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Home > Celestial Blood > Legendary vegetarian restaurant Greens showcases California living and produce
Podcast: Celestial Blood
Episode:

Legendary vegetarian restaurant Greens showcases California living and produce
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-08-08 19:00:00
Description: With so much emphasis these days on plant-based or vegan cuisine, vegetarian cuisine sometimes gets lost. It's good to go back to places that helped birth these trends, like the iconic restaurant Greens in San Francisco, which has been celebrating vegetables since 1979. It's an amazing pedigree. Katie Reicher is the executive chef of Greens. She has put together a beautiful collection of recipes made for California living. It's called Seasons of Greens . Evan Kleiman: So Katie, tell me a little bit about where you were raised and whose food were your first influences? Katie Reicher: Yeah, so I'm from the Hudson Valley in New York, right outside New York City, and I really had a lot of inspiration from my grandparents, primarily. I'm a third generation American on both sides of my family, my dad's side is Italian, and my mom's side is Ukrainian. So I grew up making special dishes before Christmas, like pierogies, and we would garden every year. So we were always eating seasonally and very much with the traditional kinds of foods that you'd have right before holidays from both sides. The Hudson Valley is such an Eden-like space, where so many people who cook would just love to be working there. How did you come to work at Greens? My journey to Greens is kind of unique actually. I was a student at the Culinary Institute of America in the Hyde Park campus, which is just about an hour north of where I grew up. And I was 21 at the time, I knew I wanted to work with vegetables, and it was a four month internship, so I just figured, why not go as far away as I could just to experience it before I moved back to New York for the rest of my life and become my family's matriarch who just loves cooking. I never expected to really move away. But I actually did my internship at Greens, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the people, I loved the vibe, I loved the food. And it also helps that I met my now husband, my second week in San Francisco, also a New Yorker, but we met out in San Francisco. So I ended up finishing my school at CIA, but then I moved back to California on my graduation day to start working at Greens full-time. Katie Reicher was raised in the Hudson Valley in New York but interned at Greens restaurant in San Francisco, where she worked her way up to executive chef. Photo by Erin Scott. Wow. And who was the chef when you first started there? It was Annie Somerville, and she was the chef at Greens for the majority of the time. So she had started in the early 80s and retired in 2018. For people who have never been to Greens or unaware of the sort of place that it has in the Northern California dining scene, could you describe what makes it so unique? There's so many things I could say about this, but I would say cuisine specifically, Green's really helped pioneer what we know of vegetarian cuisine today. So my favorite example is our black bean chili. Everyone knows black bean chili. Everyone's had it. I'm sure our recipe is over 40 years old though, it might be closer to 50 years old if they were eating it at the San Francisco Zen Center before Greens even open. So our black bean chili might actually be one of the very first recipes ever written, and we're still doing it almost 50 years later. So in terms of the cuisine, Greens has been very influential in kind of taking the unmarinated tofu and sprouts and whole wheat bread, the kind of like scary New York Times called it "the sprout-infested cuisine of the 70s," and we really pioneered it into something that is really delicious and what people look forward to today. What is the connection with the Zen Center? The San Francisco Zen Center actually opened Greens in 1979. It was part of a work/study program. So the idea was to bring Zen practice into a workplace. The Zen Center had several of these endeavors. One of them was the Tassajara Bread Bakery , Green Gulch Farm , which is still in operation in Greens, was another one of them. Greens was the most successful of these endeavors. So we did incorporate in the 80s, but we're still very, very much connected with the Zen Center, primarily in culture now, but we do keep that very close connection. It's a very important part of our history, for sure. When one says "Zen practice" on one hand and then a restaurant, particularly restaurant kitchen on another, they seem like they would be wildly the opposite poles. Is there a tangible connection to the Zen Center that kind of informs how you run the kitchen, or the energy, overall energy in the kitchen and the dining room? I think the through line here, more than anything, is mindfulness. Even just the cuisine itself, we're very thoughtful of sourcing. We're giving gratitude to the farmers, and even as you eat, we don't have music in the dining room so that you can focus on your meal and have that appreciation for it. In terms of kitchen management, I would say that it's very much a compassionate space. It's much different than a lot of other kitchens that I've seen. It's a very family-oriented place. People bring their family members to come in and work, because they just know that it's such a wonderful place to work, and we teach and we lead by example. It's a really wonderful place to work. And honestly, as much as I love everything about Greens, the cuisine, the space, the location, it's the company culture that's kept me here over 10 years. In a restaurant setting, it's much easier to put together more complex dishes, because all the subrecipes are already done and part of the mise en place. So how can we best strategize a dish like the wild mushrooms au poivre, which looks so delicious, which includes a porcini jus? I would say the best way to utilize these extra recipes is to do it in a way that is as best fit to your routines as possible. The porcini jus freezes really, really well, and it takes a really long time on the stove. So I would actually suggest to double that recipe and then once it's done and strained, you have it. The mushrooms au poivre definitely is one of my favorite recipes in the book by far. Can you describe it? So au poivre, it's really about the peppercorn. So you take these coarsely cracked peppercorns, you mix it with some Dijon mustard, and traditionally, it's a pan sauce with steak, but the porcinis really give you that richness that you need for this dish, and it gets tossed with these nicely roasted mushrooms. It's just really decadent and delicious. And the mushrooms we're using for this aren't porcinis, per se, we can use like king trumpets or any kind of mushroom that we managed to find at a farmers market or in a good store. Right, yeah. I would actually suggest king trumpet or maitake mushrooms. Maitakes are my ultimate favorite. I am a huge fan of celery, so I was delighted to read that you are too. You have a celery and peanut noodle salad. Can you describe that for us? This salad is so delicious, and it's mostly because the celery is just so juicy. And sometimes I find that peanut noodle salads get a little bit sticky to eat because you have the starchy noodles and you have the peanut butter that's sticky. I feel like you don't get any of that kind of mouth stickiness from the salad because you have so much juice from the fresh celery. I love it any time of year. It's a lot of commodity ingredients, but celery really gets great in early summer. "Seasons of Greens" celebrates the vegetarian recipes of the legendary San Francisco restaurant. Photo courtesy of Weldon Owen. In vegetarian cooking, it's often difficult to distinguish between side dishes and mains. I'd love to hear what a dish needs for you to consider it a main course. And I'd love it if you would suggest something summery for us. Absolutely. I think a main course has to have a balance of some protein and maybe a grain, maybe a little bit of a vegetable supporter or a sauce, which kind of sounds funny in vegetarian cuisine, to have vegetable supporters. But one example that I like to use is chipotle grilled tofu. So actually, that one's in the entree section, but it doesn't have anything with it, mainly because the tofu just acts as this primary protein. But if you pair that with the grilled peppers with herby corn salsa, I feel like that's more of a complete meal, because you have this salsa that's almost like a sauce. It's chunky, but it has that brightness that you need. Same thing with the spring yellow curry, it's full curry sauce. You can add some rice to it, you have protein, you have vegetables, and you can have that as a full. Meal and be satisfied. You say that the Shepherd's pie at Greens causes a frenzy whenever you have it on the menu. What would a spring or summery filling look like for that? Oh, my goodness, yes, it does cause a complete frenzy. I would say that Shepherd's pie is actually pretty springy on its own. You have those carrots and peas and those are all really nice this time of year. For the summer, I would say maybe substitute some eggplant. That might be interesting. Something a little bit more hearty. Zucchini might work. I think you can really experiment, even get some like nice fresh shelling beans, those would be delicious in a Shepherd's pie. To bring freshness to a peanut noodle salad, which can often feel heavy and sticky, chef Katie Reicher adds celery. Photo by Erin Scott. Celery & Peanut Noodle Salad Serves 2-3 My dream is to live in a world where people rejoice over the crisp, vegetal, and refreshing glory that is celery. While often overlooked as merely an ingredient in vegetable stock, celery is an incredible vegetable to use in salads, especially when served with something creamy and nutty like peanut butter. (The creator of ants-on a-log was really onto something!) I particularly love this salad with the addition of fresh edamame, a delicacy that is only available for a few weeks every October. Ingredients One 5-ounce (142 g) package soba noodles, ramen noodles, or rice noodles, cooked according to package directions and cooled 4 ribs celery, sliced thinly on a bias ¼ head purple cabbage, shredded finely 4 ounces (115 g) snap peas, trimmed and halved on a bias 4 to 6 red Flambeau radishes, sliced very thinly 2 scallions, sliced thinly on a bias 1 red Fresno chile, sliced into thin coins ¼ bunch cilantro, stems removed Peanut Vinaigrette (recipe follows) 1 cup (140 g) toasted peanuts (see page 25) For the peanut vinaigrette ½ cup (70 g) well toasted peanuts (see page 25) ¼ cup (68 ml) peanut oil or canola oil 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1½ teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons sambal oelek Instructions Combine the soba noodles, celery, cabbage, snap peas, radishes, scallions, and Fresno chile together in a bowl. Add half of the cilantro leaves and peanut vinaigrette to taste. Garnish with the toasted peanuts and remaining cilantro leaves . To make the vinaigrette, in a food processor or mortar and pestle, grind the peanuts together until they form a thick, shiny, and somewhat chunky paste. Add to a small bowl with the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. From Seasons of Greens: A Collection of New Recipes from the Iconic San Francisco Restaurant © 2025 by Katie Reicher. Reprinted by permission of Weldon Owen, an imprint of Insight Editions. All rights reserved. Photography © Erin Scott. The popular Shepherd's Pie at Greens is typically served at special occasions and can be adapted with seasonal ingredients. Photo by Erin Scott. Shepherd’s Pie Serves 4-6 Shepherd’s Pie is one of the most popular dishes we make at Greens. In fact, it’s so popular that I often reserve this dish for special occasions since it causes such a frenzy that we can hardly keep up with making enough to meet the demand. Plus, it makes it even more special for when we do bring this recipe back out again. While this dish can be made in any season, it’s particularly lovely in the spring, when the English peas are fresh, and the carrots are tender and sweet. Ingredients For the filling 1 pound (450 g) mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, maitake, royal trumpet, oyster, etc. Light olive oil, as needed Salt 1 cup (185 g) peeled pearl onions 2 tablespoons brown sugar ¼ cup (60 ml) dry red wine 1 large carrot, diced ⅓ cup (50 g) shelled English peas, fresh or frozen ¼ cup (10 g) chopped fresh parsley 1 cup (240 ml) Porcini Jus (page 39) For the mashed potatoes 2 pounds (900 g) russet potatoes Salt ½ cup (1 stick/113 g) stick butter ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream (or Cashew Cream, page 36, for vegan) 4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese (may substitute an equal amount of vegan cheese) Instructions Preheat the oven to 425˚F (220˚C). Prepare the mushrooms by cutting them into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks. Then, toss them with olive oil and season lightly with salt and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast the mushrooms for about 25 minutes, or until the mushrooms are somewhat dry and are brown on the edges. Reduce the oven heat to 400˚F (200˚C) . Meanwhile, make the sweet-and-sour onions. If the pearl onions are very small, keep them whole. Larger onions can be halved lengthwise. Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add a small drizzle of oil to the pan and add the onions. Let the onions cook, untouched, for at least 2 minutes before shaking the pan and continuing to cook for another several minutes, untouched to allow the onions to char slightly. When the onions have slightly softened and are nicely charred, add the brown sugar, red wine, and a pinch of salt. Cook until the pan is dry and the onions are shiny and glazed. Transfer to a large clean bowl . Next, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add a handful of salt to the water, then drop in the carrots and cook them until just tender. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and add to the bowl with the onions. Then, if you are using fresh peas, add them to the boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes before adding to the bowl with the onions and carrots. Frozen peas can be added directly to the bowl without further cooking . Once the mushrooms are cooked, add them to the bowl with the remaining vegetables. Add the chopped parsley and Porcini Jus and mix until combined. Add the mushroom mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish, or another baking dish with a 2-quart capacity, and set aside . Next, make the mashed potatoes. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks. Place them in a pot and top with cool water and a handful of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes . Drain the potatoes well and set aside. In the same pot, add the butter and cream. Cook until the edges of the mixture begin to simmer, then immediately remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and the cooked potatoes. Mash the potatoes and adjust the seasoning to taste. Either pipe or spread the potatoes over the top of the mushroom mixture, then bake at 400˚F (200˚C) uncovered for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes have browned slightly on the edges. Serve immediately. From Seasons of Greens: A Collection of New Recipes from the Iconic San Francisco Restaurant © 2025 by Katie Reicher. Reprinted by permission of Weldon Owen, an imprint of Insight Editions. All rights reserved. Photography © Erin Scott.
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