with everyday
  • COMMUNITY that is lifted up by empathy and accountability
  • CARE for the planet and people by supporting socially responsible companies and avoiding food waste
  • INTEGRITY to live my values on a daily basis

Golestan allows me to keep these values at the heart of my daily routine. The food pedagogy of Golestan is an ideal model for any school community looking to nourish their children, the planet, and one another. I am grateful that I am able to be a part. I wake up everyday excited to interact with the vibrant produce, your wonderful children, and the food community that keeps my heart and my kitchen plentiful.

In gratitude,

Julia

Food Blog

3005, 2020

Golestan Beef Kabob

We eat this kabob on lavash with pickles, mayo, tomato, lettuce and sometimes an extra sprinkle of sumac. This is what I make whenever we pack lunches to-go, as [...]

3005, 2020

Red Sauce

Ingredients: 1 large onion 2 medium carrots 2 stalks of celery 3 garlic cloves ¼ cup olive oil 1 28 oz can of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes [...]