Chef Geoffrey Reed has been involved with numerous restaurant openings, including Pläj alongside Executive Chef Roberth Sundell, rated among the top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area by the SF Chronicle. As part of his FishInKitchen workshop series, Geoffrey takes people on fishing trips, teaching them how to clean and cook their own catch. Now with Feastly, Chef Reed hosts a series of omakase pop-ups, featuring his one-of-a-kind recipes using fresh-caught seafood and locally foraged ingredients sourced exclusively from the Bay Area.
Where did you develop your most critical culinary skills?
Working with Nobuo Fukuda and learning the Japanese mentality behind food; combined with a science background to observe and understand.
Do you miss working in traditional brick and mortar restaurants?
I miss the sense of camaraderie that you have with a traditional restaurant.
How has hosting pop-ups with Feastly allowed you to explore your culinary aspirations?
It really has been an incredible journey and evolution from the experience marketplace to the pop-up side of things. Being able to give people a sense of ownership over their experience is incredibly rewarding. I don’t plan to operate a restaurant in the traditional sense.
Can you describe your typical week?
It’s never really the same. Leading up the dinners I forage and I fish almost every day, what I would be doing on a “day off”. Anywhere from Humboldt to Monterey, or the Sierras. Hit the farmer’s market to supplement and buy whatever looks good. Be a grunt at Sequoia sake doing whatever I can to help out and learn about the process.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve served in your Omakase pop-ups?
I make a salt out of Turkish Towel seaweed which has been partially digested by a Monkeyface Eel, then make kombujime using the salt to cure the eel.
Monkeyface Trio: Kombujime, seaweed salt, fresh pressed olive oil, sweet lime zest, ginger. Tataki, momoji oroshi, ponzu, i’itoi onion. Ceviche, homemade fish sauce, meyer lemon, tomato, red onion, cilantro.What has been the most challenging aspect of your ever-changing source for self-caught seafood?
I can play off of tides, weather, and seasonality as best I can but nothing is reliable. I’ve had days where I have what is needed in an hour and some when I come home empty handed after 14. The game plan evolves constantly, it’s tough to figure out the critical point to shift directions.
Outside of cooking, fishing, and foraging, what other skills are you applying to your elaborate dinners?
It’s a form of story telling, walking people through my week. Incorporating the Gyotaku, teaching people how clean and fillet the fish. They have the opportunity to touch the fish before it’s broken down in front of them, an educational process.
Dungeness crab chawanmushi, shiitake mushrooms, sweet corn, mitsuba, yuzu.Feastly is an online marketplace for discovering unique food experiences near you. Share a table with new friends, tempt your palate with authentic cuisine, and engage with chefs and passionate home cooks like never before. All photography by Patrick Wong (headshots) and Phi Tran (food).
Find out more about Chef Geoffrey Reed at his Chef’s Roll profile and Feastly profile.
Mugi miso glazed pork belly, braised daikon, 5-spice broth, egg yolk, nardello pepper, shimeji.
