Comfort food with Dominique Crenn
The kitchen of the Bay Area’s newest, and first female, Michelin two-star chef, is buzzing.
Dominique Crenn, chef/owner of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, has one eye on the marrow roasting in the oven, another on a salad she’s topped with foraged and garden-fresh herbs.
She reaches into the bowl and plucks a stem of ice plant.
“Here, taste it,” she says of the purslane-like plant.
It’s crisp, ethereal and wholly intriguing, which, as it turns out, is much like spending an evening with Crenn and company.
The house she shares with her partner, Katherine (who declined to give her last name), is a whir of activity, not in the least because of three dogs running around.
Before long, a pair of friends arrive, and it’s an all-female pow-wow — a chef, an artist, two psychologists and two journalists.
Crenn, who was born and raised in France, has been on the leading edge of San Francisco’s culinary scene for nearly two decades, first working under Jeremiah Tower at the legendary Stars.
She earned her first Michelin star at Luce in the Intercontinental Hotel, then last month, became the first female in North America to reach two-star status when Atelier Crenn earned its second Michelin star.
Her food there is often described as poetic, with intricately landscaped dishes that feed the mind as much as the body.
Her food at home is all about comfort. Roast chicken and whole fish Provencal are staples, nods to her native France that are usually accompanied by gorgeous California salads.
It’s also a balancing act — Katherine has been following a largely glutenand lactose-free diet for more than 20 years. The compromise? “She cooks, I bake,” Katherine says.
The evening starts around the kitchen island with Champagne cocktails, Crenn’s take on the classic French 75. Because Atelier Crenn does not have a full liquor license, she makes “gin” by macerating juniper berries and herbes de Provence in sake, then creates a foam out of the mixture as a Champagne topper.
Conversation is robust, a shade of academia mixed with Gloria Steinem.
On the menu is a burger bar — lamb patties topped with a heaping mounds of marrow and sheep’s feta cheese; gluten-free buns slathered with plum sauce.
Cutting through the fat is the salad and a colorful bowl of pickled baby tomatoes.
“It’s my favorite vegetable, or fruit,” Crenn says of the tomatoes, which she first blanches to remove the skin, then sets in pickling liquid overnight.
For dessert, it’s vegan ice cream topped with a coconut crumble.
A low-calorie meal, this isn’t. The juicy, salty, sloppy, in-your-face burger couldn’t be further removed from what Crenn serves at her restaurant. But her exuberance for every ingredient is clear, her dance between artist and philosopher evident.
She’s heard her haute cuisine at Atelier Crenn deemed pretentious by some critics. And yet, she believes the artistry is simply an extension of herself.
“I’m having a hard time with this word, ‘pretentious,’ ” she says. “Is the food too pretty?”
“We’re a different breed,” she adds. “People ask me how come you say hello to your customers every night? It’s because I need that. It’s not just a restaurant. It’s my house.”
Atelier Crenn, 3127 Fillmore St. (near Union Street), San Francisco; (415) 440-0460. atelier crenn.com. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday.