Zuni Café

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Zuni Café
Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.jpg
Zuni Café
Zuni Cafe
Restaurant information
Established1979 (1979)
Owner(s)Gilbert Pilgram
Head chefAnne Alvero
Food typeCalifornia seasonal; French; Italian
Street address1658 Market Street
City San Francisco, California
Postal/ZIP Code94102
Country United States
Coordinates 37°46′25″N122°25′17″W / 37.773656°N 122.421447°W / 37.773656; -122.421447
Website www.zunicafe.com

Zuni Café is a restaurant in San Francisco, California, named after the Zuni tribe of indigenous Pueblo peoples of Arizona and New Mexico. [1] It occupies a triangular building on Market Street at the corner of Rose Street. [2]

Contents

History

Zuni Café was established in 1979 by Billy West. In 1981 he hired Vince Calcagno as the manager, who became a business partner in 1987. [3] From its inception it was a gay gathering place. [4] Originally there was little money or space for cooking equipment: West grilled steaks illegally in the alley on a Weber grill. After a recommendatiion from Elizabeth David, Zuni Café became popular, and in 1984 Patricia Unterman wrote in a San Francisco Chronicle review: "The open kitchen at last has stoves, grills, counters, and refrigeration. ...There's enough money in the bank to support a good wine list." [4] West and Calcagno hired Judy Rodgers (formerly of Chez Panisse) as head chef in 1987. [3] Calcagno and Rodgers became co-owners; West died in July 1994. [4]

Originally a Southwest-themed café, Zuni Café expanded in the 1980s into the adjacent space that had been a cactus shop, and under Rodgers came to serve primarily Italian- and French-inspired cuisine. [2] With her at the helm, Zuni Café won the James Beard Foundation Award for "Best Chef: Pacific" in 2000, "Outstanding Restaurant" in 2003, and "Outstanding Chef" in 2004. [5] Rodgers published The Zuni Café Cookbook in 2002. [6]

Gilbert Pilgram, also formerly of Chez Panisse, became the co-owner when Calcagno retired in 2006. [1] [2] [7] [8] Rodgers died on December 2, 2013. [6] Subsequently the head chef was Nate Norris, who was succeeded in October 2022 by Anne Alvero. [2] In 2018, the restaurant received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Service. [9]

On reopening in 2021 after the COVID-19 shutdown, Zuni Café replaced tips with a service charge for diners, applied to the pay of back-of-house workers as well as servers. [10] [11] A San Francisco Chronicle review in 2024 noted that most long-term servers had chosen not to return because of the resulting reduction in their income, and that as a result service was now more uneven. [12]

Bar at Zuni Cafe Zuni Cafe (2023)-L1003556.jpg
Bar at Zuni Café

With gay artist George "Bubba" Geiger, West made the original furniture for Zuni Café, using mesquite trunks and slabs of wood. [4] The restaurant has a piano and a changing exhibition of modern art, both instituted by West. West also added a Parisian-inspired copper bar; since there are no bar stools, Rodgers had a metal rod added for people to prop a foot on. [2] Rodgers also designed the brick oven, used for roasting chicken over wood. [13] The building underwent a seismic retrofit in 1991, when the interior was given exposed ceiling beams. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 "History". Zuni.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Omar Mamoon (March 23, 2023). "It's a vibe: The oven. The piano. The bar. How Zuni Cafe built its timeless S.F. vibe". San Francisco Chronicle .
  3. 1 2 Michael Bauer (February 11, 2009). "1979: A classic year for San Francisco dining". SFGate (Between Meals blog). Archived from the original on February 14, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 John Birdsall (June 1, 2021) [May 28, 2021]. "The Forgotten Queer Legacy of Billy West and Zuni Café". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 23, 2024.
  5. ↑ James Beard Foundation website. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 Eric Asimov (December 3, 2013). "Judy Rodgers, Chef of Refined Simplicity, Dies at 57". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Michael Bauer (October 6, 2006). "A New Owner for Zuni Cafe". SFGate (Between Meals blog). Archived from the original on February 25, 2007.
  8. ↑ Omar Mamoon (December 7, 2023). "Zuni Café turns 45 next year. Here's the San Francisco institution's story". San Francisco Standard . Archived from the original on August 12, 2024.
  9. ↑ Linda Zavoral (May 8, 2018). "James Beard winners: Grgich, Crenn, B. Patisserie, Zuni Cafe". The Mercury News . Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  10. ↑ Janelle Bitker (May 10, 2021) [May 6, 2021]. "Legendary Zuni Cafe gets rid of tips, joining a wage-equity movement in Bay Area". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  11. ↑ Sienna Barnes (June 24, 2021). "The Tip of the Iceberg". SF Weekly . Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  12. ↑ MacKenzie Chung Fegan (March 18, 2024). "Does Zuni Café deserve its S.F. icon status? This is our new critic's verdict". San Francisco Chronicle.
  13. ↑ Michael Bauer (January 17, 2018). "Zuni and Poggio: Still good after all these years". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
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