Qui suis-je?

James Beard said, "Food is our common ground, a universal experience." In this sense, my relationship with food makes me akin to the rest of the world, but the intensity with which I pursue quality in my preparation and consumption of food separates me from those who see food as mere nourishment. For me, food is art. It can-- as all artistic mediums have the potential to do-- bear both universal principles and local or temporal values. It is also intensely personal, both to the artist and to the consumer.

I am a cook and a student raised in el cumbre of San Francisco, a rich plot of earth in which I grew into a foodie with cosmopolitan aspirations and a passion to see, learn and taste new things. My passion for food reached a turning point when I was twelve-years-old. This was the year when I started reading Saveur and Gourmet, began faithfully attending the SF Farmers' Market, made my first 4-course meal, and ate my first truly memorable meal at La Folie, where I dined on an effervescent salad bursting from a ring of cucumber, a suave pairing of scallop and asparagus, and an age appropriate plate of chocolate profiteroles. By 14 I had found my way into the Chez Panisse kitchen, where I fell in love with the witty banter of the line cooks, the perfection of the ingredients, and the fact that everything that came out of that kitchen was absolutely, simply, and honestly delicious.

Through the Chez I met Michael Tusk, chef and co-owner of Quince, who at 16 took me under his wing. Every Sunday my junior and senior years of high school I was the "teen queen of chicken ballontine," the mistress of soups and sformatos, and also the mise en place bitch of all the brilliant but overworked line cooks. The most important things I learned there were how to use heat, salt, acid, fat, make ethereal pastas, and how to cook an onion (most people don't know how and it really upsets me). The end of senior year I was offered a job at Quince (a 1-michelin star Italian restaurant), deferred Stanford, and really started cooking.

I worked there for three months and had the unique experience of not living up to my mentor's expectation, which was, that I would learn how to be a line cook overnight. As the restaurant was under-staffed, I was suddenly managing 10 menu items that changed daily and learning how to interpret tickets, pace plating and organize a 60-part station in a space the size of a pinhead in a kitchen whose schedule, inventory and menu were a recipe for chaos. I made the painful choice of leaving Quince, but I did so in hopes of learning the rhythms of service in a more stable setting. So, I brought my resume to Boulette's Larder in the Ferry Building, where I began my stint with Amaryll Schwertner.

Amaryll is one of the truest disciples of Slow Food that I've ever met. The ingredients were exceptional, and her pan-European approach to cooking subtle and thoughtful. Here I regained my confidence, could confidently set up my station and go through service, was given the opportunity to work with meat and fish, learned how to make yogurt and farmers cheese, and started using spices in my cooking. 

In March of 2007 I left Boulette's for Paris, where I lived for 5 months. I arrived not speaking a word of French and left with a thorough training in haute cuisine, the ability to be a bad-ass line cook, a new language and mon Olivier. I was able, despite my lack of language skills, to secure a stage at Taillevent, the oldest 3-michelin star restaurant in Paris. I worked on the fish station  doing garniture and dressage and also had the opportunity to see the entremet station. I was the only woman and the youngest, but I was offered a job there after a month. Unfortunately I had to decline it, returning to the U.S. for fall quarter, parting for a moment apart from my two greatest passions in life: cooking and my petit copain.

I am now studying languages and literature in hopes of pursuing a degree in comparative literature with a focus in food anthropology, French, Spanish, Italian, linguistics and art history. On the weekends I cater private parties to pay for my return trips to my second home in France. After Stanford I am considering pursuing a masters in the Anthropology of Food Culture at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. In the end, my dream life would be to be the chef de cuisine of my own restaurant (possible names Arcimboldo or Caprice...) and to write articles for such journals as Gastronomica.