Novato resident and longtime chef Todd Davies has spent nearly three decades immersed in the restaurant world, from leading acclaimed kitchens to launching his own culinary ventures. His latest endeavor takes him from the heat of the stove to the woodshop, where he applies the same attention to detail that defines his California cuisine to handcrafting charcuterie and cutting boards.

After establishing himself on the East Coast at The River Café in New York and La Truffe in Pennsylvania, Davies built his reputation in the Bay Area at Flying Saucer, Stars and J.T.’s in San Francisco before making his mark in Marin. He served as partner and executive chef at Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, head chef at Hilltop 1892 in Novato and, more recently, executive chef and director of operations for the Ghiringhelli family of restaurants, a collaboration that continues today.

The chef’s passion for woodworking took root while running a restaurant in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County.

“There were discarded wine barrels everywhere, and I fell in love with the natural beauty of the wood,” said Davies of his time at Corks Restaurant at Russian River Vineyards, where he began working in 2010.

That discovery led to another avenue for his creativity.

“The seeds for the charcuterie boards were planted then,” he said. “I was using barrel staves for other projects — oak-planked salmon was on the menu. I made bread trays, candelabras and burned a lot of them in my adobe pizza oven. It was about repurposing what was available, and the charcuterie boards naturally followed.”

He also experiments with sustainable exotic wood and sources hybridized walnut from regional sawmills, a variety first developed by Santa Rosa botanist Luther Burbank.

“As a chef, I always prioritized local, farm-to-table ingredients, so I wanted to take the same approach with woodworking,” he said.

Davies sells his handcrafted boards on Saturdays at the Marin Country Mart farmers market in Larkspur, where he also brews coffee using beans from Marin Coffee Roasters and offers seasonal beverages like mulled cider and agua frescas.

Beyond crafting the boards, he artfully curates what goes on them, highlighting local products such as Fra’ Mani salumi and cheese from Marin French Cheese Co. and Cypress Grove that he arranges on either his clients’ boards or his own.

“I also do a lot of countertop and tabletop presentations, which are really in right now,” he said.

His services are available throughout Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties, with occasional trips as far as the Peninsula.

The kitchen remains central to Davies’ work. He’s a personal chef and caters events, preferring gatherings of about a dozen guests so he can engage in conversations about California cuisine and its deep ties to local sourcing.

Davies can be reached by email at Td@tamgourmet.com, by phone at 415-328-7377 or through his website at tamgourmet.com.

Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer and restaurant columnist. Email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com with comments and find more local food news at therealdealmarin.com.