It is very rare that one finds a restaurant that was born not only out of a love for food and cooking but also out of a love for helping their food suppliers around it. Gather is one of these restaurants.

In 2001, Eric Fenster, co-owner of Gather, began working to create a restaurant that would bring people together over food while also supporting local farmers and ranchers and the planet. In 2009, Gather opened its doors with renowned Executive Chef Sean Baker at its head. It offers a range of Northern Californian dishes that are a melange of olden and contemporary culinary styles while incorporating ingredients from current harvests.

The restaurant provides the perfect atmosphere for a relaxed but social meal out. They offer brunch, lunch and dinner, although the restaurant’s magic can be best felt at night, when the place is lit up beautifully.

Gather’s menu is well-balanced between meat, vegetarian, gluten-free and vegan options, and despite the fact that most of the items on the menu are ordinary dishes, they are so uniquely made that you won’t be able to compare them to your regular around the corner joint. The menu includes delicious dishes such as split pea soup, roasted young chicken and a variety of pizzas that are large enough to share. We tried the vegan tomato pizza and the fontinella pizza, both of which had thin crispy crusts that provided a pleasant contrast to the doughy crust of other pizza places. The vegan tomato pizza has cashew puree instead of cheese, as well as chili oil, capers, olives and parsley to add some more flavor. The pizza tasted so good, we didn’t know it was vegan until we gave the menu a second look.

Gather also offers a variety of desserts. So far, the best one we’ve tasted is the mouth-watering hazelnut mousse with pomegranate and salted caramel ice cream.

The only downside to Gather is that its dishes are quite pricey for a college student’s budget. This is not your everyday dinner. But for a once-in-a-while meal, Gather is definitely worth it.