We wish this one was televised, too: Alice Waters, Martin Yan, Joanne Weir, Virginia Willis, Nell Newman, Rick Bayless, Thomas Keller, Charles Phan, Joel Riddell and Irvin Lin were among the folks who took the stage for Tuesday night’s 2013 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) awards ceremony in San Francisco. Oakland Food Connection and food incubator La Cocina were also honored. IACP’s professional awards are widely viewed in the food world as something of a gold standard for cookbooks, food writing, digital media and culinary tours. The awards marked the closing night of the organization’s 35th annual conference, which went with a “Dirt to Digital” theme this year.

Check out the full list of award finalists and the grand list of winners. While the awards ceremony stretched out over a few hours and was oddly lacking any form of culinary nourishment (there were definite rumblings after the ceremony about that), it offered quirks, songs and even a few dick jokes courtesy of Libbie Summers, whose Salted and Styled blog won for Best Culinary Blog. On the other end of the spectrum, the evening kicked off with all guests looking up and saying “thank you” as a dedication to publisher Peter Workman, who passed away just this week. It was also emotional for Lifetime Achievement Award winner Alice Waters, who gratefully accepted her prize and joked in her speech that while she cannot farm, “I am a picker,” which got the audience laughing–wise words from the founder of Chez Panisse and the Edible Schoolyard. Waters also professed her admiration for cooking teachers because: “I cannot teach.” She immediately went on to acknowledge IACP attendee and stalwart Darina Allen, whose Ballymaloe cooking school she visits every year (for her birthday).

When Charles Phan won in the Chefs and Restaurants cookbook category for his “Vietnamese Home Cooking” (co-authored with Tasting Table Senior Editor Jessica Battilana), he confessed that he did not have a speech but had enjoyed some bourbon to presumably get warmed up. Phan thanked Battilana, his agent and wife, Angkana. “My wife made sure I turned the book manuscript in, so I wouldn’t have to return the book advance money to Ten Speed Press.”

“Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, received the award for Cookbook of the Year, and Marion Nestle garnered a prize in the Food Matters category for her weighty tome, “Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics.” The deeply satisfying sugar-rush images in the Bouchon Bakery cookbook garnered an award for Food Photography and Styling, and the Dining Around with Joel Riddell radio show won in the Long Format Audio category. The team at Chronicle Books may still be celebrating given their author Diane Morgan won for her book, “Roots: The Definitive Compendium with more than 225 Recipes.”

Culinary Tour Operator of the Year went to Copita chef Joanne Weir, who shared that as a child, she told her father that she wanted to be a bus driver, so that she could drive a bus on every road in the world. Her confession seemed to scare him a little. Weir dedicated her prize to him because he passed away last year. Food blogger Irvin Lin won the Best in Show prize for his photography, and he asked the IACP crowd to “hire me, I’m available,” a sentiment which was echoed by the next winner.

The conference itself is that rare chance to possibly figure out how to eke out a living doing things in the culinary field–it can be exciting but also daunting in the number of possibilities it presents. There were various declarations for members to support each other and that each one “stands on the shoulders” of those who have come before and after them. That may sound hokey and like general conference speak yet three people we spoke with found these pronouncements to be inspiring.

Many attendees shared with Bay Area Bites that the chance of learning from so many different people doing interesting things is one of the main draws of shelling out $750 to $950 to register for the full conference—that’s on top of the $280 it costs to initially join IACP. Off the record, we were told that IACP is in the midst of something of a revamp and that costs and programming issues have been noted if not yet changed. These folks said that they attend as much for the learning sessions on, say, the meaning of restaurant reviews in the era of Yelp to getting a lowdown on sourdough or video content strategy. The coffee breaks are also highly valued and networking even happens in the bathrooms. Yes, really.

Kale salad and eating local may remain a big trend, but IACP attendees see much, much more at play in the food world. We asked some notable thought leaders to answer a few questions in person:

• What is this conference about for you?
• The theme of the conference is Dirt to Digital; what does it mean to you?
• How does the theme translate to the food industry?
• What did you learn about in the workshops and what are the clear trends that emerged from the conference?

Here are insights from Corby Kummer, Danielle Gould, Sandor Katz, Joanne Weir and Sarah Copeland. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Corby Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine. Known as “the dean of food writing,” Kummer’s 1990 Atlantic series about coffee is a benchmark for excellence in long-form food writing. He is the author of “The Joy of Coffee,” based on his Atlantic series, and the recently published “The Pleasures of Slow Food.” Kummer is the recipient of three James Beard Journalism Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award.

Kummer: This conference is about seeing people who are following food issues on the level of the home cook. It’s about how the things that we in the media are interested in and write about play out in real life and the home of a consumer.

IACP has always been the most connected to the real world of any group because it’s people making their living as culinary professionals. They are in touch with sustainability, farming and local issues. I thought the conference was brilliantly named “Dirt to Digital” because online is where all of the IACP members need to be marketing themselves and their products.

With social media, no one yet knows how to master it but everyone’s trying to learn. IACP has always been at the forefront of practical and real world applications. That’s a unique role because being so smartly focused attracts the most interesting, lively and active people in the food world. And I’ll take any opportunity to connect with them.

Danielle Gould is the Founder and CEO of Food+Tech Connect, a media company and network for innovators transforming the business of food. Through news and analysis, events, and custom research, Gould helps companies of all sizes drive innovation and understand how information and technology are changing the way food is produced, distributed, and consumed. She is also a founding member of the Culinary Institute of America’s Sustainable Business Leadership Council and is a regular contributor to Forbes.

Gould: This is my first time at IACP and they invited me to talk about food and tech trends and hackathons as a model for food innovation. Our panel touched on the opportunity and the medium, as well as how to demystify technology. It is also about helping people understand the knowledge and the challenges that are out there. We’re trying to empower people to put that knowledge out there where they’re collaborating with designers and developers to solve that problem. I travel the whole country and spread the gospel and learn about how people are thinking. It’s about using technology to help solve problems, spread messages and improve business models and just accelerate innovation that’s happening on a small scale.

In the past, a book would take you two years and a product would take 18 months. For a food producer or chef, that means that it takes awhile to market things. Technology offers opportunities: now you can self-publish that cookbook in close to real time, and get feedback on your product.

“Dirt to Digital” is at the heart of what food technology is. You’re looking across the supply chain, and food is interconnected. It is a system, and that goes to the consumer. A lot of times when people think of digital, they think of consumers. Emerging trends and what role technology is for each trend is a part of that. Technology is very broad and means so much to so many different people.

I just love learning how people respond to technology and food and how they use it. The other major takeaway was a lot of the panels weren’t very popular or not as sexy but were about funding. Everyone’s having trouble making money in the food space.

Sandor Ellix Katz, “one of the unlikely rock stars of the American food scene” according to The New York Times, is a self-taught fermentation experimentalist. His books “The Art of Fermentation” and “Wild Fermentation,” and the fermentation workshops he has taught across North America and beyond, have helped to catalyze a broad revival of the fermentation arts.

Katz: I’ve never been to IACP before. I don’t think of myself as a culinary professional. The work that I do is demystifying and sharing skills with people who aren’t necessarily culinary professionals. The highlight for me has been to meet people whose books are influential. [Katz was sitting with Bruce Aidells when we caught up with him and Aidells shared the table with us while we caught up.]

Aidells: What’s good sauerkraut without good sausages?

Katz: A kraut — quesadilla is my fast food, and I make it with Pepper Jack. That’s one of my standard meals.

The theme of the conference is significant. What does “Dirt to Digital” mean? I was just on this panel that was high tech versus low tech yet I don’t necessarily see things that way. I’m interested in understanding these processes in their simplicity. So that doesn’t mean you can’t use technology to have more control over the processes. It’s very empowering to see how the underlying principles don’t need equipment. If you get involved in sausage making, you can use a funnel for the casing. You can also just be there with you hands, pushing the meat through to the casing.

For cheese, you can buy nice molds, perhaps. There are elegant crocks to make things but you can also do it with a jar that’s already in your pantry. I appreciate the conference and there’s much information spreading by digital means but it may be telling people how to use their hands.

Joanne Weir is a James Beard award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, host and executive producer for the award-winning television series Joanne Weir’s Cooking Confidence. She is the chef-owner of Copita, a tequileria and restaurant in Sausalito. The author of 17 cookbooks, including the newly released “Cooking Confidence,” Joanne is the Culinary Editor at Large at Fine Cooking! magazine. She travels and teaches extensively around the world as well as in her studio kitchen.

Weir: This conference was so interesting because I’ve approached it differently as a restaurateur this year. I usually approach it as “I write for magazines” or my cookbooks or how to fill your cooking classes. This time I’m taking in things that are really different. I want to sit in on the reviewing and Yelping session.

I still love to see all the people I know when I come to IACP. And I love that it’s in SF and I get to share Copita–they’re going over by ferry. I did a tour on Saturday and people loved it. I’ve shared in a different way and am still excited about my restaurant.

For me with “Dirt to Digital,” I don’t know if I put the two together. Yet every single thing I do is fresh. I have an organic farm — and my next series is called “Fresh” for TV. I am always interested in digital media. The market has changed and the whole landscape is changing. My hope is it that it goes back to dirt and less digital. Is that so ‘Chez Panisse’ of me? (laughs) I do digital but food is still my passion. Perhaps next year the IACP theme should be “Back to Passion.”

IACP is pretty current on things. What they’ve done this year is now bloggers have been integrated. I left feeling in past years that I had to do so much on my own blog. I’ve always done food that is following my passion and on what brings about major possibilities for me. I attended a book session that talked about book advance spending and how book tours are back and rely on the digital medium.

My trend is always Mexican, and that comes with owning Copita. I saw the trendologist Kara Nielsen here and she said, “You couldn’t be in a more trendy thing, with Mexican food and tequila.”

I do modern Mexican food.

We used to think of Italian red tablecloths and Chianti — yet now Italian food has come a long way. One of the trends here is taking cuisines and elevating and educating around the cuisine. Thomas Keller was talking about that and I have seen that in this conference.

Sarah Copeland is the Food Director at Real Simple and author of “The Newlywed Cookbook: Fresh Ideas and Modern Recipes for Cooking With and For Each Other.” Her book, “Feast” will be published in December this year and she has authored numerous articles and recipes for Real Simple, Saveur, Food & Wine, Health, Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens and Food Network Magazine. She has appeared as a guest on The Martha Stewart Show, Good Morning America and ABC News Now.

Copeland: A lot of the conference is about relationships. I see faces from every different facet of my career and have been reconnecting and catching up on what people are doing that is new and exciting. There’s a chance to celebrate successes while hopefully helping a few people too.

On “Dirt to Digital,” one of the most challenging things of this industry from my perspective is that I started in print. That part has changed so dramatically in ten years or even five years. For most food people who are in love with food, it is very tactile how we communicate yet that is changing so much. The dirt part communicates place, smell, and touch, which are all the good things. It includes the agriculture, and the farmer. There are so many layers and it is complex with dirt. That’s how food is to me: we touch humanity and civilization, nutrition and wellness. In the digital sphere, how do you capture that? I think we are all figuring that out.

I did a panel on recipes and copyright for the conference. There were folks from Pillsbury there who were trying to figure out their contest. We also had teachers, bakery owners and bloggers. As Food Director at Real Simple, I have to be savvy and think about those aspects.

On almost every panel I ask, ‘What’s the best panel?’ This year, everyone is focusing on video. I worked at the Food Network — and yet this industry has been print for so long. With Hungry and YouTube and different avenues, it’s just so video-focused. The trailer for my first book is a minute and a half but my next one will probably be half that, to seventy-five seconds. My new book ‘Feast’ from Chronicle Books is coming out in December and I’ve learned a few things that I’ll do differently. I am coming away from the conference with the feeling that there is room for every voice and every talent. If you are generous, they will help you, too.

My editor and I wondered what it is like to be a woman in the culinary field right now. I talked to three Bay Area women: Elvia Buendia of the newly opened La Luna Cupcakes, Prospect Restaurant Chef and Partner Pam Mazzola, and Strong Table Owner Fontaine McFadden. I asked them about their own personal growth as a woman in the food industry, their experiences being female in the culinary profession, whether or not they have female mentors, the “state of women” in culinary arts, and what it is like to work with other women in the food industry. Their comments have been edited for length and clarity. Here are their thoughts, in their own words:

Elvia Buendia. Photo courtesy of Eric Wolfinger

As a woman, I have received so much support from local organizations like CEO Women, a nonprofit based in Oakland that no longer exists, and La Cocina, the incubator program based in San Francisco. Both programs target and assist entrepreneur women, like myself, to succeed in the world of business. Before participating in CEO Women, I had no idea how to do a business plan, in fact I did not even know what that was or its importance!

My passion for pastries and baking pushed me to pursue my dream in opening my own cupcake shop despite physical struggles such as English as my second language, finances, and even social discouragement. In fact, many people constantly asked me, “how are you going to open a business if you don’t even speak English?” And I always told them, “I’m going to sell my cupcakes, not my English skills.”

Being a woman has been a blessing and has encouraged me to push myself for my own well-being as well as for the well-being of my family. I wanted to inspire my children, now 15 and 21, to reach for their dreams no matter how many struggles they faced to meet their goals. I think so far I’m doing well with constant support from programs such as La Cocina.

La Cocina has been a huge help and I admire the women that have given me words of wisdom regarding food and business, among those included are Leticia Landa, Carola Mulero, and Daniella Sawaya. Without their help, support, and words of wisdom, I do not know where I would be.

Overall, my culinary experience is related to the pleasure I receive when I see people eating and enjoying my cupcakes. I am truly honored to contribute to the culinary and baking world, as I bring a mixture of different flavors from my own cultural background and I look forward to continue my professional development as a baking chef in the field.

Pam Mazzola. Photo courtesy of Jeannie O’Connor

I started my career cooking at the Fairmont Hotel in a male-driven kitchen and quickly realized this was not the direction I wanted my career to go in. My entire cooking career has been at single-owner, female chef-directed restaurants. This has allowed me to be very focused in what I do. Having worked with a great partner and true collaborator (Nancy Oakes) for the past 25 years has allowed me to achieve the success that I have. As in any solid relationship, Nancy and I have always shared in the responsibility of what we do together. We have common goals, a similar sensibility in food, and are like-minded in terms of desires for our careers as well as our lives outside of the restaurant. I raised three children while I was cooking at Boulevard, and I don’t think that would have been possible if I had not been working with someone who was sensitive to my family needs and with whom I shared a deep trust.

I’ve seen a marked growth in gender equality in the restaurant field. Female chefs share equal status with male chefs. The difference I see is that there is a natural camaraderie between women in this industry, and a real sense of shared responsibility between women who work together.

Fontaine McFadden. Photo courtesy of Fontaine McFadden

My experience in the culinary world started with my first job out of college working the front of the house at an Italian restaurant on Nantucket Island. I then worked as a florist for years, had a brief and uninspiring job in marketing, dabbled in sustainable building and did some personal organization before finding my way back to food when I enrolled in culinary school. I lucked out with my externship turned job at Hands On Gourmet where I worked between the kitchen and the office as the Director of Operations for two and a half years. In November of last year I left to start my own business and am now reveling in that best/worst decision ever. I run a prepared Paleo meal service available for pick up out of local Crossfit gyms. It’s been crazy and amazing and I have a long way to go, but I’m excited to take on the hard work ahead.

To get at the very broad question of what it’s like to be a woman in the culinary field I would have to rewind a bit and start with what it was like to grow up with my Dad and big brothers. I have been wholly shaped by them and can’t really separate out my experience in the workforce as a woman without first pointing to them.

I grew up on an organic farm in Mendocino county and my Dad put me to work, treating me as an equal to my brothers. We all drove tractors, we all did carpentry, we all got up at 5 a.m. and worked in the vineyards until it was too hot to be out in the sun. I built fences, I branded cattle, I installed solar panels and I even did some time in the office. My Dad did an incredible job of instilling a strong work ethic in us all, regardless of the fact they were boys and I was the little girl. And it was the same story with school and sports and social activities; we were all held to an equal standard of excellence. Growing up working, playing and competing with my brothers prepared me to jump into a world dominate by men in charge and taught me how to thrive in that environment. I’ve been really lucky in that way. My life has not been shaped by discouraging moments or impossible obstacles attributed to my sex alone. I have always seen my abilities and inabilities to be based around who I am as a person and don’t believe that something is possible or impossible just because I am a woman.

Having said that, I realize that this is not the norm and the fight for equal rights among the sexes is not over (what fight against inequity is truly over?). I have encountered plenty of situations where my own view of gender equality is definitely not shared. In those instances I use that ignorance to fuel my motivation beyond what is inherent in me. Maybe by throwing back dirty kitchen talk, or changing a tire in a dress… whatever it is, I like to mess with gender-based assumptions. And in brandishing this viewpoint I have found that I generally end up working harder than I might otherwise, thus becoming more successful and proving my point all the more.

Obviously, there are many avenues to explore within this broad topic of women in the workplace. One of the more interesting and applicable ones for me, is the struggle for balance between masculine and feminine. I believe that chivalry is not dead. I love having doors opened for me, but I also want to be taken seriously in my career and respected as a member of my community. Luckily, these are not mutually exclusive. As I’ve gotten older I have found a better balance between my more overt tomboy tendencies and my girly-girl attributes (of which there are many). I used to think that it was one or the other but thankfully I am finding ways for those two to coexist. For me, the most important thing is that I act in a way that is indicative of how I want to be treated. That is all I can control and if I do my best in that area then I’m feelin’ good.

Juliana Calderon, Dennis Leary and Luis Euan

Great eats alert: in the very near future, Dennis Leary will open two new spots–Cafe Terminus and a to-be-named bar at the corner of Geary and Leavenworth in San Francisco. The chef has also added a 40-acre Capay Valley farm to his roster and is the chef-owner of spots that showcase culinary consistency (pulled pork with mustard cabbage sandwich on freshly baked bread, anyone?) with a deeply personal feel: from Canteen, to Golden West, The Sentinel and a bar, plus House of Shields. Leary’s goal of operating seven eateries is getting closer to becoming a reality—the name of his corporation is Pleiades, which means “seven sisters” and is from Greek mythology. Leary presents as a focused and driven chef and is not one to use Twitter or other social media, although he lets his staff post menu updates since they are excited to do so. He appears to be succeeding without being trendy–an example being no TV or clock for a definite old school charm at House of Shields. He is exploring a “100 Menus Project” based upon the 1971 tome, The Hundred Glories of French Cuisine by Robert Courtine at Canteen. A “100 Menus” dinner costs “around 50 bucks.” His office is above the Sentinel and is lined with books and historical images. We caught up in person recently to find out more about his new spots and ideas on hospitality. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Books in Chef Leary’s office

Bay Area Bites: Who are your mentors & how have you grown in this business?
Leary: My business mentors are Angelo Sangiacomo, Drew Nieporent and Chip Conley. Alain Rondelli is a great chef. Angelo and his wife called to congratulate me when I was first starting and I admire that he is self-made, 100 percent. After awhile in this industry, it has become just self-taught and self-directed for me. I don’t think my style is derivative. I have a lot of customers who trust what I do and get it.

I got a nice letter of congratulations from Thomas Keller. That was such a classy gesture and a cool thing for me to see ‘oh, he’s paying attention.’

Publicity upsets the balance. People come in with expectations. I built a restaurant with $50,000 and it’s next to a bathroom and dorm by the Academy of Art. I’m not using fancy china and there aren’t plush seats. Whatever money I make goes back into the restaurants. I’m using the most basic packaging and china, and keeping it as simple as possible. I want people to go in and enjoy themselves with a dining experience that harkens back to maternal child connections. Pretty much every meal we eat, that dynamic is at play and it is always present with just the very act of being served. However, you’re paying for it. That is a relationship that’s attractive to a lot of people and they want a clean transaction.

The service industry has exploded and people don’t make their lunch anymore. They go and get it. With my places, we want to provide sustenance and not get in the way. I love talking to people and feel like I have a real connection to my customers.

Bay Area Bites: Tell us about your new places and farm in Capay Valley.
Leary: The two San Francisco deals are technically done and we’re applying for our liquor license for the bar. I haven’t spent more than 30 seconds in there but am interested in the bar from a design and hospitality standpoint. It’s a tiny place that will become small and beautiful. We’ll have some great cocktails. The area where the bar is still feels urban and interesting and getting the bar space was one of these six degrees of separation things: there’s a whole network of brokers and listing agents that you talk to all the time. Getting the spot has to do with the fact that basic politeness pays off and we made an offer that is attractive.

For Café Terminus, we’re dedicated to simple food and drinks, also with strong hospitality. People want their name remembered—I know I like places where the staff remembers me. There’s more competition in the Financial District now: get a sushi burrito, or visit the grilled cheese chain. But that doesn’t matter. I’m more concerned in referencing culinary tradition in a way without being retro and nostalgic. When you’re trying to do old timey SF nostalgic shit, it doesn’t work.

I use knives and wooden spoons in my cooking style and don’t use a lot of fancy new techniques although I am certainly familiar with them. I’m just not interested and feel like food should not get in the way. I’m not selling an experience. What I want is a lively dining room with a convivial atmosphere and food to be delicious and well-prepared. It’s a business. I’m not trying to prove that I’m smart and it’s not a monument to myself.

I have a 40-acre farm in Capay Valley called Gauchito Hill Farm. There’s a river through it and two farmers, Thea Rittenhouse and Andres Marega own and run their own business and are my tenants. Their business is expanding and this summer I will use some of their produce on my menus. I want to help them out to the extent that I can and not be in the way. They have lettuce and spring mixes, Asian greens, carrots, and herbs. In Capay Valley, there are people who have lived for generations up there. I appreciate that.

I will also start taking my restaurant compost up to the farm, and started training my staff on doing that. I’d rather use the compost myself than see it go to Recology.

Bay Area Bites: What factors are at play with your culinary work in a small restaurant space like Canteen?
Leary: The economics of the Canteen space demand that the food be very simple. It is a business. No one goes into the restaurant business to make a living. You go into it because you enjoy it. I’m not some East Bay idealist and use organic everything and then fail. My food is dominated by necessity and I have to factor in, “What can I get that people will like?”

I’m not there to prove that I’m smart or forage or pickle my own things. Now there’s a whole legion of people doing that and when I did have the time I used to pickle, cure and butcher. Now it comes down to, “What’s a realistic use of my time?”

It’s just me and the sous chef working there and we want things to taste right and go out hot or cold, as they are meant to.

Bay Area Bites: Your sandwiches are creative and have a popular following downtown. What are the bestseller sandwiches for the Sentinel and Golden West?
Leary: At Golden West, it’s the short rib sandwich. Corned beef is the best seller at the Sentinel. I rarely eat anything when I’m at the Sentinel. I just pick and choose bites of things. Our production kitchen is over at Golden West, so there is a lot of logistics to coordinate there.

Rabbit Pate Sandwich from the Sentinel Photo: Mary Ladd

Bay Area Bites: Where do you like to eat in the Bay Area?
Leary: I like Yuet Lee, and places in North Beach, where I live. I like Calzone’s look and that it has neon on the front. They’re nice there and it’s fun to go there on a Monday night. The places I like have been in San Francisco for years. You don’t have to wait in line. They’re not flooded with people. They’re real. You can’t try to be authentic. You need a little weariness and to have been around for awhile. The whole notion of an instant classic, I don’t buy it.

Related Information:

Canteen
Address: Map
817 Sutter St.
San Francisco CA 94109
(415) 928-8870

Golden West
Address: Map
8 Trinity St.
San Francisco CA 94109
(415) 216-6443

House of Shields
Address: Map
39 New Montgomery St.
San Francisco CA 94105
(415) 216-6443

The Sentinel
Address: Map
35 New Montgomery St.
San Francisco CA 94105
(415) 284-9960

Gauchito Hill Farm
Brooks CA
(530) 796-0704
Email Address: gauchitohillfarm@gmail.com

Behind the Kitchen Door reveals the real plight of many restaurant workers.
Photo: Courtesy ROC-United

Most self-respecting, food-focused, restaurant-goers can wax on about the provenance of their poultry, chat with their local produce farmer on a regular basis, or rattle off the names of several fine-dining restaurants, the celebrity chefs who run them, and their signature dishes. Some consumers are even on friendly terms with the waitstaff and bartenders at their regular haunts.

But few diners can tell you much – if anything — about the largely invisible army of restaurant workers who make eating out possible. With 10 million members in their ranks these employees represent the largest sector of the U.S. workforce. And yet these servers, bussers, runners, cooks, and dishwashers, who are the lifeblood of many restaurants, scrape by on some of the lowest wages in America, putting food on diners’ tables at the same time they struggle to make enough money to feed themselves and their families.

Up until the Twin Towers fell, Saru Jayaraman had never given much thought to the lives of restaurant workers. And then the young labor lawyer got a call from a union leader representing workers from Windows on the World, the restaurant that had graced the top of the World Trade Center. After the 9/11 tragedy some 250 workers were displaced (73 of their coworkers perished on the day) and they wanted their former boss to make good on his offer to hire them back when he opened a new restaurant. With the help of Jayaraman and one of the headwaiters from Windows on the World, Fekkak Mamdouh, the restaurant workers secured new employment for several former staffers, a victory that was covered by the New York Times. Jayaraman cofounded the nonprofit Restaurant Opportunities Center (now ROC-United) with Mamdouh, and she hasn’t stopped thinking about the working conditions and wages of restaurant workers ever since.

The daughter of Indian immigrants, Saru Jayaraman, represents disadvantaged restaurant workers. Photo: Sekou Luke

Jayaraman caused quite a stir in New York City, when she and her organization went up against several prominent restaurateurs, including Mario Batali, whose Del Posto restaurant settled for millions two lawsuits last year brought by ROC-United for unfair labor practices and abusive working conditions. (Irony alert: Batali’s restaurants have been lauded for their Slow Food sensibility and sustainable practices, as BAB has noted.)

Now the director of UC Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center, Jayaraman has written a book, Behind the Kitchen Door, exposing the dirty little secret of exploited restaurant employees and the successful campaigns ROC-United has waged in securing a better work environment for these workers, many of whom are immigrants and people of color. Helping the disadvantaged is nothing new to Jayaraman: The Yale Law School and Harvard School of Government graduate was recognized by former President Bill Clinton while an undergraduate at UCLA for founding a mentoring program for women of color in L.A., where she grew up, the daughter of Indian immigrants, who worked hard to make ends meet.

Jayaraman, who lives in Oakland, returns to the Bay Area this week for book events including tonight at UC Santa Cruz and tomorrow night at the Disposable Film Festival’s Just Food Dinner Screening in San Francisco, with more Bay Area dates slated for later this spring. ROC-United’s Sekou Luke will discuss the book and accompanying video at the San Francisco Food and Farm Film Festival on Saturday, March 30. While back East last week Jayaraman talked via phone to Bay Area Bites about her recipe for change and the concept of sustainable labor practices along with sustainable food.

What was the catalyst for the book?
It’s really a call to action to everyone who eats out about what’s really happening behind the kitchen door in many restaurants around the country. People want to eat ethically — look at the impact brought about by books like Michael Pollan‘s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Eric Schlosser‘s Fast Food Nation. Consumers spoke up and restaurants changed their menus. We’re seeking the same thing for restaurant workers in terms of working conditions and wages. It’s not enough for diners to care about the food they eat and how the animals were treated. It’s important to care about the well-being of the people who cook and serve the food too.

What don’t diners know about restaurant workers?
Since 1996, the national minimum wage for tipped workers has been frozen at $2.13 an hour. The National Restaurant Association has done a good job lobbying to keep the minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers low, and they want diners to stay in the dark on this score, it’s a very purposeful move on their part. For many Americans restaurants are their second kitchens; as a culture, we eat out more than any other country, and many of us celebrate significant milestones, like birthdays and anniversaries, in restaurants. And yet most diners really have no idea about the working conditions for these employees.

Few diners know that most restaurant employees around the country don’t get paid sick leave and since they can’t afford to take time off work, they come to work sick, which isn’t good for their health or that of the people they’re cooking for and serving.

The racial segregation in restaurants is real and plays out across the country and restricts opportunities for advancement for many people of color. Our research shows that generally speaking, lighter-skinned employees work in the front of the house and darker skinned workers are relegated behind the kitchen door or in less prominent roles. This situation is very stark in places like Miami, where light-skinned employees work as waiters, brown-skinned Latino employees work as bussers and runners, and hidden in the back are the darkest employees, typically Haitians working as dishwashers.

Photo: Courtesy ROC-United

How does California and the Bay Area measure up on restaurant workers’ rights?
California has a higher rate for tipped workers, its the same as for other minimum wage workers, a minimum of $8 an hour across the board. California is one of seven states that doesn’t have a lower minimum wage for tipped workers. But keeping the federal rate low for tipped minimum wages has the effect of driving down wages across the country; and most states pay under $3 an hour for tipped workers.

San Francisco was the first city in the country to require all employers to offer paid sick leave to their employees, so this area is a leader in that regard.

And several restaurants here do all the right things by their employees, including offering opportunities for advancement for its lowest paid staff members. Zazie in San Francisco comes to mind on that front, as do Pizzaiolo and Boot & Shoe Service in the East Bay.

Are you optimistic that restaurant workers will get their due?
There’s incredible momentum right now for our work. A number of states are passing laws that will transform the working conditions of restaurant employees. Philadelphia just passed an ordinance allowing restaurant workers to receive paid sick days, it’s the largest city in the U.S. to pass such a measure. [The measure is subject to pending mayoral approval.] President Obama mentioned raising the minimum wage, including for tipped wage workers, in his State of the Union speech. I’m confident this is our time.

Photo: Courtesy ROC-United

What can consumers do?
Spread the word about this book. Speak up when you eat out around the country. Ask restaurant employees about their working conditions, including wages and tips, and whether or not they have paid sick leave. Let the managers of restaurants you frequent know that the working conditions of restaurant employees is something you care about. If a restaurant is doing all the right things by its employees, let management know that’s important to you and you’ll keep supporting them for their efforts. We’ve created a dining guide (it’s also available as a smart phone ap) for consumers. Let Congress know you care; sign our petition. It’s not enough just to tip better, though that’s a nice thing to do, it’s not really the point. We’re trying to create industry-wide, systemic change in working conditions across the country for all restaurant employees.

Bridget Batson and Patrick Kelly. Photo: Erin Gleeson

Making and eating a meal of sea urchin pasta is now an ongoing tradition for the couple, and on the Monday after Valentine’s Day, Patrick will buy a tray of uni, and Bridget will make her infamous uni pasta (see recipe below). Customers looking for their own sumptuous seafood and aphrodisiac inspired Valentine’s menu can book a table at Gitane from February 14-16. Bay Area Bites interviewed the SOMA residents recently and their comments have been edited for clarity and grammar.

Bay Area Bites: What is it like to work together? How do you negotiate work vs. home life?
Batson: All these fun questions! We’re both extremely different. One thing we struggled with was carving out the time to be at work. I usually work in the morning and he works at night. We do have a good eight hours of crossover. We started working together at Gitane after I’d been here a couple of years. I needed some culinary help (laughs) and the Claude Group was expanding.

Kelly: We definitely had to draw some ground rules and make sure that our Sundays are work-free. We work in different ways at the restaurant. She is a brilliant organizer and I’m more food focused. We definitely work together well.

Bar at Gitane. Photo: Erin Gleeson

Kelly: We wanted to make the menu approachable and went with all those sexy items like oysters and a lot of shellfish. (Bridget laughs). Gitane is such a phenomenal date place and it makes sense to have those items that are aphrodisiacs. There is an option to add black truffles, which we get regularly for our special events.

Bay Area Bites: Where are a few of your favorite romantic spots in the Bay Area and why?
Batson: Hmmm. We like Kokkari together. There is something about spit-roasted meats that is romantic to us! (They both laugh). At the Buena Vista, we have an Irish coffee and walk by the water and take our dog.

Kelly: The Buena Vista may not be very romantic but it’s definitely a lot of fun. We also love taking our dog to Golden Gate Park and the Presidio as well.

Bay Area Bites: What’s your favorite dessert?
Batson: One of the fun things we both like and grew up with are malted floats. Made with root beer. You don’t see it on menus that much. We make ourselves floats at home.

Kelly: A favorite pastry chef of mine is from La Folie. Whatever she makes is great. Honestly we don’t get there that often.

Gitane Dining Room. Photo: Erin Gleeson

Kelly: I love fried chicken at home. I don’t get to do it at home too often. It’s a big mess but I love it.

Bay Area Bites: The uni dish is so rich and different, yet sounds like a great tradition to keep up. Tell us more.
Batson: We were lucky and once got a live version of sea urchin when a friend of ours went diving at Sea Ranch Mendocino. We tried live ones in the shell and a bunch of abalone. That was great.

Kelly: I give myself a reminder to order the uni and get it dropped off and delivered at the restaurant. Having uni together was one of those things we first did when we got together. I brought her a tray of uni instead of flowers. We started a tradition (laughs).

Batson: If every woman is lucky enough to get uni!… We’ll celebrate on Saturday or Sunday.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you get your inspiration for the restaurant?
Kelly: We just got back from a trip to Spain. That was a lot of fun and we ate our way everywhere. We were doing a black rice dish on the menu that we found during our earlier travels. We’ll definitely put it back on the menu. Also, baked fideo will be back soon on the menu. In Spain, we found tons of rice dishes and fresh seafood. We’re doing a roasted monkfish steak on top of paella rice that is completely inspired by our travels.

For more inspiration and recipes, we like to read and are on the internet constantly. We have a ridiculously large cookbook collection. Travel is about recreating dish. Being in San Francisco, we are sensitive to seasonal changes yet we keep the menu focused on Spain.

Batson & Kelly Style Uni Pasta. Photo: Leila Seppa

Recipe: Batson & Kelly Style Uni Pasta

Ingredients:
• 8 – 10 pieces uni (also called sea urchin or tongues)
• 1 lb capellini or angel hair pasta
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tbs garlic, chopped
• 4 Tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbs chili flakes
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 stick butter
• salt & pepper
• 1 lemon

Method:
Cook the pasta as directed, set aside. In a sauté pan, warm the olive oil for 1 minute, add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes or until soft. Add the chili flakes and white wine, simmer for about 3 minutes or until the alcohol flavor is gone. Add in your pasta, butter and parsley and toss until the butter is melted and the pasta is hot through out, season with salt and pepper.

Gently fold in the uni until it is barely incorporated being careful to not break the tongues. Place in a big bowl for two (of course! ) and finish with a squeeze of lemon to taste.

Related Information:
Gitane
Address: Map
6 Claude Lane
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 788-6686

Twitter: @gitanesf
Facebook: Gitane Restaurant

Shelley Lindgren. Photo credit: Frankie Frankeny

Shelley Lindgren is a Bay Area success story: owner of the vastly popular A16 and SPQR restaurants, sommelier, wine director and cookbook author. A second A16 will open in Rockridge this year and Lindgren and owner Victoria Libin had this to share about the upcoming new outpost:

“We are very excited to announce the opening of A16 Rockridge, slated for early 2013 in the former Hudson restaurant space at 5356 College Avenue. We’d also like to officially welcome Rocky Maselli as the new A16 Rockridge Executive Chef… we are looking forward to seeing Rocky’s own interpretations of this cuisine, focusing on his family roots in Puglia, a coastal region of Italy. Guests can expect to see a menu with an emphasis on seafood as well as some southern Italian favorites including burrata, meatballs, and pizza. Shelley Lindgren’s role will include the creation of a Southern Italian-inspired wine program as well as collaboration on the launch of a cocktail program. The new cocktail menu will feature carefully crafted Italian aperitivos, amaros, and digestivos specially brought from Italy, including Rucolino — a wild arugula amaro from Campania’s Island Ischia. The new space will feature an open kitchen with counter seating, bar seating as well as a private dining area. A16 Rockridge will work with San Francisco’s Cass Calder Smith of CCS Architecture to bring the vision for the location to life.”

Lindgren grew up in the North Bay and champions interesting and lesser known “soulful” Southern Italian wines. She has worked as a wine educator and restaurant consultant and is married to Greg Lindgren, who is the co-owner of Rye, Rosewood, 15 Romolo, and Rye On the Road cocktail catering service in San Francisco.

Lindgren’s list of accomplishments is deep: a 2009 Gourmet magazine Educator Sommelier Award and the Golden Goblet by Women Chefs & Restaurateurs in the same year. She was voted the Best Wine Director by San Francisco Magazine, Best New Sommelier from Wine & Spirits, and made the cut for the Top Ten Sommeliers by Bloomberg Markets. Her first cookbook, A16 Food + Wine (Ten Speed Press, 2008) earned two IACP Cookbook Awards: Cookbook of the Year and The Julia Child Award. In 2010, Lindgren was awarded StarChefs.com’s San Francisco Bay Area Rising Star Restaurateur award. Bay Area Bites asked Lindgren about her her working life, accomplishments, latest SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine cookbook, and got the dish on her favorite wines and places to eat.

Bay Area Bites: How did the SPQR book project come about?

Lindgren: After collaborating on the A16 Food & Wine book together, Kate Leahy and I had been in touch with Ten Speed Press about tackling a companion project for SPQR. We landed on the conceit of Roman roads as a structural foundation and selected the main arteries of these ancient routes through central and northern Italy and organized the dishes and wines around them. In Italy, wine and food fits hand to glove and Chef Matthew Accarrino brought incredible knowledge on Italy, cooking, family heritage and a willingness to jump into research trips from the start. Soon we had a terrific way to tell the wonderful stories behind the food and wine of these regions. We just all wanted to do our best to not only translate our experience but also do justice to their greatness.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have any good stories from the book tour?

Lindgren: When Matthew and I have been together at book signings, often he’ll tell a story about a winery or winemaker we visited or I’ll remind him about a time we ate a particular dish or visited an artisan maker for prosciutto, cheese, vinegar, etc. Even though we had our own role in the book, they work complementary, very much how SPQR functions. It’s exciting to find wines that pair with his food and, between the book project and visiting winemakers, our entire team at SPQR has a plethora of stories and recommendations every night. We all have fun geeking out. And actually, just being there and spending so much time with the artisans was a remarkable experience for all of us. When you think about the traditions and the spirit of the people, not to mention the spectacular settings, the whole thing was magical. And the graciousness of our hosts all over the country, letting us into their homes and businesses to see their everyday lives and how they value and use these cherished traditions — well, I’ll remember it forever. It also inspires me to come back and continue to raise our standards of hospitality.

Bay Area Bites: What are some of your favorite wines from the book?

Lindgren: I love to champion the lesser-known grapes because Italy is ripe with more than one can imagine. I love to hear things like a classic pairing for a particular Lambrusco is pumpkin, or to see wineries aging white wines for decades that still taste fresh. The focus on quality over quantity of Italian winemaking has elevated Italian wine so much in recent years and there is amazing pride in maintaining local tradition, which I admire. Italians don’t need much to live a very rich lifestyle. Drinking wine and having complementary meals is really a backbone of Italian living.

Bay Area Bites: What are you most passionate about for wine and food these days?

Lindgren: These days a lot of natural wines are increasingly blowing my mind. There’s Cantine Giardino, ‘Paski,’ Coda di Volpe that goes with a range of sweet and salty salads like chicory lettuce, roasted pear butter, almond, goat cheddar and pink pepper vinaigrette, or puntarelle lettuce, marinated anchovy, radish, egg and fried pork skin. It’s also great with many of Matthew’s pastas. One of the more classic pairings is an orange wine like the Rusticum with Matthew’s signature smoked fettuccine, sea urchin, smoked bacon, and soft quail egg. Grapes like pelaverga, tezzelenghe, gewürztraminer, cesanese, and pigato are usually the kind of wines we’ll pair with dishes by the glass at SPQR. It’s a whole lot of fun.

Bay Area Bites: Who are your culinary and restaurant mentors?

Lindgren: Having spent the last 25 years in the Bay Area working in restaurants, I feel lucky to be inspired by so many people. Hubert Keller and the late Maurice Rouas took me under their wings at Fleur De Lys for most of the nineties. During that time, I honed my sommelier skills and realized I would be a restaurant professional as a career (I was about 25 when this decision was cemented). Then, Debbie Zachareas let me be a sommelier at Bacar and I learned a lot about managing as well, which proved invaluable as I kept studying wine, especially with my love of Italian wine. I was a real blank slate when starting to taste the wines of southern Italy and, fortunately, our timing with the opening A16 in 2004 was perfect when more and more gems from the Mezzogiorno were becoming available and in better quality. The south of Italy is paradise. Well actually, Italy is paradise.

Bay Area Bites: What are the best things about being a sommelier and restaurateur?

Lindgren: First of all, I love service. I love making people happy. But beyond that, I always envisioned a place where wine and food were in ideal balance with each other. Coming from fine dining, I really wanted to have elements of fine dining like the correct wine glass, the optimal temperature of wine, and friendly service that was professional yet fun, and I think we’ve achieved that. Whenever I walk into A16 or SPQR, I am excited to get to work and love seeing great teamwork and everyone’s true enthusiasm for food and wine. We are so lucky to work in the restaurant business in the Bay Area. There is always a process of evolution and adjustments to be made, which keeps us on our toes.

Bay Area Bites: And the worst?

Lindgren: Tough question because there’s plenty of ‘grosser than gross’ things to deal with whether it’s the plumbing needing to be fixed, etc… but, that’s part of the package deal. Restaurant work is not for the faint of heart. There is no resting on laurels. Every day we hit the restart button, and you need to work harder than the day before. Every person has their strength and weaknesses. When we first opened, I was definitely wearing too many hats and that was not sustainable. We learn as we grow and keep our chins up, even when there are difficult decisions to make sometimes.

Bay Area Bites: You are relatively young yet appear to be a success. What are the lessons you’ve learned on the way?

Lindgren: You grow a really thick skin in the restaurant business and learn how to prioritize and let a lot of things roll off your back. I have learned that if you work hard, love what you do, and keep forging ahead, you’ll succeed. Pretty soon it will be nine years since opening A16′s doors. That seems impossible.

It’s also important to understand that restaurants are a business and that there have to be checks and balances for the control of costs. Having a business partner like Victoria Libin and an amazing management team has been key. We’re able to focus on what we individually do best. One person cannot run a restaurant alone.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have any favorite Bay Area food/drink spots and if so what do you like to order when you go there?

Lindgren: I recently had a great meal at Kiss sushi. The junmai sake I had with the sashimi plate was heaven. Recently I had a great Campari drink at AQ. I always have fun going to the classics, like Zuni for chicken and oysters, Slanted Door for crab with cellophane noodles, and a good Veltliner from Prager or Jamek. I spend less time in bars now that I’m a mom but, being married to Greg, who is a partner in Rye, Rosewood, and 15 Romolo, I’m in on all the great innovations on that side of the business. I get to sneak into Nopa or Foreign Cinema, among others, every once in a while to say hello to friends and unwind with a glass of something.

Bay Area Bites: What are your wine recommendations for Valentine’s Day?

Lindgren: I like to think pink with bubbles offering a couple sparkling rose’s by the glass. Being still chilly this time of year, decadent, velvety reds like Mourvèdre from producers like Pignol from the Bandol area of Southern France, classic chocolate-covered cherry flavored often found in Sicily’s great Nero D’Avola grape such as Feudo Montoni’s Vrucara express a wonderful depth of fruit and less astringent tannins from the sun’s natural ripeness and withstanding the heat of the Mediterranean summers.

Related Information:

Twitter: @shelleylindgren, @mattaccarrino

A16
Address: Map
2355 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: (415) 771-2216
Twitter: @A16SF
Facebook: A16

SPQR
Address: Map
1911 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: (415) 771-7779
Twitter: @SPQRfillmore
Facebook: SPQR

Recipe: Spaghetti with Shrimp and Tomato Passatina
From SPQR by Shelley Lindgren, Matthew Accarrino, and Kate Leahy (Ten Speed Press, October 2012)

serves 4 to 6

extra virgin olive oil
150 grams • 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
12 grams • 3 garlic cloves, minced
150 grams • 1 carrot, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
454 grams • 1 pound shell-on raw baby shrimp
kosher salt and black pepper
a pinch of dried red pepper flakes
115 grams • 1/2 cup white wine
240 grams • 11/2 cups canned tomatoes
50 grams • 4 breadsticks, like grissini, broken up
2 grams • 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
340 grams • 12 ounces fresh spaghetti or dried

Heat a thin film of olive oil in a large, wide pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and sweat until softened, 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sweat 1 to 2 minutes more until aromatic. Add the carrot and sweat until softened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Turn up the heat to medium-high, stir in the shrimp, and season with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Stir in the tomato and return to a simmer. Pour in 1 cup of water, lower the heat, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the shrimp are soft enough to break up with a wooden spoon if pressed. Stir the broken grissini pieces into the pot, remove from the heat, and stir in the parsley.

Place a food mill fitted with a coarse plate over a clean pot. In batches, pass the shrimp and broth through the food mill. You will have a coarse paste. (If it’s too dry to go through the food mill, stir in more water). Taste the shrimp paste and season with salt and pepper.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti for 4 minutes if using fresh, and as directed on the package if using dry. Drain the spaghetti, reserving a cup of pasta water, and return the spaghetti to the pasta pot.

Stir spoonfuls of the shrimp paste into the spaghetti until evenly coated, adding a few spoonfuls of water if the pasta looks dry, and simmer for one more minute before serving.

Mission District resident Yaron Milgrom didn’t plan on becoming a restaurant owner five years ago when he moved to San Francisco with his wife Miriam, who was training to be a doctor at San Francisco General Hospital. Milgrom owns Local’s Corner and Local: Mission Eatery and is at work on a third Mission food business. He had studied Medieval Jewish Mysticism at NYU. While he’s maybe not the most likely candidate to build two successful restaurants, Milgrom has succeeded so far. He was drawn to the idea of creating community and feeding others, hence the use of work local for both businesses. Bay Area Bites caught up with Milgrom to find out what it’s like to start two food eateries from scratch and what his plans are for the future.

Bay Area Bites: How has the Mission changed and what role do you see your restaurants playing in those changes, if any?
Milgrom: I moved to the neighborhood five years ago and pretty much the week we moved here, Dynamo Donuts opened. That marks the beginning of a certain reconsideration of the neighborhood and a real possibility for a broader diversity and different culinary opportunity in the neighborhood. We came here to be near SF General, where my wife was training. We fell in love with the neighborhood and thought it really needed options that were locally sourced, well prepared and from scratch.

My family and I really loved 24th street, because it’s tree lined and colorful and interesting but later in the day, there wasn’t necessarily a great feeling of safety. So we came up with the idea to make the street more safe and welcoming as a goal, and to be a street presence. Now, our restaurants are open five days a week and we have customers eating dinner ‘til eleven at night.

The changes here in the last five years include Dynamo Donuts, Humphry Slocombe, us, Heirloom, flour + water, Pig and Pie and newly opened retail and gallery spaces. All of those are transitions for the neighborhood; we’re hoping for crossover appeal, and not only from a class and race standpoint.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have any mentors?
Milgrom: When I was a graduate student I interned with Will Goldfarb once a week. He has expert knowledge of pastry and culinary methods and knew the temperature of sugar just by looking at it. Now I really appreciate the discipline of cooks. All of our cooks tie garbage bags well, sweep well, dice well… so you see a real sense of caring and a craft.

Local: Mission Eatery Executive Chef Jake Des Voignes is a mentor and helped me understand how the kitchen works. I’m really appreciative of him, as well as David Steele, David White – and more of the folks from flour + water, and Sebo helped me. Laurence Jossel, too. Early on I talked to people and got little tidbits of information, which can be really encouraging.

Bay Area Bites: What are the best and worst things about being a restaurateur?
Milgrom: I really love what I do and that I have 27 employees between the two restaurants. What we do well supports 27 people and makes their lives possible. Between the two restaurants, we spend tens of thousands of dollars on food and wine and literally know the people who produce our food, wine, cheese, and olive oil… We’ve visited them and they visit us. To have relatively small restaurants and have a big impact is great. I love being around delicious food and being able to taste and give feedback on it each day. I walk between the two spots and see neighbors — we meet at the park, we go to each others homes. I love that my kids have this sense of family with staff and it’s special.

I’m very lucky, because I bring my son to school and pick him up every day. I eat dinner with my family and work till one or two every night. I’ve been able to grow the business and still be with them. I don’t think anyone could be luckier than that.

The worst aspects are it’s a tremendous amount of pressure and anxiety. Ultimately the buck does stop at the top. Making sure the business continues to operate is on me. All the tens of thousands of dollars we spend and paying those 27 people — they need to be paid on time. There’s pressure to deliver to our employees and our vendors, and they put a lot of trust in us. Then I have friends and family who helped get this started, so I really want to make good on the promises I made to them.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have any favorite Bay Area food spots?
Milgrom: As a family we do mostly eat at home — we don’t eat at our own restaurants except for Sunday brunch. We eat at El Metate and Bar Tartine. Bar Tartine is so interesting.
I like Sebo and Ichi for sushi.
I go to flour + water and Salumeria during the day.
Ippuku in Berkeley is just phenomenal.

Bay Area Bites: Local: Mission Eatery has a selection of cookbooks. Does your training as a scholar have anything to do with the library?
Milgrom: For me, it’s about being open about your influences. There’s so much of an emphasis on culinary innovation as if it stands on its own. It’s not that there’s nothing new under the sun. It’s really important to me as a scholar and an eater to recognize that ideas have sources. Our culinary tradition is European-based around ingredients and method-based.

Bay Area Bites: Where do you think the U.S. is in terms of appreciation for other cultures food-wise?
Milgrom: I have very little idea what it looks like between New York and San Francisco. In San Francisco, we have a diversity of food opportunities. You have the Eastern European food which is really taking hold and wines from there as well.

For authenticity, the Thai food that people are eating has been modified for an American palate. There are regional foods: Thai, Chinese, Italian…. But now we have more of a sense that there is more to, say Italian food: there’s Tuscan food, and there’s Roman food. That is a deep level of appreciation. It’s not just having Thai, Italian or Chinese restaurant; it’s enjoying the heritage.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have any foods that you enjoy and are a guilty pleasure?
Milgrom: In our house we really don’t eat processed or mass produced food. Part of being a parent and creating businesses is to not have or sell packaged goods.

We certainly eat ice cream. I don’t know how many days of a week I eat pastries from Knead Patisserie. Right now their Linzer cookie is a favorite.

Self-taught chef and restaurateur Mourad Lahlou is the one name repeatedly whispered at industry events as someone who is innovative and daring. Lahlou’s first cookbook “Mourad: New Moroccan” came out last year and the recipes reveal his personal interpretation of his native Moroccan cuisine. Eating at his Michelin starred restaurant Aziza remains a popular “must-do” for many, and Lahlou was recently appointed a culinary ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Lahlou is also gearing up to open a new restaurant in downtown San Francisco, which Lahlou has said will be different than Aziza.

Bay Area Bites caught up with Lahlou via a telephone and an email interview recently. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Bay Area Bites: How did you become a culinary ambassador? How will it change your schedule?

Lahlou: Hillary Clinton decided to start this new initiative called culinary diplomacy, using food as soft diplomacy. When dignitaries come to the United States from North Africa, I will cook for them. The main task, though is for me to travel and talk about how we care about the world, and care about the environment…that covers what we eat, what we produce and our children.

Imagine if you have a Japanese dignitary coming to the U.S. who has food made by an American with strong links to Japan. It will show them we care and that they are cared for, and I think that’s really important. This whole thing is labeled soft diplomacy. There’s also hard diplomacy, which is the typical way of doing diplomacy. I’m really surprised that it’s taken this long for this initiative to happen. Food is the one thing that we all put into our own body to achieve many purposes: to survive, to be entertained. By cooking, you’re sustaining someone’s life. It’s a very powerful but overlooked way of achieving diplomacy.

I will travel to New York and Washington, D.C., as well as abroad. Every time I go abroad, I have to go to the embassies and consulates. I also will do conferences, events and connect with people on the internet. It’s not just a title, and you don’t just show up for an event.

Dignitaries are coming to the United States on a daily basis. You’ll get advanced notice three days ahead, a week, three months — of course, all the chefs are all stoked and really want to make sure it’s a success. It needs to be nurtured and taken care of. We would like other chefs to be invited to participate in this initiative so it grows. So the chefs are a very important part of this process.

Bay Area Bites: What are you passionate about food-wise these days?

Lahlou: I’ve really been obsessing and having a hard time with reduced sauces. You know when you eat a dish that’s really sticky and it’s been strained 20 times? It’s delicious and the flavor is deep and profound but it lacquers your tongue. You have to power wash to get it off. It’s so ugly. I’m experimenting with figuring out the components in the sauce so that I can reduce it without it getting sticky, so that it stays runny. If I can figure out how to break the molecules, then I will have a brothy sauce that is also reduced, flavorful and amazing.

Bay Area Bites: Do you have favorite food/drink spots in the Bay Area?

Lahlou:
My favorite spot to slurp a bowl of noodles is Turtle Tower. They have the best pho ga long in town. It’s a great chicken noodle soup with giblets, which is the bomb on a cold, foggy San Francisco summer day.

I’d drive across town in rush hour traffic to eat at Coi, Benu, Saison, Manresa, Commis, SPQR, Bar Agricole and Outerlands. I would actually walk across town in a rainy day to eat at any of these places. Did i mention that I would walk uphill both ways??

Nothing says San Francisco on a plate more than the Crab Louie served at Swan Oyster Depot, which epitomizes San Francisco in every bite. It’s simple, delicious and crazy fresh seafood and the place to take any out-of-towner and watch them lick their fingers because they can’t understand why the food is so deceptively tasty.

My go-to place on my night off is at home. I’d order whatever i feel like. It works every time.

For sushi, Ino Sushi has out-of-this-world sushi by Chef Ino who gets to do whatever the f*ck he wants to. It’s better that way.

The best tacos are from El Gallo Giro on 23rd street and Treat Avenue. They sell these out of a truck but they have the best tacos in town and they are ideal for eating while paying attention to something more serious than just food for a change. They are much tastier than pizza and they don’t get stale as quickly. Try their roast chicken, which are so tasty that they make you not miss pork at all.

For my best late night hangout, if it’s before 1am, I would choose Nopa. I love their burger and roast chicken. You can’t beat it at that hour of the night, morning or whatever it’s called. If we’re talking after 1am, then it’s My Canh on Broadway, for cheap, tasty grub made when most decent cooks in the city are too tired and drowning in their beer or cocktails; this is San Francisco after all.

Bay Area Bites: Who are your mentors?

Lahlou: Joyce Goldstein is an amazing human being. She’s known me 16 or 17 years. She’s a great friend and is so honest to a fault. She’ll tell you something to your face and I love that. She cares even on a more profound level. We’ve been friends and close for so many years. She respects and loves what I do and always tells me her opinion.

Bay Area Bites: What are the pros and cons of building a restaurant business?

Lahlou: The pros are the community. You’re dealing with people who frequent your restaurant who know and appreciate food. Where else can you see someone from another region and country and have it be a success. Look at Mission Chinese, at Bar Tartine. We are so open-minded and embracing of other cultures…That’s a huge draw for me. I feel like people allow me to experiment. They don’t stigmatize me with ethnicity. They don’t ask you to be the same. They don’t have a set of prejudices. They give you room to grow and experiment. When I first started, I was doing traditional Moroccan. I grew and people allowed me to do it differently and to grow.

The produce, farmers and community are also great. It makes it so much easier having easy access to them. We tend to take for granted that. I go to New York quite a bit but our produce puts them to shame. Take Joe’s Early Girl tomatoes, which are so amazing by themselves. They’re like a bundle of flavor that just explodes in your mouth. I think it’s wonderful to get up and go to the farmers’ market and then be able to cook with the produce. One of the hardest things is to go to other places and use different tomatoes. You have to manipulate the food more to make it taste better.

The hardest thing about having a restaurant in the Bay Area is that no matter what, it’s a small town. You get a limited area, surrounded with water. It doesn’t expand like L.A., which makes it so intimate and limited in a way, you know? Restaurants are opening all the time. The problem I have is: the quality of the cooks. There are great cooks but it’s really hard to find and hold on to great cooks. That’s one issue that has to be addressed sooner or later. It doesn’t allow for one place to have a bunch of great cooks who can elevate to the next level. The cost of living in the Bay Area is so, so high so cooks end up leaving and going somewhere else — back to New York, Chicago or L.A. because they just can’t be there. We end up losing them. I call it the brain drain because we lose the smartest, brightest cooks.

Bay Area Bites: How did you learn to cook such great food?

Lahlou: The environment was really fertile for me to grow in a culinary sense. If my family would have known I was going to be a cook, to travel 6,000 miles to cook, they would have revolted. It would not even be an acceptable option for me. I allowed myself to be exposed to different cultures.

I was going to go to college in France and stay with my aunt. I had an idea that I wanted to instead go to America. My grandpa wanted to find a way to tell me “It’s not a great idea, but yeah, if you want to get a visa, just know that it’s extremely hard.” Once he said it at the table in front of everyone, I was able to give it a try. I got a five-year visa and was so excited.

Everyone was shocked. My family had promised I could do it and within two to three weeks I was in a plane on my way to San Francisco. I was so homesick and business was hard. I couldn’t fly back to Morocco; it takes a day to fly back there. The one thing I could do to connect to them was food — I started making things and it was terrible. I was so lost and so sad, there were so many tears and sleepless nights. Eventually I started using my memory to recreate the days and memories with all the women shopping and cooking in Morocco. I was really reliving those moments.

Of course, in Morocco there are no recipes. I would call someone and say “how did you make that tagine?” they’d say a “pinch of this and pinch of that.” I was in college (at San Francisco State) for economics but I was learning how to preserve things, how to break down a fish and how to cook, really. Eventually by the time I was finished with college, people said, “You should open a restaurant.” I had $3,700 to my name and so I opened a restaurant. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. Once I opened the restaurant, it was traditional food, and I started to watch people eat, and talk to people about themselves and their food preferences. I started to realize that food has to have a sense of place.

Food has to connect people to where there are. I can’t cook food in the same way it’s made in Morocco. Food connects people to their past. They want to taste the stew that their great grandma made. It’s not Facebook or Twitter that connects us, it’s through memories and through food. It’s how we stay connected to people and the past. Here in America it’s always “What’s new?” and “What are the trends?” People are always looking into the future here. I was stuck because the way I was cooking was in the past. But the way people are here is that they look into the future, looking at the ingredients. Food here is a religion, a way of life… where is that carrot and chicken from? There’s an obsession here. I had to change the way I was thinking about food.

I was taking those ideas — the foods from Marrakesh and making it in SF but it didn’t make any sense. What I’m making now is food for the Bay Area. I think that’s what’s really cool.

This month in Hayes Valley, Jardinière Restaurant and chef-owner Traci Des Jardins celebrate 15 years of business, a notable feat for any fine dining spot. Along with launching a revamped menu, Des Jardins and executive chef Morgan Mueller hosted a party at Jardinière attended by luminaries from both the culinary and political worlds, including Jardinière alums and folks like Willie Brown. In other exciting news, Des Jardins flew to Southern California days later to help her friend Mary Sue Milliken — along with Suzanne Goin, Karen Hatfield, Hans Rockenwagner, Michael Cimarusti, and Josiah Citrin for a sold out dinner event to raise funds for President Obama’s re-election.

Des Jardins is known for her cooking, awards from Esquire, SF Chronicle, James Beard, Food & Wine, philanthropy and time on TV for Top Chef: Masters, Iron Chef (remember how she beat Mario Batali, anyone?), and The Next Iron Chef. Des Jardins is chef/co-owner of Mijita Cocina Mexicana as well as Chef and Partner of Public House and Manzanita. She shared her thoughts with Bay Area Bites via telephone interview and her comments have been edited for clarity and grammar.

Bay Area Bites: How have you stayed in business for 15 years? What are the secrets of success? Do you have any horror stories?

Des Jardins: There’s been a lot of ups and downs and we had the boom years in the early years. Back then, the restaurant was so busy and honestly there was a lot of money coming in. Our problems were control and keeping track of everything and the real trick was getting ready for service every day. I was 32 when I opened the restaurant and was more the chef in the kitchen. I’ve evolved to more of a business person and am always looking at how to stay in business. You have to have business acumen and know what’s happening behind the scenes. Drew Nieporent said “it’s a nickel and dime business and you have to track every nickel and dime.”

The most important thing — and I tell my managers this all the time — is the guest experience. That is the best marketing tool. You have to be a good listener and listen to what the guests feedback is and what that means. It’s key to being a good chef or restaurateur. The guests will tell you and that’s the name of the game.

The first three to four years with Jardinière were insanely busy and then after 9/11 things got a lot trickier. When 9/11 happened our revenue dropped by 20 percent or something like that day to day. That was our most challenging time. 9/11 just sort of sealed the deal and it was really hard. I think a lot of people went out of business at that time. Over the last decade, we haven’t had as many fluctuations but the costs have gone up so much. The public doesn’t really see that. How much things cost has changed so much. Our percentages have dwindled due to uncontrollable costs on things like mandatory healthcare.

Chef Morgan Mueller and Traci Des Jardins. Photo courtesy of Chris Gaede

Bay Area Bites: What are the best and worst things about running a restaurant?

Des Jardins: The best is that our job is to make people happy. That makes it super, super fun and satisfying. It’s horrifying when they aren’t happy. People are coming in to have a good time and our job is to deliver. It’s kind of like theatre and you’re putting on the best show possible. When the day ends, then the show begins again. There are a lot of tiny, tiny details. My job is super fun; the business part I don’t love but the feeding people part is fantastic.

The worst part is the amount of effort that goes into what we do every day. There’s not a huge monetary reward. It’s an act of love. Maybe people are making a ton of money and yet — it seems so expensive. If you knew what goes into that experience then that’s hard. It’s even been exacerbated with the whole celebrity thing because people think that if you are on TV then you must have millions of dollars and you must have a Ferrari (laughs). People are making money from product lines and endorsements and there are folks making a tremendous amount of money but I’m not one of them. With the whole celebrity thing, people think that’s the kind of lifestyle were living. Right now, I’m sitting in my office and it’s really a storeroom. There are dry goods, an ice cream machine, and no place to sit. It’s not all that glamorous. But I love it. That’s the great thing.

Bay Area Bites: Can you talk about your role becoming a successful woman in the culinary field? Do you have any positive versus negative experiences regarding being a female in a male dominated profession?

Des Jardins: I’ve never felt discriminated against in this business. I was so young when I started. A lot of what I endured was pure naïveté and putting my head down and I was determined and dogged and I didn’t think about “yeah, I was the only woman.” I didn’t focus on that. I was smaller and wasn’t as strong and the actual physicality was a challenge. It’s harder for me to pick up big bags of stuff; that’s made it harder. Was it hard? Yeah. But it’s hard for everybody. You’ve got to be tough and strong. I think it’s the same answer as every other industry: when faced with taking care of family — when women have to make that choice, they’re always going to pick the family. That kind of bleeds a lot of people out of the field. When they get to childbearing years, it’s pretty hard to be able to that in our business. Is that discrimination? I think it’s choice.

One form of discrimination is more to do with a woman who’s older, which is a Hollywood thing. Actors can be sexy into their 60s and 70s and the women actresses aren’t. It’s the same thing and exacerbated with the celebrity of chefs.

Bay Area Bites: Did you feel or notice that when you were on TV?

Des Jardins: I didn’t feel it personally. If you look at the men who have been successful and most of the women who are successful, it’s sex appeal and showing cleavage. Right? That’s kind of interesting. For the men, that’s not criteria. They don’t have to be strikingly handsome. None of it’s absolute. There are exceptions.

Bay Area Bites: What are you most excited about on the new menu?

Des Jardins: The evolution of the food. I’m excited about the next 15 years. I want this restaurant to be 30 years old. It requires evolution and change. We’ve started out kind of small by changing the format and focus. The menu changes are about my own taste and about what I want to express in the food: I want to have smaller portions because it’s healthier. I don’t like a ton of ingredients — mostly three to five ingredients. I also want distilled flavors. I’m returning to simplicity. The evolution of the menu is also driven by the products we have here, and the idea is to let them shine. Less is more; accent natural fabulousness and let the ingredients shine.

Jardinière Alums: L to R with Traci Des Jardins: Lizzie Binder, Deepak Kaul, Michael Hung, Morgan Mueller, Robbie Lewis and Richard Reddington. Photo courtesy of Chris Gaede

Bay Area Bites: You’ve groomed many chefs who have gone on to do their own thing. What’s that like and who are your mentors?

Des Jardins: I don’t know that I’ve been so great at mentoring. That’s shepherding. The people who have come through my kitchen have been influenced by me. But I wish I had been more of a mentor. It could be something I work on in the next 15 years. I give just by being. I learned by watching. Drew Nieperont and Joachim Splichal are people who had the same sort of huge influence on me. There are also people who’ve taught me a lot about business. I’ve sought out counsel from people and that’s been key to learning for sure.

Jardinière
Address: 300 Grove St. (at Franklin) Map
San Francisco, CA 94102.
Telephone: (415) 861-5555
Hours: Open everyday at 5pm
Twitter: @JardiniereSF
Facebook: Jardinière

Michael Bauer. Photo courtesy of Craig Lee/SF Chronicle

What’s the state of Bay Area food? What’s trendy — both good and bad?
As far as what’s happening here it’s going really strong. Two years ago was the best year in my 25 years here. It slowed down a little bit and now it’s really good. I’m finding interesting things around the bay and in San Francisco.

The biggest trend is the further casualization of décor & service which can be both good & bad. I’m also seeing the implementation of tasting menus: like Commonwealth and Saison, where you get this high-style fixed menu in a barn. Then we have Central Kitchen and Dixie. Every chef now wants to do a tasting menu. Which is interesting because I thought the tasting menu was dead in the water five years ago. I think they’ve found ways to make it go quicker because diners don’t want to be at the table beyond two and a half hours and chefs want to show off their skills. Also, diners like that guidance.

What’s the state of restaurant reviewing after you’ve spent 25 yrs doing it? Is there anything you wish you knew then that you know now?
No because when you’re in the middle of it, it’s just an ongoing process. It’s hard to look back. Obviously the biggest change has been the internet. But that’s changed everyone’s lives. It’s too soon to see how things will shake out and what the role of traditional media will be.

You were close with Marion Cunningham. Can you share any thoughts on her recent passing?
It was a long slow decline for her and it’s very sad that someone that vital ended up in the situation that she was in. It’s weird that if you talk to a young chef, they have no idea who she is. I was talking to Gayle Pirie over this and Marion’s not been out of circulation even five years. The world is moving so fast that history is getting lost so quickly. What she has to offer and what Julia Child has to offer is starting to get lost.

Is there a culinary elder now that Marion has passed away?
She’s different but Cecilia Chiang is still very active.

What is it like doing a public Q&A event? Yes, you’ll be behind a screen, but how are you preparing for SF Chefs?
Frankly I don’t even think about it. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I don’t know what Drew will ask. I told him to ask whatever he wants. That’s what it’s kind of like when you live your life in public. I am hopefully anonymous. I can’t think that anything would surprise me. I think the internet has been a good skin thickener.

By “skin thickener” do you mean comments that people leave on your SF Gate posts?
Yes. I think that generally — I’m not just talking about where I’m concerned. There seems to be a real lack of civility. I did this dinner with Nancy Pelosi and the comments online were just horrible. And I had a similar experience when I did a dinner with Mourad Lahlou. I think people go on with the worst comments and it doesn’t matter who it is. I’m not saying “poor me.” I’m just saying in general it just happens. If I had my way, you’d have to actually sign in to comment on any site, not just our site. It’s okay to be spirited and disagree but you should at least put your name to it. Then at least people have the passion. You may still disagree and you can explain it. These comments come out of left field you don’t know who they are and how to deal with it, and what the background is.

What about comments on sites like Open Table & Yelp?
If you look at comments on Yelp, at least three-fourths of the comments, the people weren’t treated well and they let that color their experience about everything else. This is where I think a restaurant critic is someone who does this differently. I’ve had bad experiences in restaurants but I don’t let that affect how I feel about the food. If you do a good job, you separate the different elements as a critic. If I have a really creepy waiter that does not reflect on the tomato salad I have. That’s the discipline that we have that a consumer does not have.

How has social media changed the landscape of food culture and reviewing?
I don’t think it’s completely changed what I do and what other critics employed by publications do. It’s probably the same. It’s probably less now about discovery for readers. People used to tune in to find out what’s new. Hopefully you’ve built up respect and people want to read you and see what your opinion is. As we get more information, people will see and want it filtered.

Where do you shop for food and do you cook at home?
I don’t cook much because I’m out every night. I’m often out on weekends during the day. I do quick lunches that I’ll cook. It could be Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Safeway, where I’m picking up food for lunch.

What do you do to stay healthy?
Eating in restaurants. That’s the healthiest thing you can do, at least the caliber I eat at. I’ve never understood people going on about the rich food at restaurants. To me it’s all about pacing yourself and moderation. I’ve existed on a restaurant diet for 25 yrs and maintained the same weight the whole time. I may go up or down one or two but if that happens, I watch it. I weigh in every day or every other day and go to the health club Monday through Friday.

That shows discipline. You’re at work early each day, right?
I’m usually at the Chronicle by 5:30am every morning.

How did you and Michael Murphy meet?
We met at the Academy of Friends and have been together for more than 20 years.

Have you experienced homophobia as a writer and critic in the food world? What’s your perspective on the gay community, Chick-Fil-A and politics?

I’m sure when you go with a few men for dinner there may be something that happens…. But not here. It’s not like the Midwest.

I don’t agree with the Chick-Fil-A protest on either side but I think people should make up their mind. It’s fine to make people aware of that but it’s an individual decision on whether or not to patronize them. I guess I’ve never really thought about the gay aspects. You just do your job. So the whole sexuality issue has nothing to do with that. It’s kind of a non-issue.

On the whole thing of discrimination: a lot of people think that they’re discriminated against because (for instance) it’s a table of women and waiters may not like that. I’ve had African American and Asian people write me because they think they’re discriminated against. And people get discriminated against because they don’t dress as well. You can’t really know. Just cause you get a lousy seat it may not be discrimination. It could be an ignorant host who just doesn’t know better. I can tell you that more times than not, I usually go out to restaurants very early. At the most popular restaurant, I’m there when it’s half empty or half full. The majority of the time I’m led to the worst table or nearly the worst table. It’s not because I dress bad. I think it’s the inexperienced host; and if they have poor tables that they want to get rid of. If you protest, which I don’t… I’ve seen a host try to seat four different people at the same table. It’s “Okay, let’s give that table and see if anyone’s gullible enough to take it.” And people are not speaking up. That bad table should be saved for a walk-in. People would be happy because they walked in and they get it. It shouldn’t be for people who made a reservation two to three weeks ago and they get it. That can be the point of discrimination–but actually it’s really not a point of discrimination it’s the lack of knowledge of person seating. It’s one of my pet peeves. Apparently it’s never gonna change. I’ve written about it so much.

How was Sunday’s SF Chefs four-star dinner with Thomas Keller, a benefit for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank?
It was amazing and mind boggling to have those chefs (Douglas Keane, David Kinch, Christopher Kostow, Corey Lee, Roland Passot, Daniel Patterson, Michael Tusk and Alice Waters) there cooking, and that their wine directors came. It was an amazing collaboration that showed why it’s great to live in the Bay Area. You may not get that in other parts of the country and have all these chefs helping each other out. Every chef has an ego but you’re also willing to help others. Quince did an amazing job and it was flawless.

SF Chefs: The Inside Scoop with Michael Bauer
Saturday, August 4th at 3:30 p.m.
Westin St Francis Hotel
335 Powell Street
San Francisco CA 94102
Tickets: $28 to $35