December 2018/January 2019 67
age to the cuisine of New Orleans, and a
new dining spot in Aptos called Mentone
to open in spring. Equipped with a woodburning
oven, it will feature a unique take
on French-Italian cuisine and have the same
casual vibe as The Bywater.
At age 57, Kinch has been in the restaurant
business for more than 40 years,
and he’s started to think about what comes
next, explaining, “I’ve worked enough for
two lifetimes.” Fortunately for South Bay
diners, this modest, insightful chef will
continue being involved with food, but in
the meantime, he’s got interesting things to
say about his background, the South Bay
restaurant scene, his latest activities and
what the inspired creation of food means
to him.
SOUTH BAY ACCENT: How did you get into
the restaurant business? Are there any
chefs in your family?
DAVID KINCH: Nobody was in the restaurant
business and nobody pursued food as a
hobby or passion, but my grandmothers
were very simple cooks, but good cooks.
For me, the key was when my family moved
to New Orleans and I started working in
restaurants after (high) school part-time and
I fell headlong into the restaurant and food
culture in New Orleans, which is incredibly
vibrant and deeply ingrained. That’s really
where I fell for it. It fed into all the interests
I had as a young kid: wanting to be creative,
working with my hands, pleasing people—I
found it. And I found an intellectual bent
to it as well. You fall into the culture there.
It was hard to not like it for me.
SBA: You’ve been in the South Bay since
1995. How has the food scene changed over
the years since then?
DK: I knew (the South Bay) was a little off
the beaten path, a little bit of a backwater,
but I felt if I stuck to my vision and worked
hard, people would come. (Back then) you
had San Francisco in the ’80s and ’90s, you
had the Disneyland of the wine country
in the North Bay. And in the East Bay, of
course, you had the whole Chez Panisse
circle; gourmet ghetto and all that. So the
South Bay was the last frontier in terms of
the Bay Area. But we had a client base here,
people with disposable income. People in
the South Bay are sophisticated; they travel,
they were open to new experiences.
David Kinch at
the entrance to
Manresa; Left:
Manresa chefs prep
for evening service;
Manresa’s signature
dish Into the
Vegetable Garden.
The Manresa
cookbook.