Judy Rodgers is widely regarded as one of the most creative and thoughtful cooks in America today. A native of St. Louis, she developed a passion for food while a student at Stanford University and nurtured it by studying in Roanne, France, at the Troisgros Brothers’ three-star restaurant. After graduating from Stanford in 1978, she continued her apprenticeship under Alice Waters at Chez Panisse. In 1980, she worked with Marion Cunningham as chef at the Union Hotel in Benicia, California, earning a place in the 1984 inaugural edition of Who’s Who in Cooking in America. Judy joined the Zuni Café in 1987; she owns and manages the San Francisco restaurant with her partner, Vince Calcagno. In May 2000, she was honored with the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef award for California. This is her first book.
Since The Zuni Café Cookbook was first published in 2003, Judy and her book have been showered with the following awards: the International Association of Culinary Professionals Fresh Grapes Award for Best Book in Chef/Restaurant Book, the James Beard Foundation/KitchenAid Book of the Year Award, the James Beard Foundation/KitchenAid Book Award for the Best Book on Cooking from a Professional Point of View, and the James Beard Foundation /S. Pellgrino Outstanding Restaurant in the United States, and, in 2004, the James Beard Foundation/All Clad-Cookware Award for an outstanding chef in the United States.