Local James Beard Award Winners

photo by carlcollins

Congratulations to Craig Stoll of Delfina and Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery on their James Beard awards. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Stoll won for Best Chef in the Pacific Region, while Prueitt and Robertson won the Outstanding Pastry Chef award.

Remarkably, all of this culinary goodness is located about 200 feet from one another separated by another Stoll property, Pizzeria Delfina. We’ve eaten at Delfina a few times, (when we can get a table) and I can say the food never disappoints. As for Tartine Bakery, the Chocolate Souffle Cake serves as a nice birthday cake in our home. We recommend the smaller size since it is so rich.

Craig Stoll, chef and co-owner of Delfina in San Francisco, beat stiff competition that included three other Bay Area chefs and was named the best chef in California and Hawaii, one of 10 such regional awards. Stoll and his wife, Annie, also operate the adjoining Pizzeria Delfina. The award goes to a chef who has been working in that job for at least five years and has set consistent standards of excellence.

Another major prize, the Outstanding Pastry Chef award, went to Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson, owners of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, as the best pastry chefs or bakers in America. The award designates a chef or baker who serves as a national standard-bearer of excellence. The couple also own Bar Tartine, a restaurant a few blocks away on Valencia Street. Nicole Plue, pastry chef at Redd in Yountville, was one of the five nominees in the pastry category.

Read the Chronicle article here.

Not The Usual Runaround

On Sunday I slept late and didn’t get my long run in during the early morning hours. So, instead of a cool, quiet cityscape with few people on the sidewalks and even fewer cars, my usual route was filled with San Franciscans out enjoying a sunny, blustery afternoon. I enjoyed seeing the transformation of a favorite route from its sedate morning mode to its bustling afternoon look. Golden Gate Park was absolutely packed with cyclists, picknickers, and other runners. The biggest challenge, besides dealing with Mr. Sun, was running back up Haight Street. Early Sunday mornings it’s usually deserted, but by 3:30 the sidewalks are packed, so I found myself weaving around folks and doing lots of running in place waiting for the traffic to clear. I should have just taken to the street, but by then I was more tired than I usually get during a long run, and I didn’t trust myself to have enough automobile awareness. To avoid getting clipped by a tourist looking for parking I risked staying on the sidewalk working my way through a dynamic human maze.

Next time I’ll just drag myself out of bed.