Larry Bain left the City of Toronto’s Mayor’s office to pursue a culinary career. He spent five years cooking with some of New York’s finest chefs including Larry Forgione and Patrick Clark. He moved out to San Francisco with his wife Catherine Pantsios and opened Zola’s, a much-acclaimed restaurant. He managed Restaurant LuLu and Rose Pistola before taking a break from restaurants to become the Director of Human Resources for the Tides Center, a non-profit organization that supports Social Justice and Environmental groups around the country.

In September of 2000, Traci Des Jardins, the owner of Jardiniere in San Francisco, lured Larry away from Tides to become her Director of Operations and to lead her initiative to turn Jardiniere into a Socially Responsible business. Jardiniere has since developed a number of employee directed programs including instituting a "Living Wage", subscribing to an Employee Assistance Program, offering ESL classes for staff and Spanish classes for managers. Jardiniere has also made a strong commitment to shrinking its "environmental footprint" by developing a recycling and composting program, an energy conservation program, a "Green Shopping" agenda and by supporting Farmers, Fishers and Meat Purveyors who are committed to sustainable practices.

In 2002, Larry opened Acme Chop House with partner Traci Des Jardins. Larry’s role as Director of Operations at Acme Chop House was to create the Management Team that is responsible for day-to-day operations. Larry drives Acme’s commitment to being a Socially Responsible business. Acme continues in the path of Jardiniere and supports local farmers, fishers and other purveyors who use sustainable practices in their production of food. Acme also strives to be the most progressive employer in the restaurant industry and thus honors its commitment to three bottom lines, Profit, People and the Planet.

Larry’s role as Director of Operations at both restaurants involves the development of annual budgets and the implementation and monitoring of these budgets. By developing an "Open Book" policy that encourages manager’s full participation in the fiscal management of the business. Larry’s commitment to his running a socially responsible business has proven that a business can do well by doing good. Jardiniere has been operating successfully for 6 years, while Acme is flourishing since their opening.
Larry has become an outspoken advocate for social responsibility in the restaurant industry. He has formed a convivium of like-minded restaurateurs that meet to discuss challenges faced in moving towards doing business in a different way. Larry has been invited to speak at a number of conferences including the Bioneers National Conference, Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders, the California Resource Recovery Associations conference on Zero Waste. Larry has also sat on panels with Eric Schlosser, Ed Behr and other advocates of changing the way we interact with our food sources. Most recently Larry testified at the California State Senate hearing held by the Select Committee on the Status of Ending Poverty in California. Larry’s work was recognized in the San Francisco "Think Green" issue, where he was one of 10 environmental entrepreneurs identified as "Green Giants". Larry will be speaking at upcoming conferences sponsored by Sea Food Choices Alliance and Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

Currently Larry is presenting a series of dinners at Acme Chophouse that will enable people to "taste the difference" and appreciate that food grown locally and eaten seasonally is the best choice for diners. He has also developed a program for healthy cooking and eating that is offered in local high schools.