Thanking those on the front line
Los Gatos restaurateurs help fuel firefighters.
Kyle Goni sets up a table of toiletries and other supplies he donated to CZU complex fire evacuees at the Seventh Day Adventist camp in Soquel. Goni visited the camp with chef Ross Hanson of Oak & Rye in Los Gatos, who handed out chicken parmesan sandwiches.
A sign on Summit Road reads, “Kick Ash! Thank you, firefighters and first responders!” It is one of hundreds of hand-painted placards displayed at the bottom of driveways, on overpasses, at major intersections and on the backs of vehicles in the wake of the CZU complex fire.
The complex’s three fires swept up and over the town of Bonny Doon, down Empire Grade and into the town of Boulder Creek, threatening Ben Lomond, Felton, Lompico, western Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley.
Cal Fire established a base camp in Scotts Valley, which soon swelled with engines, equipment and manpower from all over California as well as Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico and New Jersey. At one point, more than firefighters were working on this blaze, which was a 76% containment as of Sept. 7.
All those firefighters—along with nearly 77,000 evacuees, many of whom ended up in Santa Cruz area shelters—needed something to eat.
Chef Ross Hanson of Oak & Rye in Los Gatos and his high school buddy Kyle Goni stepped up.
Hanson knows what it’s like to be gut-punched. He and his mother, Brenda Hammond, had just expanded their high-end Res
taurant James Randall when the massive 2008 mortgage meltdown occurred. They went from serving fine food to dishing up ramen.
Eventually, they settled on pizza.
The fires hit home, especially since, John Cox, another of Hanson’s high school friends, is a Cal
Fire battalion chief.
“So we made up a bunch of chicken parm sandwiches” for the firefighters, Hanson said. “Manresa bread donated the rolls, and Bianco Dinapoli donated chicken and tomato sauce. I bought the broccoli rabe to add something green.
“We got to Base Camp and met a group of firefighters during shift change, and handed out around 40 sandwiches. It was so cool to see firefighters from all over the state!”
Hanson and Goni also delivered sandwiches and toiletries to evacuees at the Seventh Day Adventist camp in Soquel.
“We set up a donation table with all the toiletries Kyle bought, and people started coming up asking, ‘Hey, do you have any more sandwiches? We heard they were great!’ That was really fun. We want to do it again!”
Hanson isn’t alone in his desire to feed firefighters and first responders, which he did as part of the successful #feedtheneed program run by the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce earlier this year. Mike Williams of Southern Kitchen has been busy feeding anyone in need — almost 2,000 people—since the pandemic hit. He’s served up 700 meals for #feedtheneed and has fed over 200 firefighters and more than 500 evacuees.
“I’ve done this almost four years now,” Williams said. “Every fire, I have offered help and food.”