Rose Pistola

PEOPLE: Laurie Thomas, Valentino Luchin, Danielle Hooper and Kerry Glancy along with 2 rotating sales people and 3 or 4 cooks

ABOUT: Rose Pistola was established in 1996 in San Francisco's North Beach; Rose's Café opened in 1997. Even though "rebuilding" the restaurant every week at the farmers' market is hard work, the Rose Pistola staff say that they enjoy being outside, watching the sunrise on the bay, and seeing some of their regular restaurant guests in a different setting. Pastries are made fresh every Saturday morning at Rose's Café, and food preparation is done in the Rose Pistola kitchen on Fridays.

SOURCING: Much of the fresh produce that Rose Pistola uses is organic, and some is sourced directly from farms that sell at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. About half of the flour for their pastries is organic; the wheat is grown in the Western United States and Canada and milled in South San Francisco. Meat is hormone-free from Del Monte and Golden Gate Meat Company. Butter comes from Oregon and France and eggs are sourced locally. Cane sugar is used in pastries. Oranges for orange juice are from a local distributor.