Executive Chef Blair Warsham combines his education, training and travels abroad to create his playful and soulful modern American dishes using the best in locally sourced, sustainable, organic ingredients. In early 2009, after the closure of his much beloved restaurant Tinderbox and a brief stint at Cetrella in Half Moon Bay, Warsham decided to finally launch his long time deliberated project graffEats. He sees it as a chance to create an entirely different type of dining experience in a new dymnamic; as well as having a chance to put his money where his mouth is and give back to the community.

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Warsham’s education began in the kitchen at a very early age, where he helped his grandmother craft feasts for the family. His creative spirit can be traced to his mother, an accomplished interior designer, which cultivated an early appreciation for plate design, depth, color and contrast. These two disciplines proved to be the perfect combination, laying the groundwork for the beginning of an impressive culinary career.

Warsham’s professional culinary journey began in Charleston, South Carolina where he graduated with Honors from the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University in 2000. Upon graduation, he continued working under the tutelage of Executive Chef Bob Waggoner, a three-time James Beard nominee for ‘Best Chef of the Southeast’, at South Carolina’s only Mobile 4-Star/AAA 4-Diamond restaurant, the Charleston Grill.

In 2003, Warsham accepted an exclusive offer from Waggoner to train with some of France’s most renowned chefs, the first of what would be several bold moves. Over the next year, he served as a comis at a manifold of Michelin-rated restaurants with chefs Patrice Demangel of Sofitel Biarritz Miramar Hotel, Gerard Charbonier of Le Bougaincillier , and Jose Deanacleto of Hotel Million. Before returning to the United States in 2004, Warsham completed his European experience working under chefs Rose Gray and Ruth Rodgers at The River Café.

With a newfound enlightenment garnered while studying abroad, Warsham was eager to find a restaurant where he could apply la technique to American food. Ironically, he was led back to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to work with executive chef Anne Quatrano, three-time James Beard winner for ‘Best Chef of the Southeast’, at Bacchanalia. Her passion for California cuisine was contagious, and was what ultimately set Warsham’s sights to Northern California.

When an executive sous chef was needed to help open at The General’s Daughter in Sonoma, Warsham’s credentials made him an obvious choice. It was at The General’s Daughter where Warsham truly grew into his love for California’s fresh approach using local waters, farms and artisan producers of Northern California to find the highest quality sustainable ingredients available.

After dining at Campton Place in San Francisco, Warsham was captivated by executive chef Daniel Humm’s forward thinking approach to creating innovative and contemporary cuisine that married modern French with American sensibilities. Warsham knew that working for Humm was the next step in his culinary progression, and thus made the move from Sonoma to San Francisco to join Campton Place. Humm left Campton Place for 11 Madison in New York and extended Warsham the sous chef position, but Warsham declined the generous offer to stay in the Bay area.

Warsham then made his next bold step in opening the acclaimed Tinderbox in San Francisco, a “freestyle bistro” which claimed to cook outside the confines of categorization. Tinderbox was publically deemed “more smart than hip” and the new “King of Bernal Heights”.

Later warsham decided to take the reigns at Cetrella in Half Moon Bay. Currently, wanting to get back to his more creative roots of dining, he created graffEats Guerrilla Dining. Now you can find him taking his show on the road hosting events all over the Bay Area and beyond.

Warsham’s dedication to excel and devotion to create dishes with an idyllic balance of flavor, texture, and color did not go unnoticed by his mentors. Over the years, Warsham has been invited and participated in a constellation of special events including; the 73 rd and 74th Fiera Nazionale Del Tartufo Bianca D’ Alba, Disney World’s Food and Wine Celebration, Hilton Head Island’s Wine Celebration and Auction, Salute to Southern Chefs, Food and Wine Magazine’s Wine Awards 2006, ZAP 2009-10, Best of the Bay etc…

Chef de Cusine

Chef Clint Davies began his culinary pedigree just like most of us did, working his way up the ranks in one of his home town restaurants; only his hometown restaurant was on the northern coast of New Zealand.  Davies earned his keep in a number of fine dining restaurants back home before making the leap over the pond to spend his time behind the stove in a bevy of restaurants throughout Scotland, Spain and Italy.   Then Davies joined the ranks of yet another adored restaurant here in San Francisco, Campton Place, under acclaimed chef Daniel Humm.  This is where Davies and Warsham first crossed paths and noticed an immediate culinary connection.  ”It’s rare when you are so comfortable working beside somebody there’s a sort of telepathic connection” says Warsham.  After Humm left Campton for New York,    Davies took a Sous Chef position at One Market where he was an integral cog in earning One Market’s first Michelin Star and maintaining Michelin’s high standards.    As time passed his Kiwi travel bug nature took hold.  Davies set out on a new path, with Tokyo on his mind.   “Having a New Zealand passport really has it’s advantages, itchy feet’s a bitch” says Davies.   With the highest density of Michelin rated restaurants on the planet, Tokyo was the obvious choice.  Davies  spent the better part of the next year and a half fully immersed in Tokyo’s fine dining world.  Once again he became another integral cog in Tokyo’s Salt restaurant, gaining critical acclaim under chef Luke Mangan.  In 2009 Davies returned to San Francisco to become the new Chef de cuisine of the Lark Creek Tavern as his pedigree for bigger and better things continues.  True to his nature Davies has done nothing but raise the bar for graffEats since bringing him on.

Read more about us in some of our recent press:

Urban Daddy SF(09) / Urban Daddy (2011) / Urban Daddy LA