Judy Rodgers
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Judy Rodgers (28 October 1956 – 2 December 2013) was an American chef, restaurateur, and cookery book writer. She became famous at
Zuni Café Zuni Café is a restaurant in San Francisco, California. It is located on Market Street in San Francisco and named after the Zuni tribe of indigenous Pueblo peoples of Arizona and New Mexico. Zuni Café was established in 1979 by Billy West. ...
, in San Francisco, California, of which she became chef in 1987. Rodgers' food was influenced both by
Chez Panisse Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of the style of cooking known as California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has deve ...
, where she had worked, and by the food of France, where she had spent time as an exchange student living with the family of
Jean Troisgros Troisgros () is a French restaurant and hotel with a primary location in Ouches (Loire, France) and additional affiliated restaurants in Roanne and Iguerande, in France. It started in 1930 as a restaurant located in Roanne, held by Jean-Baptiste ...
. ''The Zuni Café Cookbook'', published in 2002, spread the influence of her painstaking, attentive approach to food further outside the United States.


Early life

Rodgers was born on 28 October 1956 in
St Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. Her "education in cooking" began in 1973 when a family friend arranged for her to spend a year as an exchange student with Jean Troisgros. Troisgros' family restaurant,
Les Frères Troisgros Troisgros () is a French restaurant and hotel with a primary location in Ouches ( Loire, France) and additional affiliated restaurants in Roanne and Iguerande, in France. It started in 1930 as a restaurant located in Roanne, held by Jean-Bap ...
, held three Michelin stars and had been described by Christian Millau in the magazine Gault-Millau as the best restaurant in the world. Rodgers took notes of what she ate and how it was cooked. In 1974, she moved to California to attend Stanford University, where she majored in art history.


Career

Towards the end of Rodgers' time at Stanford, a friend introduced her to
Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Calif ...
' Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, where she rapidly graduated to taking single-handed charge of lunch service. Waters' stress on the importance of eating food in its season was shared to the full by Rodgers. Her style was further influenced by the books of
Richard Olney Richard Olney (September 15, 1835 – April 8, 1917) was an American statesman. He served as United States Attorney General in the cabinet of Grover Cleveland and Secretary of State under Cleveland. As attorney general, Olney used injunct ...
,
Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...
and
Waverley Root Waverley Lewis Root (April 15, 1903, in Providence, Rhode Island – October 31, 1982 in Paris) was an American journalist and writer. Root authored the classic ''The Food of Italy'' on Italy and its regional cuisines. Early life and educat ...
and a French apprenticeship with Pepette Arbulo of the restaurant l'Estanquet in Les Landes. Later visits to Italy also helped form her taste and style. On returning to the United States, Rodgers worked for Marion Cunningham, cooking "homey, American fare" at the Union Hotel in Benicia, California. One of the dishes on the menu was Caesar salad, a "benchmark version" of which was to become a permanent fixture on the menu of Zuni Café. In 1987, Rodgers was asked by the two owners of a Mexican café, Zuni Café, on Market Street in San Francisco to become its chef. Shortly after her arrival, a brick oven was constructed in the middle of the dining room and Rodgers' famous roasted chicken for two with its accompanying bread salad soon joined the Caesar salad as one of the restaurant's standards. ''The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant'' in which Rodgers' recipes and extensive instructions on the importance of tasting ingredients and dishes as they are being cooked were complemented by
Gerald Asher Gerald Albert Asher (born 18 August 1932) is an English wine personality based since 1974 in San Francisco, California. Initially a wine merchant and importer, today, he is a wine writer. Born in London and raised partly in rural Essex because ...
's wine suggestions was published in 2002. After her death,
Jonathan Gold Jonathan Gold (July 28, 1960 – July 21, 2018) was an American food critic and music critic. He was for many years the chief food critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and also wrote for ''LA Weekly'' and ''Gourmet'', in addition to serving as a ...
described the book in the Los Angeles Times as "possibly the greatest, most generous cookbook ever written by a working American chef". Rodgers died of cancer of the appendix at age 57 in 2013 in Berkeley, California. She was remembered in the ''New York Times'' as creating a dining experience that "helped transform the way Americans think of food through its devotion to local, seasonal ingredients meticulously prepared."


Awards

* James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef 2004 * James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year 2003 * James Beard Foundation Cooking from a Professional Point 2003 * James Beard Foundation Restaurant of the Year 2003 * James Beard Foundation Cookbook Hall of Fame 2022 for ''The Zuni Cafe Cookbook'' (awarded posthumously)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Judy 1956 births 2013 deaths American chefs American cookbook writers Women food writers American women chefs James Beard Foundation Award winners 21st-century American women Chefs from San Francisco