Eddie Blyden has become a global expert in fresh, gastropub-style cooking. His gastronomic education was as creative and deep as his love for natural, healthy food.

Eddie was born in Nigeria. His father was a Harvard-educated diplomat from Sierra Leone who, with his mother, raised their seven children on three continents. His earliest memories are in his aunt's kitchen in Sierra Leone where he learned West African recipes for juices, wines and confectionaries made of exotic and tropical fruits such as star fruit, carambola, guava, papaya, tamarind and sunariun cherries. Later he built on these traditional West African and Caribbean influences with formal training in some of the world's best restaurants from New York and Munich to Switzerland and the British West Indies.

While in New York, Chef Blyden worked with Terrance Brennan at Annabelle's, Patrick Clark at Café Metro, Alison Price at Alison on Dominick Street, Jane Epstein at Jane's Bar and Grill, and David Bouley at Bouley.

He worked with Hans Haas at the highly-acclaimed Tantris restaurant in Munich before becoming an Executive Chef at the Rendezvous Bay Hotel in Anguilla.

He eventually relocated to San Francisco Bay area where he created the cuisine for a handful of gastropubs including SOMA's 21st Amendment, The Alembic, and The Magnolia Pub. In each case, he was able to perfect his unique brand of international cuisine that surpassed expectations of guests and reviewers for casual pub settings.

Chef Blyden celebrates the sustainable slow-food movement by utilizing produce grown from local organic farms as well as meat and produce that are natural, free-range, and raised without hormones and antibiotics. His creative small plates honor tradition, reflect the myriad of cultures he has lived in, and embrace eco-gastronomic principles.