Changes at Healdburg SHED as Chef Leaves for Europe

Healdsburg SHED co-owner Cindy Daniel announced yesterday that award-winning culinary director Perry Hoffman is leaving her kitchen for Europe and beyond.

Recently named one of Eater’s California Essential 38 Restaurants in 2018, SHED brought Hoffman on in 2015 to lead its ambitious programs: the Café and the SHED Pantry Line of products. During his tenure, the Café received a 2018 Bib Gourmand and was named to Michael Bauer’s Top 100 Restaurants list for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hoffman will leave the James Beard Award-winning retail space and Café after the busy Labor Day weekend to travel with his family. He anticipates returning to the U.S. in 2019 to join the team at his family’s businesses, which include Boonville Hotel and the Philo Apple Farm. It’s just part of the chef’s wine country legacy of hospitality: Hoffman’s grandparents started the French Laundry in Yountville, before it was purchased by Thomas Keller.

Taking his place is former chef de cuisine Bryan Oliver who has been elevated to acting executive chef. The two first cooked together at Étoile, where they earned a Michelin star. Oliver, 31, was Hoffman’s first hire at SHED and has worked with a who’s-who of culinary stars, including Daniel Patterson, Charlie Parker, Kim Alter, Robin Song, and others.

In a press release, Hoffman said, “[Bryan] and I have cooked side by side for years; he speaks the same language, and through look and taste, he knows where to take a dish. We have shared so many high points together since he started with me at the beginning of his career at étoile. I know SHED will be in good hands.”

Bill Addison

While SHED conducts a nationwide hunt to replace Hoffman, Oliver will oversee changes in evening service. The Café, formerly open until 9 p.m., will close at 7 p.m., effective September 4. Breakfast and lunch service will remain unchanged, but from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the kitchen will focus on its popular Larder program, allowing guests to compose their own salad and mezze plates and enjoy pizzas from the wood-fired oven. The popular take-away dinner program will also be enlarged.

“Guests today love to build their own sharable evening meals — and we will be creatively expanding on this concept later in the year,” said Cindy Daniel.

With Blue Hill at Stone Barn’s Dan Barber set to cook there in October, Daniel anticipates expanding the chef events she hosts in her Modern Grange space above SHED’s Café and retail hall. Stay tuned for both Hoffman and SHED’s next moves.

• Eater’s Essential 38 California Restaurants [E]
• 10 Restaurants Worth the Drive from SF [ESF]