The day I started caring about a restaurant as I would a dear friend was the day I first dined at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. I have memories of restaurants growing up in Fresno and later in Santa Clara where I went to college. But it wasn’t until I went to this strange triangle of a restaurant on the edge of the Castro in San Francisco that I started to care. In the kitchen was a lady with long, blondish hair who looked into the food that she was holding in her hand. After she would look at it from every angle, she might mangle it in her hands or pop it into her mouth for a quick chew. She seemed to experience food in a way that I never had, but I wanted to.
Over the years I visited Zuni at all hours, sometimes in the morning for coffee, sometimes for lunch or dinner, and sometimes late, because I knew there was always something delicious to eat and drink. Starting in the late 1980’s I saw the restaurant expand into the shop next-door and add more tables. Through the years a variety of shops existed across the street from antiques to cactus providing window shopping opportunities while waiting for a table. Parking was always a bit of a problem on the street so you had to go around the corner to the paid parking lot. There were many memorable dinners and moments – an engagement, dinners with Bedig, dinners with friends and colleagues, business meetings or a quick burger and bloody mary on a Sunday afternoon by myself. Each time I was there, the amazing ambiance of Zuni accented the meal.
The restaurant always seemed popular and busy. I made several celebrity sittings at Zuni like Sharon Stone, Willy Brown, Armistead Maupin, and various San Francisco celebs du jour including a few Sister’s of Perpetual Indulgence who would dine in full regalia. Most people who liked eating there, did so because it was a comfortable place to relax with friends and eat great food and drink good wines (and bloody marys). It was open late and on cold nights a prized table near the wood fired oven made for a bit of heaven. What made Zuni’s special was not San Francisco or the customers, it was the food and the restaurant’s management. Judy Rogers was responsible for the food and Gilbert Pilgram managed the business. They worked together to run the front and back of the house creating a magic place for their guests.
Sadly, Judy died December 3rd from a rare form of cancer. I just learned of her death. Maybe this reflects how far away I am from the Bay Area that I didn’t hear about it until my mom mentioned it when I spoke to her last. My first reaction was one of sadness. The few times I had spoken with Judy were brief and about ingredients. But reading, studying and cooking from her cookbook, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, helped me understand Judy and her philosophy of cooking. Taking years to write, her book communicates the tips and tricks that made her cooking so amazing. For me, the book fundamentally changed the way I cook.
Up until her book I would use recipe books as reference on techniques or ingredients. With Judy’s cookbook, which took her 10 years to write(without a ghost writer), I used it to hone my sensory skills for purchasing the best ingredients only when they were at their prime, planning two or three days in advance for some dishes, and preserving foods for use later. Even in cooking school I have a difficulty using meat and fish that had not been salted ahead of time. Although all the chef’s I worked with focused on the products, they were always willing to make compromises if the products were not perfect. I always had a sense that Judy would use another recipe if the key products were not absolutely perfect. Quoting from the Introduction on page 16 of her book,
“The best meals are more than a succession of great dishes resulting from a number of great recipes. They are fashioned with wisdom and experience and are shaded, always, with spontaneity. So don’t chart every turn before going to the market, and don’t feel you must follow a recipe slavishly. As you use this book, choose a few recipes, or suggestions, that appeal to you – then shop with those in mind, but be prepared to change plans if the market doesn’t deliver or the weather changes abruptly. As you cook, taste constantly, watch closely, smell and touch the ingredients as they change, and then adjust for your palate, for the weather, for the ingredients as they change, for your equipment. Make dishes more than once, and pay attention to the slight or substantial differences in each variable and how each affects the results, for the better or the worse. This effort, more important than any recipe, rewards even the most experienced cooks with insights and surprises. Recognizing the little differences in ingredients, and learning how to optimize them rather than dilute or ignore them, is a mantra in the kitchen at Zuni. “
As I’ve been writing and referring back to the book, the recipes come to me like old friends. They remind me of where I cooked them and for whom. Chicken Bouillabaisse is one of those simple recipes that relies upon great ingredients. Here, tasty and toothsome peasant-style bread soaks up the Provencal inspired flavors of the sauce. The first time I made this in the new kitchen at my house in New Jersey, I had to drive to Manhattan to find the right bread. The chickens came from the farmer’s market and the saffron from the International Bazaar. My guests were colleagues from work and the delightful evening went well into the early morning. To this day, saffron-colored stains adorn the book reminding me of that evening and my first introduction to the recipe. It has been a close friend ever since. Thank you Judy for introducing me.
As I’ve read other memorials to Judy Rogers I’ve been struck how people focus on how she has personally affected the writer. For me it was the same. She introduced me to some life long cooking habits and some very good recipes that I can rely upon. Just like Zuni with it’s consistent measure of well executed favorites, Judy has passed on via her book, the knowledge and confidence to produce delicious food using some favorite recipes that, like old friends, are both comforting and adaptable to the moment. Bon voyage Judy and thank you.
Other Memoriam
New York Times – Judy Rodgers, Chef of Refined Simplicity, Dies at 57
James Beard Foundation – In Memoriam, Judy Rogers
The Daily Dish, LA Times – What was Judy Rogers doing at Zuni Cafe? Cooking for your friends.