Goldstein, Joyce 1935-

PERSONAL:

Born July 17, 1935, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of Gerry Lewis and Jeanne Esersky; married Marc Goldstein, September 15, 1957 (divorced, August, 1972); children: Evan Matthew, Karen Anne, Rachel Laura. Education: Smith College, B.A., 1956; Yale University, M.F.A., 1959. Religion: Jewish.

CAREER:

Chef and author, 1978—. Painter, San Francisco, CA, 1961-65; cooking teacher, San Francisco, 1965-71; teacher and director, California Street Cooking School, San Francisco, 1971-76; teacher, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 1976- 83; chef and manager, Chez Panisse Café, Berkeley, CA, 1981-83; chef and owner, Square One Restaurant, San Francisco, 1984-96. Visiting executive chef, Wine Spectator Restaurant, Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, CA. Also taught kitchen design at the University of California in the Department of Architecture.

MEMBER:

American Institute of Food and Wine, International Association of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs (founding member; member of board of directors), Meals on Wheels (member of board), San Francisco Food Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named one of Top 25 American Cooks, Cooks magazine, 1985; voted San Francisco Focus magazine's Chef of the Year, 1992; James Beard/ Perrier-Jouet Award as Best Chef in California, 1993.

WRITINGS:

Feedback: How to Cook for Increased Awareness, Relaxation, Pleasure & Better Communication with Yourself & Those Who Eat the Food; How to Enjoy the Process As Well As the Product; How to Use the Kitchen As a Source of Nourishment, Emotional, Physical & Sensual, R. Marek Publishers (New York, NY), 1978.

The Mediterranean Kitchen, drawings by Rachel Goldstein, wine recommendations by Evan Goldstein, Morrow (New York, NY), 1989.

Back to Square One: Old-World Food in a New-World Kitchen, Morrow (New York, NY), 1992.

Festive Occasions Cookbook, edited by Chuck Williams, photography by Allan Rosenberg and Allen V. Lott, Weldon Owen (San Francisco, CA), 1993, revised edition, 2004.

Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Mediterranean Lands, regional text by Ayla Algar, food photography by Peter Johnson, styled by Janice Baker, Collins PublishersSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1994.

Casual Occasions Cookbook, edited by Chuck Williams, photography by Allan Rosenberg and Allen V. Lott, Weldon Owen (San Francisco, CA), 1995, revised edition, 2004.

Kitchen Conversations: Robust Recipes and Lessons in Flavor from One of America's Most Innovative Chefs, William Morrow (New York, NY), 1996.

Taverna: The Best of Casual Mediterranean Cooking, Sunset Publishing (Menlo Park, CA), 1996.

Complete Entertaining Cookbook, edited by Chuck Williams, photography by Allan Rosenberg and Allen V. Lott, Weldon Owen (San Francisco, CA), 1998.

Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen, photography by Ellen Silverman, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1998.

Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean, photography by Beatriz da Costa, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2000.

(With Gerald Hirigoven and Mary Beth Clark) Great Foods of the World, Fog City Press (San Francisco, CA), 2001.

Enoteca: Simple, Delicious Recipes in the Italian Wine Bar Tradition, photography by Angela Wyant, wine notes by Evan Goldstein, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2001.

Complete Entertaining Cookbook: The Best of Festive and Casual Occasions, edited by Chuck Williams photography by Allan Rosenberg and Allen V. Lott, Weldon Owen (San Francisco, CA), 2001.

Saffron Shores: Jewish Cooking of the Southern Mediterranean, photography by Leigh Beisch, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2002.

Solo Suppers: Simple Delicious Meals to Cook for Yourself, photography by Judi Swinks, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2003.

Italian Slow and Savory: A Cookbook, photography by Paolo Nobile, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2004.

Antipasti: Fabulous Appetizers and Small Plates, wine recommendations by Jeffrey Meisel, photography by Paolo Nobile, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 2006.

Contributor of recipes to cookbooks, including Fish, edited by Chuck Williams, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1993; Beef, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1993; Mediterranean Cooking, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1997; Festive Entertaining, Time- Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1998; On the Side, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1998; Casual Entertaining, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1998; Soup for Supper, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1998; Food & Wine Pairing, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 1999; Savoring Spain & Portugal: Recipes and Reflections on Iberian Cooking, Time-Life Books (Alexandria, VA), 2000; and Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food, by Evan Goldstein, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 2006. Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Gourmet, Restaurant Hospitality, Wine & Spirits, Food & Wine, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

SIDELIGHTS:

Master chef and restaurateur Joyce Goldstein is perhaps best known as the force behind San Francisco's Square One restaurant, one of the most famous fine-dining establishments in the city during most of the 1990s. Speaking to James P. Scanlan in Restaurants & Institutions, Goldstein explained: "Square One was the first restaurant to bring in the whole Mediterranean, not just Greek or Italian." "Goldstein," wrote Kevin Farrell in Restaurant Business, "taught cooking classes in her home in order to support her three children, eventually opening the California Street Cooking School in 1971. That led to teaching kitchen design at the University of California School of Architecture in Berkeley, which eventually led to Chez Panisse." "Goldstein," Farrell continued, "had traveled considerably throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, and was especially fascinated by Mediterranean cuisines. At Chez Panisse, she says, ‘I was always wanting to try out dishes I had developed, but Alice would always say: "You can do that when you have your own restaurant." So, I decided to open my own place.’"

Square One helped change the way diners thought about ethnic cuisine. "I think we started with a concept of food and a menu," the chef told interviewers for Restaurants & Institutions, "but I think the soul of the restaurant is really the people who work there and the ambience of the building, and the food is one of the things that reflects this point of view. If you just start with the food, you find out very often that you're wrong because your customers determine a great deal of what happens to your menu by what they order, not by what they say." "I think that the soul of the restaurant really is the whole philosophy of why you're there," she concluded, "and the menu should support that point of view."

Goldstein spread that philosophy through Square One and through the many cookbooks she authored. In them she encouraged individuals to experiment with the ancient cuisine of the Mediterranean world. "It's simple: great home food elevated," she explained to Nancy Ross Ryan in Restaurants & Institutions. "It's very satisfying. It fits healthy lifestyles. And it's affordable." Goldstein's cookbooks reflect these aims. "Goldstein's restaurant food is unpretentious," Mark Knoblauch stated in a Booklist review of Kitchen Conversations: Robust Recipes and Lessons in Flavor from One of America's Most Innovative Chefs, "good news for the home cook who wants to reproduce her efforts." In Antipasti: Fabulous Appetizers and Small Plates, for instance, she "dresses up classic Italian appetizers," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "with a modern flair that draws on American inspiration" as well as classic Mediterranean cuisine. "The result," declared another Publishers Weekly reviewer in an assessment of Back to Square One: Old-World Food in a New- World Kitchen, "is an enticing array of multicultural recipes that are relatively simple to cook and fascinating to read." Italian Slow and Savory: A Cookbook, stated still another Publishers Weekly critic, is a "tribute to Italy's diverse cuisine and artisanal ingredients [that] will stand the test of time and reward home cooks with every repeat visit."

Goldstein has also won critical attention for her cookbooks that emphasize the Jewish cuisine of the Mediterranean region. In works such as Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen, Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean, and Saffron Shores: Jewish Cooking of the Southern Mediterranean, she spreads the reputation of a relatively unknown way of eating. "Cucina Ebraica," declared Joanna G. Harris in Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought, "challenges ordinary cooking with its detail on the uses of olive oil, lemons, and the inclusion of fruits with poultry, meat with olives, and a variety of exotic sauces. The chapter on verdure, vegetables, particularly, is worth all the effort." "This is a rich harvest," concluded Michael Schrader in a Nation's Restaurant News review of the same book, "of a little-known culinary legacy."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 1994, Barbara Jacobs, review of Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Mediterranean Lands, p. 1909; December 15, 1996, Mark Knoblauch, review of Kitchen Conversations: Robust Recipes That Teach You How to Balance Flavors and Become a Better Cook, p. 701.

California Bookwatch, August, 2006, review of Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food.

Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought, summer, 2001, Joanna G. Harris, "East/ West: Home Cooking Is Best," p. 373.

Library Journal, February 15, 1997, Judith C. Sutton, review of Kitchen Conversations, May 1, 2006, Christine Holmes, review of Christine Holmes, review of Perfect Pairings, p. 114.

Nation's Restaurant News, January 15, 1990, Michael Schrader, review of The Mediterranean Kitchen, p. 62; December 5, 1994, Michael Schrader, review of Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook, p. 24; September 22, 1997, Christine Moller and Pamela Parseghian, "Joyce Goldstein: Variety Is the Spice of Her Life," p. 73; April 10, 2006, Michael Schrader, "Jewish Culinary Traditions Abound in Well-Illustrated Volumes," p. 46.

People, December 11, 1989, Ralph Novak, review of The Mediterranean Kitchen, p. 51.

Publishers Weekly, September 28, 1992, review of Back to Square One: Old-World Food in a New- World Kitchen, p. 73; August 29, 1994, review of Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook, p. 74; November 18, 1996, review of Kitchen Conversations, p. 71; July 16, 2001, review of Enoteca: Simple, Delicious Recipes in the Italian Wine Bar Tradition, p. 177; June 23, 2003, review of Solo Suppers: Simple Delicious Meals to Cook for Yourself, p. 64; September 27, 2004, review of Italian Slow and Savory: A Cookbook, p. 51; February 13, 2006, review of Perfect Pairings, p. 81; May 8, 2006, review of Antipasti: Fabulous Appetizers and Small Plates, p. 62.

Restaurant Business, May 20, 1991, Kevin Farrell, "Joyce Goldstein: Chef/Owner, Square One Restaurant," p. 104.

Restaurants & Institutions, April 17, 1991, "Masters of the Menu," p. 64; September 9, 1992, Nancy Ross Ryan, "The Scoop on Mediterranean: Joyce Goldstein," p. 58; August 1, 1996, James P. Scanlan, "Going Out Squarely on Top," p. 26.

ONLINE

Foodreference.com,http://www.foodreference.com/ (November 29, 2006), Bill Marsano, review of Antipasti, and Jennifer A.Wickes, review of Cucina Ebraica.

In Good Taste,http:/www.ingoodtastestore.com/ (November 29, 2006), Judith Bishop, review of Italian Slow and Savory.

Jewish News Weekly of Northern California,http://www.jewishsf.com/ (November 29, 2006), Stephanie Rapp, author interview.