Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2012 - (Page 117)

By Katrina Heron PHotoGraPHS By aya BracKet t FARM TO FABLE San FranciSco cheF ron Siegel FindS daily inSpiration in the organic FarmS and locavore traditionS oF northern caliFornia It’s a sunny morning just north of San Francisco as the Marin Farmers Market hums to life. The growers, who’ve been up since well before dawn, have finished pitching tents and hanging scales, and their fresh-picked wares are laid out on long tables like some riotous picnic. Striding toward a stall at full tilt is a sandyhaired man in a running jacket and jeans. He looks a lot like Sean Penn, right down to the amused expression playing around the eyes. Greeting the vendors with a smile, he makes a beeline past their orchestrated display to a jumble of crates around back. A moment later, he’s reaching into one to take a bite of an haricot vert. A customer takes the man for a farmer and starts to ask a question, but he pivots away, oblivious, to inspect a box full of sungold tomatoes. Then he stops and scans left and right, giving the impression that he might be about to take off. The farmers know better: He and they are about to engage in a gastronomical pas de deux, a quick-witted and detailed appraisal of every fruit and vegetable, every edible flower and bouquet of herbs, on offer today. There will be rapture in this ritual — wherein the man’s smile will broaden to the accompaniment of a brash, “Incredible!” — and there will also be rejection, with little margin in between. He will put his powers of smell and taste and feel to work and also probe to see if anything delectable is hidden from sight, perhaps forgotten in the rush to set up. And when the dance is over, the man’s Chevy pickup will be laden with treasure from the verdant sweep of organic farms in the Bay Area. Now, follow that truck southward as it crosses the Golden Gate Bridge and makes its way through the bustle of city traffic to the delivery dock of Parallel 37 restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. The man watches like a hawk as his cargo is transported into the kitchen, taking care to carry some of the more fragile items himself. He will brook no accidents, for each deliciously ripe nectarine, each bunch of impossibly sweet carrots, has been hand-selected with a keen eye to its culinary destiny in a gorgeously prepared dish that will be delivered to the dining room within a matter of hours. One might assume that here in San Francisco, proud epicenter of the resurgent American farm-to-table movement, such exorbitant attention to food sourcing would be the norm. And indeed, the hype about area restaurants seeking out fresh and local ingredients is largely t h e r i t z - c a r lt o n m a g a z i n e 117

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2012

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2012
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... San Francisco
Design
Technology
On the Boulevards
Shopping
Jewelry
Watches
Art
Gourmet Travel
Wellness
Golf
Okinawa
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Fall 2012