I am reminded of my big date, when I recently cleaned and washed Miners' Lettuce.
In the early 1970s I attended a casual soiree at the San Francisco Zen Center (relevant later) where I met an attractive woman and invited her to my house for dinner.
I then asked around about who she was. It turned out she was a rising star in the chef-restaurant world. Her Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, was already globally famous.
The night of the dinner arrived and my solution to serving a famous chef was to collect local ingredients. One dish was Miner’s Lettuce since it was Spring and growing nearby in San Francisco. I collected a separate salad of five local greens from the parklet next door. I drove out to get wild spinach from the point near Sutro Baths.
She was due at 7PM. I started the main course and lit the hearth fire. Then she phoned to say she would be two hours late, delayed by a wine sales rep.
When she finally arrived, everything was wilted and reheated.
When she saw the Miner’s Lettuce she expressed horror and shock. She and her father had just lost $200,000 on a Central Valley farm trying to commercially grow Miner’s Lettuce and failed.
She later asked about the apple in my five layer dessert. ‘Yes’ I had cut the apple on the same board that I had cut onions.
I fell asleep after this disaster and she left by herself.
Years later, when I was the founder of Green’s Restaurant, we sent Debbie Madison, our future first chef, to study for a year as a cook at Chez Panisse. Debbie was a student at the Zen Center.