Katina & Kyle Connaughton Author Talk • SingleThread: A Seasonal Approach to Intentional Cooking, Farming, and Hospitality

Kyle Connaughton began his culinary career in L.A. with an apprenticeship at one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in the city and continued training in both pastry and savory at Spago Beverly Hills, The Dining Room at Ritz Carlton, Lucques, Hama Sushi, and A.O.C. This was followed by several years cooking in Japan for the famed chef Michel Bras and in numerous traditional Japanese cuisine restaurants. In 2006, Kyle joined Heston Blumenthal to become the Head Chef of Research and Development for the Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen. He is a contributor to the “Modernist Cuisine” series, a co-developer of the Culinary Science Bachelors Degree program for the CIA, and co-author of the book Donabe – Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking. In 2014 Kyle co-founded the culinary development firm Pilot R+D with Dan Felder, Dr. Ali Bouzari, & Dana Peck.

Katina Connaughton and her husband Kyle have been together since they met at 15. Katina began her first foray into farming while living in a rural agricultural community in Hokkaido, Japan. She continued culinary gardening on a Victorian estate property in England before moving to Sonoma to complete her coursework in Sustainable Agriculture and Horticulture. Katina was greenhouse manager for the Ag Program and Santa Rosa Junior College and has farmed at Davis Family Winery and The Barlow. Katina heads up SingleThread Farm at Dry Creek 24 acre property, greenhouses, heirloom orchards and bee hives well as the foraging program and floral design department

SingleThread — At Single Thread, each meal tells the story of the day. Each menu, and every dish on it, is designed to reflect that specific moment in time and to showcase the ingredients grown on the SingleThread farm. But the approach taken by Kyle and Katina Connaughton (SingleThread’s chef and farmer co-founders) does not end with a simple commitment to seasonality and locality. Instead, it involves a nuanced, considered approach that balances this celebration of local ingredients with a holistic view of what constitutes good food systems—including the need to support artisans, preserve the expertise developed by generations of specialists, and develop climate-resilient approaches to farming and other forms of food production.

SingleThread offers a deep dive into what truly seasonal cooking looks like and into the mindful approach Kyle and Katina take to every aspect of their work, from their warm hospitality to the meticulous design philosophy behind the restaurant and inn.

With stunning photography and intricate illustrations, the book offers a tour of the farm and restaurant while also delving into the team’s unique agricultural methods, the techniques and recipes used in the SingleThread kitchen, the way the farm and kitchen teams coordinate on a daily basis, their philosophy of hospitality, the importance of their relationships with other producers and artisans—and the unique love story that started with two teenagers at a punk show and grew into the partnership that made all of this possible in the first place.