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FREEDOM RAINS

Executive Chef Freedom Rains (Flour + Water, Incanto and Belga, among other notable SF restaurants) has crafted a menu of hand-made pastas and other traditional Italian dishes--all made fresh, by hand, daily... Having worked with some of the Bay Area’s most talented chefs and in many popular San Francisco restaurants for the past 14 years, Freedom draws from his superb education when creating delicious and well executed dishes at A Mano. With notable chefs such as Nancy Oakes, Thomas McNaughton, Jason Berthold and Chris Cosentino as references on his resume, Freedom brings to the kitchen the best he has learned from his mentors. While at Boulevard, Freedom’s first job in San Francisco and where he worked for seven years under Chef Nancy Oakes, he progressed from a line cook to sous chef. Freedom credits Nancy with expanding his view of Bay Area cooking. 

FREEDOM RAINS

From Boulevard, Freedom moved to Flour+Water, where he worked as Sous Chef under Chef Thomas McNaughton. Thomas taught Freedom the methods of whole-animal butchering. Freedom was inspired by Thomas’ working style and passion for Italian cooking, which ultimately led to Freedom’s travel through Italy and his own passion for the country’s recipes and cooking. After Flour+Water, Freedom refined his skills at RN74 as Sous Chef under Chef Jason Berthold. Jason enhanced Freedom’s ability to perform consistently as a chef; Freedom believes this skill to be one of the most important indicators of success for any restaurant.

FREEDOM RAINS

Good leadership, a crucial skill for an executive chef, was enhanced for Freedom under Chef Chris Cosentino, who gave Freedom his first job as Chef de Cuisine at Incanto. While at Incanto, Freedom practiced the philosophy of offal cooking, or using every part of the animal in the creation of many dishes. Chris also taught Freedom the importance of considering texture and layering when plating. In 2015, Freedom joined Back of The House to open Belga--a full-service Belgian brasserie in 2015. At Belga, Freedom created a menu of traditional Belgian dishes, making everything in-house whenever possible. With an eye to the fundamentals of Italian cuisine, Freedom looks forward to making fresh and flavorful pasta for the Hayes Valley neighborhood.