Who We Are

We are a family ~ Jil, Geoffrey and Lukka ~ who work together at a variety of things that we love and believe in. Barndiva, Studio Barndiva, and Fork & Shovel all grew out of a simple desire to celebrate the exquisite food shed surrounding us, and help people recognize the effort it takes so many talented people to keep it going.

Sometimes this homage has a direct link: used cooking oil runs farm tractors, while organic trim from the kitchen feeds the chickens that lay our eggs. Sometimes it's more oblique: Barndiva is a founding member of Fork & Shovel, a farmers and chefs collaborative that includes 30 other restaurants. Where others see competition, we see collaboration, a rising tide that lifts all of us — chefs, farmers, artisans — as we source the delicious, the beautiful and the useful things that fill our lives.

When we haven't been dry farming apples, figs and chestnuts on a ridge above the pacific, we have pursued excellence in the worlds of architecture and design, photography, journalism, food and hospitality. We have done this in LA, London, San Francisco, and always in Philo, California. All our interests come together in Barndiva, and in our gallery next door, Studio Barndiva.