The allure of having access to a farm, and working with its owners again, has pulled a James Beard Award-nominated chef to a tiny diner in east Mesa.
Steadfast Farm owners Erich and Yvonne Schultz have tapped their friend and one-time farm hand Derek Christensen for their latest venture, Steadfast Diner. The restaurant is part of a growing set of small, food-driven amenities that the Schultzes are building into the Eastmark development.
It started in 2018, when the couple moved their farming operations to a one-acre plot near the entrance of the 3,200-acre planned community just northeast of Mesa Gateway Airport. They have since opened a farm store that sells their vegetables, eggs and bouquets of cut flowers, along with coffee, breakfast tacos and products from dozens of other local purveyors. In November, the Schultzes announced they had taken over the diner, which had closed abruptly in July…