about us

Christopher Thompson

Executive Chef/Salumaio

Christopher Thompson is the executive chef and salumaio at San Francisco’s award-winning A16 restaurant. Although in his early 30s, Thompson has already spent more than half his life in kitchens. He is driven by the challenging and exciting environment provided by the Bay Area and its proximity to the favorable growing region of Northern California farms.

Born in Long Beach, California and raised in the resort town of Telluride, Colorado, his first job as a teenager was working as a short order cook at a lodge. “At the time, I was more interested in having a job that would allow me to snowboard during the day but there was something in the controlled chaos of that job that really drew me in.” says Thompson.

After a few prep cook positions, Thompson took his first step into fine dining at Telluride’s Rustico Ristorante. Thompson quickly found his niche in the Northern Italian eatery which focused on bread baking and hand-tossing pizzas. He also happened upon the amazing craft of making charcuterie while working at Rustico. “The mother of one of one my Italian chefs would send shipments of special salumi seasonings and spices each month,” says Thompson. “We had no idea what to do with them so we started experimenting through trial-and-error since we didn’t have any recipes to follow.”

In Telluride, Thompson further honed his culinary skills working at several of Colorado’s Alchemy Concept restaurants apprenticing under Chef Jake Linzinmeir, beginning in 2001. His mastery of exceptional preparation techniques led to a promotion to chef de cuisine at the group’s Excelsior Café in 2005 at the age of 25. Thompson’s knack for creativity included the development of signature seasonal menus for both Italian and French-inspired cuisine.

In 2008, Thompson moved to San Francisco and has never looked back. Attracted to the abundance of strong culinary figures in the area, Thompson saw San Francisco as place to refine his culinary skills and spent three years working at Spruce, a high-end restaurant focused on locally farmed ingredients, also offering a top-notch charcuterie program. Under Spruce’s Chef Mark Sullivan, Thompson helped to maintain the restaurant’s three-and-a-half star standing with the San Francisco Chronicle as well as the kitchen’s one Michelin star.

In 2011, Thompson was tapped to cultivate A16’s charcuterie program, encompassing the restaurant’s signature salumi, bresaola, and terrines. The transition allowed Thompson to build on his expertise in Italian cuisine, creating house made pastas, wood fired pizzas, and hearty sauces. “Going back to Italian cuisine at A16 was like coming home,” says Thompson.

In May 2012, Thompson was promoted to the role of executive chef, while still retaining the title of salumaio, overseeing A16’s entire butchery and charcuterie program. Thompson genuinely enjoys training and coaching his team of chefs and finds satisfaction in overseeing the consistent output of high quality product.

At A16, Thompson says, “I love the open kitchen, the high energy of the space, and the impact I have had on the salumi program. Plus, we have a really unbelievable front and back of the house staff. I really look forward to putting more dishes on the menu that our guests will love.”

When not in the kitchen, Thompsons likes to be outdoors as much as possible. He also enjoys hosting dinner parties and trying out new dishes with his toughest critics first – his friends.

Candace Rowan

Pastry Chef

Pastry chef Candace Rowan offers a fresh and creative approach to traditional Southern Italian desserts, using the freshest ingredients so that her menu at A16 is a reflection of, and homage to, the bounty of local farms and purveyors.   

A Bay Area native, Candace has worked in some of the top kitchens in San Francisco, including Contigo, Town Hall, and Kokkari, while her recipes and dishes have been featured in San Francisco Magazine and the late Gourmet.  A passionate student of learning how different flavor profiles work together, Candace’s desserts feature sweet and savory ingredients, combined at the peak of seasonality to create fresh and layered flavors.  

After graduating from San Francisco State University, Candace moved to Nashville.  Living far from her family, Candace would entertain friends during the holidays and recreate dishes and desserts that reminded her of home.  It is during this time that she developed a real passion for cooking, and followed her heart back home to San Francisco, where she enrolled at the California Culinary Academy and earned an AOS degree in the Chef’s program. 

At A16, Candace marries her love of cooking with a sincere appreciation of the natural, high-quality ingredients indigenous to the Bay Area.