Part of the Solution: Lunchette
Petaluma, CA — Naomi Crawford went to UC Davis with every intention to study political science in preparation for law school. When she arrived, she “wiggled” her way into a cooking gig based on some childhood “experience.” And so begins a story that we hear often (to the great consternation of parents everywhere), “I realized that I was really in love with food, and working with it brought me a lot of joy.”
Instead of heading to law school, Naomi went straight to the kitchens of San Francisco, where she worked with a series of women chefs, whom she credits as being beautiful mentors who deepened her connection to the local agricultural community. She also met Joel Baecker, who would become her partner in life and business. After attending culinary school, Joel interned at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. “It changed his life. He wanted to cook food with soul. For us, that meant cooking food that came straight from farmers and ranchers,” says Naomi.
The couple got married and decided to build portable wood-fired pizza ovens that could travel to Farmer’s Markets. For almost fifteen years, Naomi and Joel brought Pizza Politana to fourteen markets a week, and eventually opened their own restaurant in Petaluma.
Lunchette, in many ways, is an extension of their family. With a daughter who is a vegetarian and a son who is a regenerative omnivore, their menu focuses on plant-based meals with meat sourced from regenerative operations like Zero Foodprint grantee Stemple Creek. “We opened Lunchette in 2017 to move beyond the gluten base, but still be working with farmers in a more substantial way. Now our entire menu almost exclusively comes from farmers in our local area,” says Naomi.
When a friend from the Azores sent her a link to an article on Zero Foodprint, it was a no-brainer for Naomi, who has always seen the future of restaurants being based in sustainability and regeneration. “My first thought was, I can get every restaurant in Petaluma to sign onto this. I’ll go first! This is a shitty time for our industry, but if I can work out the kinks now, then we’ll be ready for what comes after. But, [ZFP membership] has been effortless. It doesn’t take a lot of work or bandwidth. Our community likes the fact that we’re involved, and we haven’t had one person say no thank you to the 1% charge.”
Participation in the program has allowed Lunchette to directly support their farming community, and allowed Naomi to keep doing what she does best: looking for ways to engage her larger community in sustainable practices. Lunchette’s fast-casual model is designed to increase equity in the operation. She’s worked with her suppliers for better compostable take-out containers, and reduced their trash to almost nothing. She’s filled her shelves with products made by local artisans and collectives. Each product tells a story of a person working hard to make their community a little better. “We could all do a little better. That’s why I’m always striving, because whatever it takes, I don’t want to keep being part of the problem.”
We’re honored that Naomi, Joel, and the whole team at Lunchette have chosen to be a part of the solution with Zero Foodprint. Next time you’re in Petaluma, try a grain bowl from Lunchette! Your soul will thank you.