My Dinner with Jacques
Monday night at Saison restaurant in San Francisco, I had dinner with Jacques Pepin.
OK, that would be me and 17 other people.
Still, it’s always an honor to be in the presence of such a formidable culinary figure, whose talent remains genuine and relevant even more so in this age of instant celebritism.
The occasion? A celebration of the French Culinary Institute’s new International Culinary Center of California in Campbell.
The New York-based culinary school has graduated the likes of Bobby Flay, Dan Barber, David Chang and Wylie Dufresne. It has been eager to establish a West Coast presence for a decade, and jumped at the chance when the former, five-year-old Professional Culinary Institute went up for sale this year, according to Brooke Schwartz, president of the new Campbell school.
Pepin, dean of special programs for the French Culinary Institute, was in town for the dinner soiree, along with other colleagues, including Dorothy Cann Hamilton, the founder of the institute.
A dozen food writers from around the Bay Area were invited, along with newest FCI deans, Chef David Kinch of Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos and Emily Luchetti, executive pastry chef of Waterbar and Farallon, both in San Francisco.
The Campbell school, which used to draw mainly from the local area, is now attracting students nationwide, Schwartz says. The school offers three core programs: Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, and Intensive Sommelier Training (the first program in the world to be approved by the Court of Master Sommeliers). With Kinch’s involvement, culinary students will get a chance to visit Love Apple Farm in Santa Cruz, which grows exclusively for Manresa. And with Luchetti’s involvement, pastry students will get a chance to visit her restaurants for dessert tastings and kitchen tours. Additionally, the school offers a range of culinary, baking and wine classes for homecooks.
Saison’s Executive Chef Josh Skenes, an FCI grad, created the dinner. Saison’s Sommelier Mark Bright joked that the wine pairings were all French purely by accident, even if that seemed entirely appropriate to the occasion.
