Traci Des Jardins
In today's ingredient-obsessed restaurant culture, growing up on a farm is perhaps
the most fortuitous way to lay the groundwork for a successful career behind the
stove.
In today’s ingredient-obsessed restaurant culture, growing up on a farm is perhaps
the most fortuitous way to lay the groundwork for a successful career behind the
stove. Chef/Partner Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière did just that, helping her mother
bake at the age of six and learning about food in a place where only the freshest
and finest local ingredients were available, never once seeing a convenience food
the entire time she was under her parents’ roof. Thus began a journey that led her
to the finest kitchens in Los Angeles, France and New York City, before opening
her own restaurant in 1997, Jardinière, in one of the world’s fine dining meccas,
San Francisco.
Since Jardinière first opened its doors, Des Jardins has made the restaurant one
of the most sought-after reservations in San Francisco, pleasing guests and critics
alike with her French-California cuisine. As a result, throughout her career Des
Jardins has earned a great number of accolades, including The James Beard Foundation’s
“Rising Star Chef of the Year,” Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef” and San Francisco
Magazine’s “Chef of the Year.” Jardinière was named Esquire Magazine's “Best New
Restaurant,” was nominated as “Best New Restaurant” by The James Beard Foundation
and has been listed as one of the “Top 100 Restaurants” in the Bay Area by the San
Francisco Chronicle each year since opening. Over the last 20 years as a chef in
San Francisco, Des Jardins has been nominated eight times by The James Beard Foundation
for chef awards, most recently won “Best Chef: Pacific.” In addition, she bested
Iron Chef Mario Batali on the Food Network show, “Iron Chef America.”
Des Jardins has built many relationships with local and sustainable farmers to source
the ingredients for her dishes and remains committed to running her restaurant in
an environmentally conscious way. Further, Des Jardins led Jardinière as one of
the country’s vanguards in the world of sustainably-run businesses with programs
such as an aggressive recycling and composting program, an ESL program for Spanish-speaking
workers, Spanish lessons for the management team, increasing the purchasing of organic
products from small local farms and serving only sustainable fish on the menu. She
also organizes and participates in numerous events and non-profit organizations
geared towards helping others in the community including serving on the advisory
board of La Cocina (a San Francisco based business incubator), fighting hunger with
SOS (Share Our Strength,) AmFAR, (the American Foundation for AIDS Research) and
hosting public forums on sustainability with organizations like Seafood Choices
Alliance and Marin Agricultural Land Trust. In addition, Des Jardins helped found
Nextcourse, a non-profit organization offering nutrition and cooking classes to
under-served communities.
Des Jardins didn’t always intend for a career as a chef. When she entered the University
of California, Santa Cruz, it was to study toward a veterinary degree. Her path
soon changed when the lure of the kitchen called and she used a family connection
to get in touch with Joachim Splichal who was the chef at the 7th Street Bistro
in Downtown Los Angeles. Splichal hired her despite her lack of professional kitchen
experience and Des Jardins ascended to running her own station in the kitchen within
just two weeks. From Splichal, Des Jardins believes she discovered an uncompromised
discipline and standard of excellence. “I was lucky enough to start with one of
the best chefs in the country,” says Des Jardins. “For me there would be no turning
back, no other way to approach cooking."
Splichal advised his protégée to continue her studies in the traditional European
fashion by apprenticing with great French chefs. With Splichal's help, Des Jardins
landed the most impressive apprenticeships imaginable: with Michel and Pierre Troisgros
of Troisgros in Roanne, Alain Sendersens at Lucas Carton in Paris, Alain Ducasse
at the Louis XV in Monaco and Alain Passard at L’Arpege in Paris. “The importance
that the French place on what and how they eat truly resonated with me,” says Des
Jardins. “It is very much the same way that I grew up.”
Upon her return to the United States, Des Jardins worked at Drew Nieporent's Montrachet
in Manhattan before returning to California as the opening chef de cuisine of Splichal's
Patina in Los Angeles. Then, after moving to San Francisco where she had always
dreamed of living, Des Jardins helped open Aqua as the kitchen manager with George
Morrone. In 1993, she became the executive chef of Drew Nieporent's Rubicon, garnering
considerable acclaim for the restaurant and her signature cooking style.
Armed with years of experience in the world’s top restaurants and her ever-present
determination, Des Jardins made a lifelong dream come true by venturing out on her
own to open Jardinière in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood with acclaimed
restaurant designer Pat Kuleto as her partner. She and Kuleto created a romantic,
celebratory and relaxed dining environment, where all guests would be made to feel
comfortable and welcome.
In her free time, Des Jardins maintains balance in her own environment by making
plenty of time to spend with her young son Eli. She lives in San Francisco and Sebastopol,
California. Des Jardins is also the chef and partner at Mijita and Acme Chop House,
both located in San Francisco.