Historic Stanislaus County building being turned into restaurant. ‘Wanted to preserve it’
You almost can’t get a more literal meaning of the phrase “from farm to fork” than a farmer opening a restaurant — especially when the restaurant is in the same town as the farm.
Ed Maring — 87-year-old owner of Maring Farms Inc. in Patterson — is venturing from food production to food service as he prepares to open The Old Water Office in partnership with former Redwood Cafe owner Bob Campana.
The pair are more than business partners; Maring’s grandson and Campana’s daughter have been married for more than a decade.
“(Maring) watched the operations of the Redwood Cafe for many years in the background, and he was calculating how he could coerce me into building a restaurant here,” Campana said. “(Aside from) of all the joking, it has been an honor.”
The downtown Patterson building that now houses the restaurant once was the location of Patterson Water District (established in 1910), where Maring said he and other farmers would order water for their land “before cellphones.”
Maring purchased the building when it went up for sale around 20 years ago, before he knew what he would do with it.
“This building is part of Patterson’s history and I wanted to preserve it,” said Maring, who moved to the town and bought the 965-acre Frank Cox Ranch in 1964.
The Colonial Spanish-style architecture that was an influence during the establishment of Patterson is reflected in the restaurant, Campana said. He’s in charge of the design and operations.
The menu will feature Spanish-style dishes, like paella, to pay homage to the town’s history. The restaurant will also serve food “that the public wants to eat” like steak, seafood and pasta, Campana said.
Farm-fresh produce will be sourced from Central Valley farms, he said.
Nearly all of the design and construction elements were sourced and manufactured locally, and some things — like the iron work, fixtures and railing — were made in Campana’s own construction shop at his home.
“We wanted to construct (the restaurant) as if it was built 100 years ago, and 100 years ago they didn’t have refined materials,” Campana said. “Fortunately, Mr. Maring was in agreement with that because it’s a bit more expensive to do it that way than it is to just go down to Home Depot and buy a fixture like a wagon wheel or something.”
Though some parts of the building are new additions, like the second story and the kitchen, Maring and Campana elected to preserve what originality they could.
The 25-foot brick facade and front archways, the front door, windows and ceiling are original. Even the sign from the former business remains.
“We’re trying to retain the look from when the farmers would come in to order water,” Maring said.
“When you’re walking through it, you’re not going to be able to discern where the new construction ends and the old place was,” Campana added.
There are around 90 seats inside the restaurant, an additional 90 seats in the outdoor patio and 20 in the bar area.
The wood slab that is the bar top was made from a tree that existed on one of Campana’s associate’s property along the Stanislaus River. The tree fell around five years ago.
The upstairs dining room table is made from pre-1938 railroad ties and has a redwood top. Railroad ties — removed from tracks between California and Nevada — also adorn the ceiling in this area. They’re not only decorative but help with acoustics, Maring said.
The ceiling in the bar area was stenciled by the grandchildren of the family, an idea Campana came up with after traveling to Spain and seeing how ceilings were painted there.
“These kids will come back — when they’re 30 or 40 years old — in this restaurant and remember that they did that work with their grandpas when we’re long gone,” he said.
Campana calls The Old Water Office a “gift of legacy” to not only his and Maring’s families but to the city of Patterson where Maring established over 60 years ago.
“His life is reflected (in the restaurant),” Campana said. “For him to invest the kind of money and energy and time that he’s put into this, it’s a reflection of this love of his community and of his family.”
The restaurant, at 22 N. Del Puerto Ave., will open in early February. It will be a dinner spot initially, opening in the late afternoon.
To stay updated on the progress of the restaurant and see how it’s changed from its original form, visit youtube.com/@GetBack2Workk.
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