Tag Archives: Chef Tim Humphrey

Ofena Fits Like A Glove

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A special of porchetta to celebrate Ofena's first anniversary.
A special of porchetta to celebrate Ofena’s first anniversary.

Tim Humphrey’s Ofena restaurant is a passion project if there ever was one, filled with meaningful touchstones from his life.

Located on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco’s Lakeside Village, the building sat empty for a dozen years before the the chef-owner and his business partner, Tan Truong of San Francisco’s Ju-Ni and Handroll Project, took it over.

Named after the town in Italy from where his great-grandparents hailed before immigrating to the United States, Ofena the restaurant just celebrated its first anniversary last month. When he was 30, Humphrey took his mom to that town. After she passed away, he found her travel journals about that trip. Now, her handwriting is immortalized in the lettering for “Ofena” on the menu, as well on the neon sign on the front of the restaurant.

The script used for the restaurant's name is from the handwriting of Chef Tim Humphrey's late-mother.
The script used for the restaurant’s name is from the handwriting of Chef Tim Humphrey’s late-mother.
Executive Chef Tim Humphrey, who has cooked at a legion of well-known Northern California restaurants.
Executive Chef Tim Humphrey, who has cooked at a legion of well-known Northern California restaurants.

When you get to the dessert menu, you’ll find an especially sweet tribute to another longtime friend of Humphrey’s, a server who worked at many of his previous restaurants who passed away from leukemia. More on that later.

It’s all characteristic of the warmth you’ll find at this restaurant, which was packed last Saturday night when I was invited in as a guest of Humphrey’s.

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A Taste of the Seasons at Danville Harvest

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Lamb with carrot puree at Danville Harvest.

Lamb with carrot puree at Danville Harvest.

For those who have never been to downtown Danville — and I count myself in that group until a couple weeks ago — it’s high-time to explore this sunny town in the San Ramon Valley. Picture a larger downtown Los Gatos, and you get the idea of how cute and inviting this area is.

Danville Harvest is a perfect place to stop in for a bite to eat, too. With its interior barn doors, library ladders, pewter light fixtures, walls of white subway tiles, displays of old farm tools and antique bottles, and gray tufted leather booths set off by billowy, printed drapes, it’s a Chip-and-Joanna-Gaines rustic-chic interior come to life. Yes, I watch too much “Fixer Upper” on HGTV. But this space is definitely done up in that comfortable-chic style we all can’t get enough of.

Chef Tim Humphrey.

Chef Tim Humphrey.

The servers dress in cute gingham shirts. Old glass pane windows front the kitchen to give a glimpse into all the action. And there’s plenty of outdoor seating with a fire pit and strings of lights overhead.

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