Gayle Pirie

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BREAKFAST?

I like Straus yogurt with Café Fanny granola with sliced bananas and blueberries. I like breakfast. I eat chicken sage sausages and hash browns, too! Both are favorites.

IS THERE A CHILDHOOD COMFORT FOOD THAT YOU THINK
ABOUT OFTEN?

Yes. I love buttered popcorn. Jiffy Pop was a childhood thrill for me. To watch the pan expand over the flame was exhilarating. It often didn’t work, so when it did, it was a magnificent feat. It required patience, and kids don’t have that all the time. Kraft macaroni and cheese too was a comfort. I was a latch key kid raised by a single mom, so these foods were prevalent and completely comforting. Corn Dogs! I love a corn dog. I do.

WHICH TALENT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE THAT YOU
DON’T POSSESS?

I would like to be more scientific in life, and less emotional. Science is precision, planning, and analysis. I go by guts and passion, virtues, yes, but analysis and proof are wonderful, too.

WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO
DO BEFORE YOU STARTED COOKING?

Yes, I was going to be the modern, female version of Jans Vermeer, the 17th-century Dutch painter. I was an oil painter in my younger life, sold paintings, taught art, and showed work in my early to mid-life, but motherhood, restaurant work, and of course Foreign Cinema have taken center stage. I plan to return to it, however.

OF ALL THE FRENCH PASTRIES, WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE TO MAKE/EAT?

My favorite is buttery rough puff pastry, both to eat and to make. Rough puff is therapeutic to make roll-out and bake and is my all-time favorite dough, in the world, especially for savory open face, sliced heirloom tomato, and Comte cheese tarts, and for stone fruit tarts (or galettes) for dessert.

IS THERE ONE FOOD THAT YOU’RE SECRETLY OBSESSED WITH HAVING AT HOME?

I like fresh oysters on the half shell at home. An easy, elegant, refreshing way to begin any meal. Plus, our local fish market, just up the street, has very good oysters available year-round.

IS THERE A FOOD YOU DISLIKE USING WHILE COOKING/BAKING OR DON’T LIKE EATING?

I’m not a tripe fan, or offal, either. And I don’t like baby corn. It’s creepy to me, not something I care to eat.

IF YOU COULD FIND OUT ANYONE’S SECRET RECIPE, WHOSE AND WHAT WOULD IT BE?

This one is hard to answer.

WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MEAL AND WHY?

I adore pan-fried plump little Washington oysters, lightly dusted with fine cornmeal, flash fired quickly and served with warm smoked bacon, juicy dressed watercress, sherry vinaigrette, and a tart lemon-cayenne mayo. This, I could eat every day for the rest of my life. (There’s a recipe for this in our recent cookbook!) I also love crab cakes with lots of herbs, Chinese hot mustard, homemade mayo, and lemon juice. Lightly breaded with fresh fine crumbs and sautéed till golden and super hot inside. But no bell pepper. No bread filler. This is accompanied by a glass of Chablis.

WHAT MENTORS HELPED YOU ALONG YOUR JORNEY OF BECOMING
A CHEF?

Mentors and friends include the late great Judy Rodgers, from Zuni café (our book is dedicated to her) and Alice Waters from Chez Panisse for her unflinching ingredient standards, and Niloufer Ichaporia, a local cookbook writer, friend, and muse. She knows what tastes good, and has a generosity and childlike enthusiasm about flavors and food. She’s an excellent writer to boot.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION & SOCIAL MEDIA
San Francisco, CA, USA
Foriegn Cinema
website: http://foreigncinema.com
address: 2534 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
email: [email protected]
phone number: (415) 648-7600
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foreigncinemagp/