Io sono distrutto

I just that Judy Rodgers has joined the company of angels at the age of only 57. In a span of not many weeks we've lost Penelope Casas and Marcella Hazan as well. Judy was co-owner of Zuni Cafe in San Francisco which I visited many times (the street car line stops practically outside the door. To my knowledge she wrote only one book but one which is referenced by her peers nation wide.
Could we stop the bleeding pleasing?

pierino
  • Posted by: pierino
  • December 3, 2013
  • 2022 views
  • 15 Comments

15 Comments

ChefJune
ChefJune December 5, 2013
It's the saddest I've felt in a long time. :( Cynthia, what a lovely story.
 

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boulangere
boulangere December 4, 2013
How interesting to read in a couple of lovely articles in the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-judy-rodgers-20131204,0,4416032.story#axzz2mYkodNON , http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-judy-rodgers-jonathan-gold,0,224664.story#axzz2mYkodNON) that Judy Rodgers was briefly the chef at the Union Hotel in Benicia, CA (after having worked for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse). My husband and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary at the Union Hotel, and it would have been right around the time she was there. Cooking for friends. Life doesn't get much better than that. My husband is gone and so is Judy Rodgers, and I still have a glowing memory of that evening. May they raise a glass of wine to each other. And we to them.
 
pierino
pierino December 5, 2013
And an Amen to that thought.
 
pierino
pierino December 4, 2013
As much as I admire what Alice Waters did in launching the "farm to table" movement I would rate Judy Rodgers' ideas about food far ahead of Alice. It's a great loss to the world of cooking and thinking about cooking.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames December 4, 2013
Sono distrutta, anch'io! ;o)
 
cookinginvictoria
cookinginvictoria December 4, 2013
Such sad news. Judy Rogers's Zuni Cafe cookbook has deeply informed my cooking. Like so many others, I learned how to salt meat and poultry and roast a chicken from Judy. But her first recipe I ever made was her marinated roasted beets, which is still my preferred way to prepare beets. She also taught me how to make a proper stock and introduced me to salsa verde. I only ate at Zuni once -- and that was about fifteen years ago -- but it remains one of my favorite restaurant meals ever. RIP.
 
cookbookchick
cookbookchick December 4, 2013
As "cookbookchick," you can bet I have a whole lot of them. If I had to choose only a handful to keep, Judy's book would be at the top of the list. Not just a cookbook - it is a culinary education. One of her recipes/tutorials I have learned and loved is for gnocchi. A "genius" technique, indeed!
 
luvcookbooks
luvcookbooks December 4, 2013
glutton for life on Facebook: "A lot of roast chicken and bread salad in heaven tonight".
 
arcane54
arcane54 December 4, 2013
And I made a late "Judy bird" turkey just yesterday. What a loss to all of us and what a legacy she's left.
 
cookbookchick
cookbookchick December 3, 2013
I dry-brined our Thanksgiving turkeys for the first time, two Judy birds. Heartbreaking news..
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff December 3, 2013
You said it, I thought the same thing about losing Casas, Hazan,and Rogers in the same year.

Ironically, I'd just pulled a roast chicken from the oven when I heard. How often do I roast a chicken in the middle of the day? Not really ever except today and so glad I did.
 
Pegeen
Pegeen December 3, 2013
"thy rest" not "they" (good thing I don't engrave gravestones for a living)
 
Pegeen
Pegeen December 5, 2013
Auto-correct is usually a nuisance... I know that legions of angels are feasting on Judy's roast chicken along with the many other recipes that will be here with us always. In heaven, she can have however many wood-burning stoves she wants.
 
Pegeen
Pegeen December 3, 2013
Oh, that's sad news. Too young. May flights of angels take thee to they rest.
 
HalfPint
HalfPint December 3, 2013
Yeah, 57 is just too d*** young for someone of her caliber and heart.
 
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