Chef Dov Sims first developed his eclectic culinary pallet and love for cooking as a young child. Born to a Southern Italian mother who imparted her deep love of food and cooking, Sims spent his early years between Mexico, where he learned to appreciate traditional Mexican cuisine and the use of indigenous spices and sauces, and a farm community in the Trinity Alps, where he was taught the importance of using fresh, homegrown ingredients.
In his early teens, Sims’ family settled in the Bay Area where he spent weekends assisting his mother as a food vendor at local festivals. It was through this work that Sims gained a love of feeding large groups delicious, homestyle food. He also recalls how important years as a food vendor was to the development of his strong work ethic: “Waking up at 5am on Saturday and Sunday was a normal thing for me. Even though I sometimes did not necessarily want to work, I felt proud to be around my mother, doing the same work she was doing. It somehow validated me at a young age”
By the time Sims graduated high school he knew that cooking was a passion that he wanted to turn into a career. He landed his first restaurant job in Berkeley, CA at the age of seventeen. By the time he was twenty he had worked his way up from a busboy, to prep cook, to acting chef.
Continuously hungry for new food knowledge and kitchen experience, local chefs began to recognized Sims as a talented, young culinary perfectionist. He was recruited to open multiple high end restaurants in San Francisco and the East Bay (GLOW, Viola, ALMA) and spent ten years working with noted Bay Area chefs.
Thirteen years ago, Sims again joined forces with his mother and left the restaurant scene to develop California Rose, a small- street fair based company focused on catering upscale wedding banquets and corporate events. Guided by the credo, “We bring the restaurant to you”, Sims has continued to impress his clients with a unique blend of professionalism, genuine hospitality and delicious food.
Married with two sons, Sims continues his love of creating fresh and exciting dishes and excites in training new culinary talent and consulting start up businesses, sharing the knowledge he has learned over the years. A restaurant may be on the horizon for this renaissance chef. Wherever the future will take him, it is bound to be delicious.