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CALIFORNIA STUDIES IN FOOD AND CULTURE
Darra Goldstein, EDITOR
Inside the California
Food Revolution
Thirty Years That Changed
Our Culinary Consciousness
Joyce Goldstein
WITH DORE BROWN
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEYLOS ANGELESLONDON
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2013 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goldstein, Joyce Esersky
Inside the California food revolution : thirty years that changed our culinary consciousness / Joyce Goldstein ; with Dore Brown.
pagescm. —(California studies in food and culture ; 44)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-26819-7 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-520-27651-2 — ISBN 978-0-520-95670-4 (ebook)
1. Cooking—California—History. 2. Restaurants—California—History. 3. Cooking—California style. I. Brown, Dore, 1956—II. Title.
TX715.2.C34G652013
641.59794—dc232013014798
Manufactured in the United States of America
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 2002) (Permanence of Paper).
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
1Thirty Years of Food Revolution: A Historical Overview
2One Revolution, Two Ways: Northern versus Southern California
3Defying Kitchen Convention: Self-Taught Chefs and Iconoclasts
4Women Chefs and Innovation: The New Collaborative Kitchen
5New Flavors: Upscale Ethnic, Eclectic, and Fusion Food
6New Menus: The Daily Menu and the Story behind the Food
7Restaurants Reimagined: Transformations in the Kitchen and Dining Room
8A New World of Fresh Produce: Reviving the Farm-to-Table Connection
9Custom Foods: Chefs Partner with Purveyors and Artisans
10Merging the Worlds of Wine and Food: Common Cause
Afterword: The Continuing Evolution of California Cuisine
Acknowledgments
Sources
Index
PREFACE
In the mid-1970s, a handful of innovative, mostly self-taught chefs and restaurateurs in California felt driven to create a dining experience very different from what prevailed at the time. Their new approach, featuring fresh, seasonal ingredients and creative interpretations of flavor themes from cuisines around the world, captured people’s attention. Eventually labeled “California cuisine,” it engendered a revolution in Americans’ relationship with food through the 1980s and into the 1990s. Styles of restaurants broadened from formal and ceremonial to more democratic and casual. Kitchens that had been hidden were opened up to become part of the dining room. Chefs who had toiled behind closed doors in anonymity became stars. Ingredients such as arugula, baby greens, and goat cheese, virtually unknown previously, became household items for many. Today, in large part because of the influence of California cuisine, both restaurant and home cooking inhabit a radically new world. People now have expectations for freshness, flavor, variety, and healthfulness that are very different from those of the previous generation.
Many people currently working in restaurant kitchens or shopping at farmers’ markets are unfamiliar with the early chefs, farmers, and artisans who brought about the California culinary revolution. Apart from recognizing the names of a few celebrities, they do not know very much about the pioneers of California cuisine whose efforts and persistence have made life in the restaurant and culinary worlds easier and more gratifying for us today.
They are not aware of the work it took to get to where we are now, to our easy familiarity with terms like fresh, seasonal, and local. They don’t give much thought to the fact that forty years ago most of this was just a dream. That is why I wrote this book.
What I found most interesting and exciting about the California cuisine revolution was that it was led largely by autodidacts. I was amazed at how many of the participants at all levels (chefs, artisans, farmers, winemakers, produce company owners, seafood buyers, ranchers, and managers) were self-taught. They were not embarrassed to have learned by trial and error. Their creativity, fearlessness, and generosity impressed me. They not only tirelessly pursued their passions but were willing to share what they learned so that we all could benefit and progress. It was a collective and contagious high.
An eclectic selection of entrées from Square One, August 1985.
In writing this book I feel a deep sense of responsibility to do right by the people whose work brought California cuisine to national and international prominence and influenced our collective American palate. I want to give credit to those who contributed to our growing knowledge, skills, and education, who made change happen, who affected how and what we eat now. Together we learned how to run restaurants with collaborative kitchens, how to write menus to entice, educate, and tell a story, and how to build connections with farmers, artisans, and our communities.
Once a revolution has run its course and the changes it has wrought begin to be taken for granted, it’s time to tell its story. I have been an active participant in the development of California cuisine since its early days. I taught classic French,