Traci Des Jardins

Traci Des Jardins is an American chef and restaurateur who previously owned Jardinière, a French influenced California fine-dining restaurant in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California.

Biography

Des Jardins was raised on a farm in Firebaugh, California, near Fresno. Her father is of French Acadian descent, and her mother's family is from the Mexican state of Sonora. Her maternal grandparents, Angela and Miguel Salazar, lived in a small house nearby, and Des Jardins has many strong childhood memories of her grandmother preparing flour tortillas. The Des Jardins' dinner table featured produce from the garden and game from the land in dishes which reflected her family's Mexican and Louisianan-French Acadian heritage.

Des Jardins apprenticed at several three-star French restaurants, including La Maison Troisgros, and was executive chef at Joachim Splichal's Patina in Los Angeles. Later, she worked at notable San Francisco restaurants ''Aqua'', ''Elka'', and ''Rubicon'' before opening Jardinière in 1997.

Philosophy

Des Jardins uses locally sourced, organic, seasonal ingredients whenever possible, and prefers sourcing from smaller, sustainable farming and ranching operations.

Awards

In 2007, Des Jardins won the James Beard Foundation Award for best chef in the Pacific region. In 1995, she was named the James Beard Foundation's "Rising Star Chef of the Year". She has won ''Food & Wine'' magazine's "Best New Chef" title, and ''San Francisco'' magazine's "Chef of the Year" award. Jardinière was named ''Esquire'' magazine's "Best New Restaurant", and was also nominated as a "Best New Restaurant" by the James Beard Foundation.

Television appearances

Traci Des Jardins competed on season 3 of '' Top Chef: Masters'', which debuted April 6, 2011; she was a runner-up. She also appeared on an episode of ''Iron Chef America'' in 2005, in which she defeated Mario Batali. Later, she competed in '' The Next Iron Chef'' but was eliminated in the first episode.

Traci Des Jardins was also a judge on season 18 of ''Hell's Kitchen'' during a challenge in episode 4.

Traci Des Jardins has also appeared as a judge on ''Guy's Grocery Games'' – $12 Meal Showdown.

Restaurants

Active

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Closed

* ''Jardinière'' (September 1997 – April 2019), San Francisco
* ''Public House'' (2010–2024), Oracle Park, San Francisco
* ''School Night'' (2018–2020), Dogpatch, San Francisco
* ''Mijita Cocina Mexicana'' (2004 – December 29, 2019), Ferry Building, San Francisco
* ''Mijita'' (2010–2015), Oracle Park, San Francisco
* ''Commissary'' (May 2014–2021), Presidio, San Francisco
* ''Arguello'' (2014–2021), Presidio, San Francisco
* ''Transit Café'' (April 2015 – November 2019), Presidio, San Francisco, closed for the construction of the Presidio Tunnel Tops project.
* ''El Alto'' (2022), State Street Market, Los Altos, California (Vacated in 2023)

References

External links

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Living people
American women restaurateurs
American restaurateurs
Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area
American women chefs
James Beard Foundation Award winners
1967 births
21st-century American women
LGBTQ chefs
American lesbian entertainers
People from Fresno County, California
Chefs from San Francisco