Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/632328
We Mean Business > d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m W i n t e r 2 0 1 6 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N 25 As renowned chef and restaurant entrepreneur Traci Des Jardins has learned, running a restaurant can be a lot like—and at the same time radically different from—running other businesses By Jackie Krentzman T oday, the big food and health trend is sustainable organic cui- sine, which generally means cook- ing with fresh ingredients free of addi- tives and sourced from local farms and ranches. For San Francisco chef and entrepre- neur Traci Des Jardins, this isn't a new trend—it's the way she was raised. Des Jardins grew up in Firebaugh, a farming community in the Central Val- ley of California—the nation's bread basket. Her father was a second-generation farmer. His father was French Arcadian from the Louisiana Bayou. His mother was Swedish and Norwegian and was be- loved as the family baker. Her mother's family came from Mexico. So Des Jardins's whole childhood revolved around food. She helped her grandmother make fresh tortillas. Everyone in the family hunted and ate wild game, and they all cooked. Today, Des Jardins owns six restaurants in San Francisco, ranging from the casual Mijita (the nickname her grandmother bestowed on her), featuring regional Mexi- can cuisine in the bustling Ferry Building, to her elegant namesake, Jardinière, in Hayes Valley. Before opening Jardinière in San Francisco in 1997, Des Jardins, who was classically trained in French cuisine, worked in highly acclaimed kitchens in Los Angeles, France, and New York City. She was named Best Chef: Pacifc by the James Beard Foundation in 2007, and is the recip- ient of the James Beard Foundation's Ris- ing Star Chef of the Year, in 1995, and Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chef, in 1995. Diversity Woman sat down with Des Jardins in her latest venture, the Com- missary, a warm Spanish-infuenced restaurant in San Francisco's Presidio, a former military base, now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. DW: You grew up enmeshed in a food culture. When did you know you wanted a career in restaurants? Traci Des Jardins: I graduated from high school when I was 16. I was young for my class anyway, and then I graduated a year early because I was from this really small town and wanted to get out of there. I didn't make it through my frst year of college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I think I was too young. I had really taken up cooking as a serious hobby when I was in high school, and so after I dropped out, I thought I wanted to try being a professional. Restaurant Confdential CEO Woman