Danville restaurateur discusses building a business

Rodney Worth struggled financially to pursue his dream of opening his first restaurant at 25 years old. A good friend of his, Steve Celestino, helped Worth out financially, with leasing his first restaurant.

“I finally had the space to open a restaurant but couldn’t afford to hire any employees. My wife, Natalie Worth and sister, Sandy Worth thankfully helped me out the first day we opened,” Worth said.

Opening in 2004 on Valentine’s Day, Worth had no idea what he was getting himself into, but was eager to start cooking. With 24 reservations, two staff members, no dishwasher, and only one chef, Worth was a little intimidated.

“This restaurant needed to succeed because I had so many people counting on me to pay them back,” Worth explained.

The Worth family had the reservations that night planned beautifully. There were a few hiccups in the service but with having three people working that night, Worth was very happy with how everything turned out.

After a few weeks passed he was able to hire a couple of people to help out around the restaurant.  The restaurant was called The Peasant and the Pear, which was located in San Ramon off the freeway, by many office buildings. This was not Worth’s ideal location to have his restaurant, but was a big enough spot for him to serve about 57 people.

The Peasant and The Pear was open for two years when Worth decided to close down the restaurant to find a more suitable location.  After researching for a while, Worth came across a great opportunity in Danville.

Since then, he has opened up five other restaurants in Northern California. Three of which are in Blackhawk, one in Danville, one in Alamo, and the newest one in Napa.

“We refuse to compromise on any of our bedrock principles as our reputation grows throughout California and beyond…We use local, farm to table ingredients, grass meat, and free-range poultry,” said Worth about the quality of his ingredients, “I do not like to sacrifice flavor for price.”

Sandy Worth still works with Rodney by managing The Peasant’s Courtyard in Alamo. “It’s been a great experience working with my brother and watching him grow,” Sandy explained.

Tommy Worth, Rodney’s nephew, also works at The Peasant’s Courtyard as a server. Tommy aspires to be like his uncle and is going to Diablo Valley College pursing Culinary Arts. He hopes to be able to one-day help out in the kitchen as a chef.

“Family dinners are always fun for me,” said Tommy, “Rodney will show me a thing or two in the kitchen”.

Worth explains that he’s gone through many ups and downs being a restaurant owner. It has not been easy for him, but he has enjoyed the process of learning from it all. Worth currently owns six restaurants, but does not know exactly what his next move will be.

“I had always dreamed about being able to be a successful chef,” said Worth, “and now I am living my dream.”