So many inputs affect what ends up on our plate — location, climate, culture, farmers, ranchers, fisherfolk, food scientists, restaurant operators, corporations, subsidies, technology, laborers, transportation, artisans, legislation, global trade, wholesalers, consumers. For those interested in redesigning and improving that system, where do we even begin?
These chefs say there is no better place than the kitchen. At Chat Room: Food, we’ll explore the chef’s role in transforming the food system one meal at a time in a conversation moderated by Gazetteer SF food & drink reporter Olivia Peluso. What could “food system transformation” even look like? How has the cultural context of chefs evolved, and how can they instigate change?
Our panelists will help answer these questions:
Kevin Chen is a cook at Four Kings, recently named the top restaurant in the Bay Area for 2026 by the SF Chronicle. His path through food has taken him from running a tofu company to consulting for large agribusinesses. He is also the founder of System Suppers, a Bay Area dinner series that convenes chefs, farmers, buyers, and investors around food systems orchestration.
Will Koh is a nutrition scientist, food researcher, and chef. With a background in planetary health and sustainability, he originally came to the Bay to work in R&D at Impossible Foods, where he translated nutritional science for consumers and brought new foods to market. In 2025, he launched Treat Street Apizza (@treatstreetapizza), a New Haven-inspired pizza business in SF. He has been honing his foodcraft for the past six months as a line cook and oven man at Outta Sight Pizza in the Tenderloin.
Gary Podesto is a cook at Berkeley’s legendary Chez Panisse, an advisor at Climate Farm School, and a private chef. His work focuses on using cooking as a medium for understanding—bringing abstract ideas about resilient food systems into tangible, shared experience. At the center of his practice is a simple question: how can a meal deepen our relationship to the land and to one another?
Chat Room: Food
June 18, 2026
Swedish American Hall
2174 Market St.
Doors: 6 p.m.
Show: 6:30 p.m.
Entry includes free flow beer and wine from 6:00-9:30 p.m. This event is 21+.
Food will be available for purchase from pop ups.All Chat Room events are free for Gazetteer SF paid subscribers but space is limited. Subscribers may write to chelly@gazetteer.co to receive your free ticket code. Non-subscribers may purchase tickets here for $30 + fees.
