Meet the crew

Portrait of a bearded man wearing a black beanie and black hoodie with a logo reading 'Stemple Creek Ranch,' smiling against a gray textured wall.
A man with curly hair standing outdoors, wearing a dark green hat with a logo, a white t-shirt, and a white apron, holding a ceramic mug that says 'Local Willy's.'

  • Chef Seth Stowaway is the founder of The Same Sun Hospitality, a company dedicated to supporting independent operators through thoughtful management, investment, and operational infrastructure. Known for his reverence for live-fire cooking and Northern California’s deep culinary heritage, Stowaway’s work is guided by a belief in storytelling through food, hospitality as ceremony, and leadership through intention. His first restaurant Osito gained a Michelin star in its first year and maintained it for the 3 years it was open.

    Before opening Osito, Seth spent over a decade helping shape San Francisco’s food scene. He worked at Bar Agricole from its opening in 2008 through 2019, then joined Mister Jiu’s as a senior leader, helping the restaurant retain its Michelin star and national acclaim. Osito opened in 2021 as a wholly fire-powered, communal dining experience, earning its own Michelin star and a loyal following for its soulful, seasonal cooking rooted in regional tradition.

    Seth’s culinary perspective has been deeply shaped by the legacy of Northern California’s most influential restaurants and chefs—visionaries like Judy Rodgers, Alice Waters, and Russell Moore—whose commitment to simplicity, seasonality, and integrity continue to inform his work. Through The Same Sun and his upcoming project Emmanuel, he continues to explore how food can connect people, elevate place, and honor the past while making space for the future.

    Seth lives in the Mission District of San Francisco and has had a dream of creating a west coast style diner reminiscent of the ones he frequented as a child in Texas, only with a mission district flair. The city needs fun and Seth is committed to seeing the city thrive. This concept is the kind of thing that will speak to all kinds of people whether young and wanting something fun, or families wanting a place their children are welcome.

  • An award-winning bartender and drink creator, Nora has gladly devoted her life’s work to all things beverage and hospitality.  Over the last decade, she has developed over 30 bar programs from Scottsdale to San Francisco, from Delhi to Rio.  She currently spends her time as Operating Partner in Buddy (Esquire's 50 Best Bars in America, 2023), a natural wine bar in San Francisco with a focus on equitable pay, and as a bar and beverage consultant for a wide variety of clients up and down the West Coast with her company West Bev Consulting.   She is inspired by provenance, diversity, terroir and process.  

    Originally from Seattle, she now splits her time between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

  • Cole Jeanes is the founder of Beurre Hospitality, a Memphis based company dedicated to preserving and reimagining Southern foodways through thoughtful restaurants, mentorship, and storytelling. Known for his respect for craftsmanship, community, and the everyday artifacts of Southern life, Jeanes’s work is guided by a belief that food tells the story of who we are  that hospitality, when practiced with care, becomes an act of preservation.

    A graduate of L’École Culinaire in Memphis (2014), Jeanes honed his craft in acclaimed local kitchens such as Hog & Hominy, a Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient, and Porcellino’s Craft Butcher, named one of Bon Appétit’s Top 50 Best New Restaurants (2015).

    In 2024, he opened Kinfolk, a breakfast focused restaurant rooted in memory and intention. The concept earned Best New Restaurant (Memphis Flyer, 2024) and was featured by John T. Edge in Garden & Gun, later appearing on the magazine’s Hot List: 30 New Restaurants to Try Now.

    The following year, Jeanes and his partners launched Hard Times Deli, which was named Best New Restaurant (Memphis Flyer, 2025), followed by Gussied Up, opening in 2026 a neighborhood cocktail bar , inspired by dives, celebrating nostalgia and Southern storytelling. That same year, Jeanes joined The Same Sun Hospitality, partnering with chef Seth Stowaway to open Chicken Fried Palace in San Francisco’s Mission District, a diner celebrating the South through the lens of West Coast creativity.

    Through his Etowah Collective dinner series, Jeanes continues to bring chefs, farmers, and guests together around the table, fostering mentorship and connection through shared meals. His work centers on cultivating a sense of place, creating restaurants and experiences that honor Southern tradition while inspiring the next generation of cooks and storytellers to carry it forward.