Soup and Art Converge at the Rusty Ladle, a New Outer Sunset Hotspot

By Sue-Jean Sung

Mark Twain may never have actually said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco,” but the sentiment surely stands – especially in the Sunset.

In fact, the prevalence of chilly fog and the City’s consistently cooler temperatures have people craving broth, soups and generally warm delights year-round. Lucky for us, John Lindsey of the Great Highway Gallery heard the rumblings. His response? He took over the empty storefront next door – the former home of the Seven Stills Outer Sunset Taproom – and opened The Rusty Ladle, a new homemade soup-centered establishment.

While it might seem unusual for an artist and gallery owner to open a restaurant, the Great Highway-Rusty Ladle combination could not be a more perfect fit for Lindsey. When he moved to San Francisco in the late ’80s to attend the California Culinary Academy, he arrived in the midst of the Chez Panisse migration era, an exciting time when talented chefs were leaving employment to open their own businesses.

He honed his culinary skills alongside the best of the best at Patty Unterman’s seminal Hayes Street Grill before leaving the City by the Bay to take a position with Mark Miller at New Mexico’s Coyote Cafe. He eventually returned to Hayes, which is when he met and was instantly smitten with Kristin Lubenow Lindsey, the woman who would later become his wife.