Squash Blossom and Maitake Rice Pilaf From A Michelin-Starred Chef

Bay Area nominees at this year’s James Beard Awards for restaurants and chefs disappointingly came away empty-handed.
But one huge bright spot came at the foundation’s media awards, when Chef Rogelio Garcia of Michelin-starred Auro in Calistoga strode across the stage to accept a James Beard Award for his first cookbook, “Convivir: Modern Mexican Cuisine in California’s Wine Country” (Cameron Company, 2024).
Written with Andrea Lawson Gray, a San Francisco cookbook writer and food historian, this gorgeous, coffee table book, of which I received a review copy, is a collection of more than 150 recipes inspired by the Mexican diaspora that has shaped our foodways profoundly, especially in California.
The title references the Spanish word that means “to live together,” a sentiment with even greater weight and poignancy in these fraught times.

The book is a salute to the many Mexican Americans who have come to Wine Country to work the land, pick the grapes, and create the wines and foods that are appreciated the world over.
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