Season guides ingredients
Many chefs begin cooking as a summer job or hobby, never imagining that it will turn into a career. But Melissa Perello’s path was clear from the start.
“I was kind of a food nerd when I was younger,” she laughs, explaining that her parents both had artistic backgrounds. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do straight after high school.”
That was to attend the Culinary Institute of America in upstate New York.
She acknowledges that landing on the West Coast was more of an accident.
“I didn’t think I would like San Francisco,” she says, “so I looked for an externship in New York, but I couldn’t find anything in time.”
It was good fortune for Perello, who fell in love with the Bay Area.
Five years ago, she opened Frances, where she concentrates on a daily-changing menu, creatively using up every scrap that she brings in the door.
“We put panzanella on the menu when we have an overload of bread,” she says. That means the dish can be served yearround, using ingredients including kale, fennel and spring onions in a chicken-broth-based vinaigrette.
But in the summer, it’s time for the traditional version, with tomato-soaked bread, crunchy cucumbers and other seasonal produce. It’s a dish she makes at home as well — it’s especially party-friendly because it gets better as it sits.
Baguette is used in this salad, but any small rustic loaf will be fine. Add firm tomatoes and, this time of year, some stone fruit such as peaches or nectarines.
Fennel adds texture and crunch, and red peppers add color.
For cheese, choose feta, sheep’s milk ricotta or fromage blanc — something sweet and just slightly tangy — to round out the salad. You can also serve the salad without cheese.