Greens’ new vegetable queen now has her own cookbook
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN SCOTT
Katie Reicher walked into the legendary Greens restaurant in San Francisco as an intern in 2015 and never left.
Raised in New York’s Hudson Valley and freshly graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Reicher says she immediately felt at home.
“Greens is a wonderful environment to work in. It’s not cutthroat; it’s, like, ‘Let’s help each other and get this done as a team,’” she says. “I’m not sure if that’s because we’ve been woman-led all these years or because of the Zen connection or both.”
Greens vegetarian restaurant is owned by the San Francisco Zen Center, which also operates Green Gulch Farm in Marin County and the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in the far reaches of Carmel Valley.
The restaurant’s founding chef in 1979 was UC Santa Cruz alumna Deborah Madison, a top authority on vegetarian cuisine, who for many years also served as tenzo (head chef) at Tassajara.
While there are no longer any monks working at Greens, Reicher says the Zen influence can be felt in the mindfulness that goes into preparing meals and in subtler ways, like the lack of ambient music in the dining room—so diners can enjoy the food and company without distraction.
Reicher, 31, is now executive chef at Greens, as well as general manager. Her debut cookbook Seasons of Greens: A Collection of New Recipes from the Iconic San Francisco Restaurant is a snapshot of the way the restaurant and vegetarian cuisine have developed in the 2020s.
“In the ’70s and ’80s we used a lot of cheese and butter because we were afraid people would miss the meat,” she says. “Then in the ’90s and 2000s, with [Executive Chef] Annie Sommerville, she did a complete 180 and everything became very, very healthy.
“Nowadays we’ve evolved a little past that and people aren’t coming to Greens because they want a healthy vegan meal; they’re coming because they want the best version of vegetarian cuisine.”
Following in the illustrious footsteps of Deborah Madison and Annie Sommerville is not without hurdles. In the book, Reicher writes of a three-year debate over whether to buy a deep fryer for the kitchen. Traditionally, fried foods were off limits at Greens, but Reicher was dreaming of putting crunchy tempura vegetables and ricotta- stuffed squash blossoms on the menu.
In the end, in a compromise of sorts, a tiny deep fryer was purchased. “It wasn’t worth depriving our guests and cuisine of a crucial texture and cooking method just for the sake of legacy,” she says.
The newest Greens cookbook includes more than 120 of Reicher’s own plantbased recipes, which she terms “farm driven and world inspired.” That global inspiration comes from the Middle East with recipes like Green Goddess Hummus, Sundried Tomato Harissa and Rhubarb Muhammara. They also derive from her Italian heritage, from Mexico and from Asia.
“Miso has become one of the most important ingredients I use at Greens,” she says, explaining it adds umami. “It’s something new that we started incorporating in my time.”
While meat dishes have natural umami, cooking with vegetables requires more finesse to make them shine.
“A carrot has some natural sugar, but it doesn’t really have fat and it doesn’t have acid. It’s not quite balanced on its own,” she says. “You have to add stuff to it in a thoughtful way so you’re not overpowering the carrot flavor but you’re enhancing it with good-quality olive oil and some seasonings and maybe some lemon juice. Then, all of a sudden, you have this amazing carrot.”
Seasoning with miso adds salt and a little sweetness, and since it’s fermented it also adds umami. Reicher uses it in a wide variety of dishes in the book.
Not one to shy away from hard work or more responsibilities, Reicher volunteered to make a four-course dinner for 168 guests at the Homeless Garden Project’s Sustain Supper fundraiser last summer in Santa Cruz.
Burrata toasts with balsamic cherries and fresh spring rolls from her new cookbook were among the dishes on the lavish menu. After the meal, greeted by enthusiastic applause, she told diners, “My food philosophy is to really just be mindful and celebrate every step of the process, from the soil to what ends up on our plates.”
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
