We are excited to welcome you to our Community Table all summer. This beloved event brings a renowned chef to our farm to design an ecological meal around our four seasonal rotations (market garden, milpa, fruit forest, cover crops) highlighting the bioregional cuisine of San Juan. By bringing these culinary artists back to the source, they have the chance to connect with new ingredients, unearth fresh inspiration in our bioregion’s historic foodways, and discover the rewards of relationship with the land.
A native of Florida, Chef Joe Bower became enthralled by the culinary industry at a young age after his family moved to southern Indiana. At the age of eight, he recalls setting an alarm so he could watch Julia and Jacque Cooking at Home followed by Martha Stewart Living. As a child, he had a propensity for obsessively reading and collecting cookbooks and, by the time he was 18, had already read over 100. Like many others, Bower got his first official taste of the restaurant world working as a dishwasher at the age of 12. After attending college and working under one of the nation’s true Master Certified Chefs, Bower continued to gain experience working in kitchens across the U.S. from Atlanta to Marco Island to Albuquerque, before finally landing in San Diego at the city’s venerable dining destination, Juniper & Ivy followed by a brief time at Little Italy’s Craft & Commerce. At both San Diego institutions Bower gained invaluable knowledge from his mentors Anthony Wells and Jason McCloud that he plans to carry with him to his new venture overseeing the kitchen at Green Acre. During his nearly two decades in the kitchen, Bower credits the acclaimed chefs that he’s had the privilege of working with to collaboratively receive a range of prestigious awards from Michelin’s Bib Gourmand to numerous local awards including Best Restaurant, Best Fine Dining and Best Farm to Table. He says his greatest pride isn’t in his own accomplishments but in watching the young, aspirational cooks working for him grow into mature, talented chefs. In early 2024, Bower opened Finca in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood, featuring an innovative selection of market-driven California tapas.
FAQ
DIETARY PREFERENCES
Community Table dinners are fixed course, family-style meals. As such, we cannot accommodate every dietary restriction. Please email us with any dietary needs. We will try to accommodate for vegetarian/vegan needs, gluten intolerance, and seafood/shellfish allergies but let us know if there are any specific dietary restrictions for any of your guests. We will do our best to accommodate anything beyond the 3 listed. If there are any life threatening allergies we recommend emailing before purchasing tickets.
SCHEDULE
Community Table Dinners begin at 6pm, when we’ll start with drinks and a farm tour. We appreciate timeliness as the dinner is coursed intentionally with just one seating. Dinners typically end around 10pm.
REFUNDS
We can offer refunds up to one week before the dinner. In the case that you need to cancel last minute, we would be happy to work with you to pass along your tickets to friends or family members.
MEMBERSHIP
If you are an active member of The Ecology Center, thank you so much for your support! As a token of our appreciation, we are pleased to offer you exclusive ticket pricing. If you are not yet a member but wish to take advantage of the discount, please visit our SUPPORT page to become a member today. If you’re unsure of your membership status, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected], and we’ll be happy to assist