“What are you doing with that kitchen?”

That was the question Chef Kari asked when she first walked into Mac Market. The kitchen was newly minted as a commissary space and the pandemic was a month away. After a few conversations about the hopes and dreams of Mac Market, she hopped on board. What started as a breakfast menu, pivoted through meal kits, food to-go, pantry staples, then was fine-tuned as a shared plate program (Collab Kitchen) is now, over three years later, Hayward the restaurant.

Learn more about Chef Kari’s methods in the video plus meet the team and some of our farms below.

Chef Kari Shaughnessy

Kari developed an interest in food at a young age. The Massachusetts native got her first job in the industry at 14 and never looked back, but it was a move to San Francisco at age 21 that really opened her eyes to the importance of working with the best ingredients available. Working in some of the best kitchens on the west coast, including stints at Bay Area institutions Frances, Sons & Daughters, and Marla Bakery, Kari immersed herself in the cycles of local seasonality, getting to know small farmers, ranchers, and fisherpeople. She honed her skills with vegetables, taking notes from mentors like Frances’ Melissa Parello, and challenged herself to learn the ins and outs of whole animal butchery.

After a detour to Maine to help her dad raise some cattle, she moved to Oregon to head up the kitchen at McMinnville’s Mac Market. The pandemic shut down indoor dining just three weeks after they opened, and the Mac Market team scrambled to reinvent the dining program they’d just spent so much time and care developing.

Kari admits those early days were fraught with uncertainty, but looking back on it now she says it forced her to really examine who she is as a chef and find her style. She cooks how she eats, which is to say that no matter what’s on the plate, expect it to contain layers of textures and unexpected flavors set off against bright hits of acid and a shower of fresh herbs. As difficult as the pandemic closures were, they helped her to find her footing in a new town, and Kari now takes full advantage of her location in the heart of the Willamette Valley, creating seasonal menus bursting with creative takes on local veg.

Executive Sous Chef Jon Inonueri

Across fields of Yucca flowers, a kernel of huitlacoche blows north on a southern wind. Herbs and spices kissed by the Mediterranean sun, salted by the Aegean Sea. Only these perfect conditions could have brought Jon to us, and to you, our friends and family of Hayward.

Sous Chef Søren Kalbfleisch

Mustache or mustachent, you’ll know this face. Master of many trades, jack of none. A friend to enough, a gentleman to all. And with micros always green, never waved; unless waving in the cool breeze, please welcome with open but not too grabby arms, Søren.

Meet Some of Our Farms

  • Erik and Beth of Even Pull Farms in their greenhouse

    Even Pull Farm

    First generation farmers since 2014. High quality, responsibly-grown, beautiful produce and cut flowers as close to year-round as possible. Currently everything grown is sold within a 25 mile radius of the farm.

  • Bernards Farm barn in a field of grass and hills behind

    Bernards Farm

    What started out to be a roadside stand in 1973 has grown to be a 500 acre farm, and a commercial kitchen in our barn. We work the rich soil of this bountiful valley with a labor of love that we wish to share with the world.

  • Picking strawberries on the farm

    Pablo Munoz Farms

    Pablo started his farming life on a cattle farm where the owner graciously encouraged him to cultivate his own garden that eventually grew into a business now offering local produce every season.

  • Farmers Christina and Zach under an oak tree.

    Campfire Farms

    Our animals spend their lives in an environment close to their natural habitat. Expression of their natural instincts leads to a healthier, happier animal, and a more nutritious product than animals confined in modern meat factories.

  • Revel Meat Co sign

    Revel Meat Co.

    We work with restaurants and consumers who are branching out from commodity meat to connect people with the ranchers who work to raise their food and ultimately create change in our broken food system.