Dava Guthmiller president
Carmen Tedesco vice chair
Vera Ciammetti volunteer coordination
Naomi Friedman school garden liason
Niema Quite events liason
Darrow Vanderburgh-Wertz time for lunch programs
Eleanor Bertino communications
Slow Food San Francisco
Slow Food San Francisco leaders formed an advisory leadership board in late 2008 after the success of Slow Food Nation attracted new members. It was a good time to grow. The leadership committee includes people who have been active in the Slow Food San Francisco community in various ways over the years.
Today, Slow Food San Francisco is led by the combined effort of Dava Guthmiller and Lorenzo Scarpone, plus the leadership committee of Carmen Tedesco, Vera Ciammetti, Eleanor Bertino, and Naomi Friedman. We also have amazing program and events committee leaders in Steve Rich, Darrow Vanderbergh-Wertz, Dory Elis, Niema Quite and Laura O'Donohue.
Our History
Slow Food San Francisco started in the late '80s after Lorenzo Scarpone, a native Italian and SF resident first met Carlo Petrini. It began with the Slow Food office in New York that helped gather about 20 people from restaurants that shared the Slow Food philosophy. The initial membership consisted of just 18-20 people who received a printed newsletter about every two-three months. The first meetings, held at local restaurants that promoted Slow Food values, had a specific themes. One of the first meetings was an Olive Oil tasting at Vivande moderated by Darryl Corti. Another early meeting included a taste comparison between Petaluma cheese and honey and the cheese and honey made in Gran Sasso National Park in Abruzzo, Italy. Early on the members each paid their own tab at the restaurant and Villa Italia, Scarpone's wine importing business, paid the operating expenses for the convivium. Local philanthropic activities were a central piece of the organization from the start as well. The first event was a dinner at Davies Symphony Hall catered by Vito and Carol Passero to raise money for a donation to the Arthritis Foundation. And, for two years the convivium held a mini Golden Glass-style fundraiser to benefit the Arthritis Foundation of San Francisco. Together with Barbara Bowman and Janet Mettler they also organized the first US press conference for Salone del Gusto in Italy and asked Carlo Petrini to speak. They had many visible people at this event one of whom was Alice Waters who stopped by briefly to meet Carlo Petrini.
Under the guidance of Scarpone and other members, Slow Food San Francisco evolved to include over 800 members.