The Farm-to-Table Founding Fathers How a Silicon Valley veteran and an English-bred chef helped define the farm-to-table movement.

When Kimbal Musk graduated from New York's French Culinary Institute in 2001, he had no clear vision of the future. A high-tech entrepreneur from South Africa, he had done well in Silicon Valley (along with his brother Elon, Musk has invested in several successful ventures, including PayPal) and was ready for a new career. Musk had always wanted to learn to cook, but wasn't yet sure where that might lead.

Then the Sept. 11 attacks hit Lower Manhattan, where Musk was living. He spent the weeks that followed helping David Bouley and other volunteers feed firefighters and rescue workers out of Bouley's eponymous downtown restaurant.

"The energy I felt in the kitchen night after night made me realize I had to do a restaurant myself," Musk says. "And it had to be one that helped create the same sense of community I'd experienced there."