Grana's Executive Chef Sarah Jesper dishes seasonality

Taproom Hours

THURSDAY: 4-8 PM FRIDAY: 4-8 PM SATURDAY: 11 AM-8 PM SUNDAY: 11 AM-5 PM

88O COUNTY ROAD WW PRINCETON, CA 95970

for reservations call: 530-982-2016

Seasonality at its finest

Executive Chef Sarah Jesper brightens Grana’s restaurant kitchen with her skillset and assured philosophy of all things in concert with the seasonality of the time. This certainty is carefully supported to the point the restaurant does not have a freezer. Sarah notes, “What is the use of tomatoes, just to have them when they are out of season?” As a result, Grana buys all fruit and vegetables locally. Sarah lights up at the fact the food actually tastes better while supporting local farmers and the local economy itself. The importance of seasonality comes with the fact items on the menu do not last long before being replaced by new ones. Currently, Sarah delights in the featured Pork-n-Peach pizza which is her favorite go-to. The actual philosophy of the kitchen at Grana is, “No way we use stuff not in season.” Furthermore, this is taken so seriously that the restaurant’s owner rotates the impressive wine list to match each change of season. Did we mention the restaurant does not have a freezer?

Sarah left her Bay Area city of Concord to pursue a degree as a computer science programmer. The degree ended up in computer graphics. As many college grads, Sarah felt the undeniable urge to follow her own dream—to become a chef. She headed north, enrolling in the Portland Culinary School with a curriculum providing good, basic knowledge and a common vocabulary. Upon completion, Sarah moved to where it “feels like home with great food.” Back in Chico, she worked in kitchens at both Upper Crust and 33 Steak Booze & Jazz. These gigs were followed by a move to the Central Coast, where Sarah was introduced to a locally driven artisanal approach to cooking. Five years later, she returned to Chico and surveyed the beneficial sum total of her vast and different experiences in the culinary world she actively engaged in. She put this knowledge to work at Grana, where she’s been the executive chef for the past six years.

We celebrate this brilliant addition to Chico’s broad restaurant scene and look forward to the changing over from summer to fall— including just how Sarah will shift the menu to best utilize the seasonality of the time. We simply cannot wait for her next go-to dish to pop up on the specials being shared at each and every table. You can find Sarah at Grana at 198 E Second Street.