food, and other musings: San Francisco Chefs

This summer, I worked on a project called San Francisco Chefs. It's the second installment (the first being DC Chefs) and both are the brainchild of Michel Richard, whose Georgetown restaurant, Citronelle, provided Mr. Food Musings and me with our best DC restaurant meal ever ever ever several years ago. (I still remember the soft-boiled egg -- with caviar? I think -- that was served in a small silver penguin egg cup. Adorable!)

Anyway, the project is a benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In essence, a bunch of the Bay Area's top chefs got together and produced a collection of their keepsake recipes. There are also profiles that tell the story of how each one became a chef.

The list of participants includes a number of those recently graced by Michelin's starry, starry nights, plus other local notables:

Thomas Keller, The French Laundry (3 Michelin stars)
Laurent Manrique, Aqua (2 Michelin stars)
David Kinch, Manresa (2 Michelin stars AND my favorite restaurant on planet Earth)
Michael Mina, Michael Mina (2 Michelin stars)
Robert Curry, Auberge du Soleil (1 Michelin star)
Charlie Palmer & Michael Ellis, Dry Creek Kitchen (1 Michelin star)
Nancy Oakes & Pam Mazzola, Boulevard (1 Michelin star)
Ron Siegel, The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton (1 Michelin star)
Melissa Perello, The Fifth Floor (1 Michelin star)
Gerald Hirigoyen, Piperade & Bocadillos
Charles Phan, Slanted Door
Mitchell & Steven Rosenthal, Town Hall (and the soon-to-come Salt House)

So, why do you care? Because the publisher has offered to send a copy of the publication to all of my readers, free of charge. All you have to do is email your name and mailing address here by Friday, Oct. 27. (They promise promise promise they will not sell your address to anyone, or send you anything else. I know lots of us are paranoid about sneaky marketing ploys, but do not worry -- this is not one.)

I hope all of you who are interested in reading the chef profiles and getting recipes like Town Hall's spicy barbecue shrimp or Manresa's cool melon soup will ask for a copy (which comes out mid-November).

Bon appetit!