Bay Area (Northern California)

The Bay Area's cured-meat scene is anchored by Fra' Mani Handcrafted Foods in Berkeley — founded 2006 by Paul Bertolli, the former Chez Panisse and Oliveto chef whose 2008 book 'Cooking by Hand' essentially taught a generation of American chefs how to think about salumi. The Bay Area regional advantage combines several factors: strong Chez-Panisse-influenced restaurant culture demanding high-quality charcuterie since the 1980s; regional heritage-pork sourcing infrastructure (Niman Ranch, Hobbs, others); Mediterranean climate supporting traditional dry-fermented salami without aggressive industrial humidity control; and the broader Bay Area food-craft ecosystem (cheese, bread, fermentation) that shares supply-chain and cultural overlap with charcuterie. Beyond Fra' Mani, smaller Bay Area producers (Boccalone — now closed but historically influential; Salumeria Rosi in SF; various restaurant in-house operations) constitute a regional craft-charcuterie scene comparable to Portland's.