Name: Jerry Traunfeld
Last Restaurants: Former Executive Chef and Founder at Poppy, and Lionhead, former Executive Chef at The Herbfarm
What inspired you to go into the culinary industry?
When I was 12 years old I was inspired by watching Julia Child on The French Chef. I began to cook for my family and I was obsessed. In my teens I would cook and bake all the time, devour cookbooks, and always try new recipes and learn about different cuisines.
Where did you officially learn to cook?
After college, in 1981, I moved to San Franscisco with my (now) husband and got a job cooking in a restaurant. One of my coworkers told me about The California Culinary Academy which had recently opened. I enrolled when I was 22.
Would you tell us about your first job working with food?
After graduating from Culinary School I worked at a classic and iconic fine-dining restaurant called Ernie’s, whose kitchen was run by a young French chef named Jackie Robert. Later I worked at Stars, a hot new restaurant that just opened and was owned by the brilliant Jeremiah Tower, an out gay chef who was influential in creating what was termed California Cuisine.
What has your experience been being LGBTQ+ working in the culinary industry?
Although many restaurant kitchens in the 80s and 90s were testosterone driven and homophobic, I was always distanced from them. At Ernie’s in 1984 I remember being bullied by a homophobic coworker. The Chef overheard, chastised the guy, and made it clear there wasn’t a place for it in his kitchen. Stars had a very competitive working environment, but it had many gay and lesbian employees and I felt totally open and safe. I headed my own kitchens beginning in 1987. First at The Alexis Hotel in Seattle, and then for 17 years at a small farm to table destination restaurant called The Herbfarm. After that I owned my own Seattle restaurants, Poppy and Lionhead. Since I oversaw the kitchens, I could create a working culture around my values. I was always out and open, and always tried to hire a diverse staff. At Poppy, my staff included quite a few trans and non-binary employees, and I believe they chose to work for me because they recognized the workplace as a safe and non-judgmental environment.
How do you use your talents to build community?
I think the most important thing I did was to create the accepting environments I mentioned for my employees and guests. And I would always prioritize LGBTQ+ organizations and causes with donations and support.
I was a contestant on Top Chef Masters in 2010 where I competed for a charity of my choice. I researched many LGBTQ+ organizations and settled on IGLHRC, which is now known as Outright International and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights around the globe. It’s important to fight for rights in our own country, but it felt more urgent to help our community in places where you can be put to death for being your true self. It felt great to be able to offer television exposure to a cause I believed so much in.
What other passions do you have in life outside of the kitchen?
I’ve always loved to garden. In Seattle I tended a huge home garden where we grew all the cut flowers for the restaurant, as well as an enormous herb garden at Poppy that provided most of the herbs we cooked with. I now live in Palm Springs, California and my garden is much different, but I still grow quite a few culinary herbs in pots.
I made pottery when I was in High School and I always wanted to get my hands in clay again, so when I retired, I built a small pottery studio at my home. I now make ceramic lamps and sell them at several shops in Palm Springs and online at orchidtreepottery.com
Other interests included travel, fitness, origami, art, and design.
What is the most memorable moment, good or bad, working in the culinary industry?
I think about the last night of service at Poppy. Rather than a sad occasion it was a celebration of the family Stevie and I had created (my husband Stevie has been my partner for 44 years and he helped me run the restaurant). I learned how much the restaurant meant to the people who worked in it and to the people we cooked for. Countless relationships and lasting friendships were formed by my staff over the years and so much was learned. So many of our regular guests wanted to return to dine after the announcement of our closing that it felt overwhelming, and many former staff members returned to help us accommodate the demand. At times owning a restaurant felt crushing and brutally hard, but when we repeatedly heard how much the restaurant meant to our guests and employees, and how much joy it brought to people’s lives, it made us feel it was worth it.
What would you like to still achieve or learn?
I continue to love to cook at home, but the restaurant world feels far away. I still love to read about food and experience new tastes on my travels. I just spent a couple of weeks in Japan, a country that inspired me so much when I traveled there 20 years ago, and I once again had amazing food experiences.
My pottery work is my creative outlet now and I keep learning and improving. After spending my life creating things that were eaten, vanishing to nothing but a memory, it’s so satisfying to create an object that might still be here in decades or even centuries.
I now have time to concentrate on fitness and I’m trying to age well. I work out, swim, hike and practice yoga regularly.
Any words of inspiration for those who either want to learn to cook at home or want to go into the culinary industry as a career?
If you’re learning to cook, the internet and social media have changed everything. I’ve always collected and celebrated printed cookbooks, and one of my proudest accomplishments has been writing two of my own, but I’m amazed about how much good content there is online and how easy it is to share with and inspire each other with recipes and techniques. Now I love to follow cooks on Instagram and I use online recipe collections like the excellent NYtimes cooking ap.
If you are a restaurant cook, take care of your body! Repetitive kitchen work under stress is brutal. Do yoga! Eat well. Have a life outside of work.
Eggplant Fries with Sea Salt and Buckwheat Honey
Serves 4 to 6
Eggplant Fries have been on Poppy’s menu since opening day. Inspired by Indian pakoras, they have a lightly crisped outside and a creamy inside. When making them at home, you’ll need hungry guests at
the ready, as their crispness doesn’t last long. A deep fryer is handy for this recipe, but a wok makes a decent alternative. Just be sure to stabilize it with a wok ring or use a flat-bottomed wok on an electric stove.
2 globe eggplants,
caps trimmed and
cut lengthwise into
3/4-inch-thick slices
2 qts (8 cups) cold water
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 cups chickpea flour
4 cups canola oil,
for deep-frying
Buckwheat honey
Cut each eggplant slice widthwise into 3/4-inch strips.
Combine water and salt in a large pot and stir until salt dissolves.
Add eggplants and soak for 15 minutes.
Put flour into a large shallow bowl.
Pour oil into a deep fryer, wok, or large saucepan and heat over medium heat to a temperature of 350°F.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer half of the eggplant to a strainer and shake to remove excess water. Put the pieces into the flour and turn to coat evenly. Put them back into the strainer and gently shake to remove excess flour. Using tongs, carefully lower eggplant pieces into the hot oil and deep-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, until evenly browned and crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Arrange eggplant fries on a plate. Drizzle buckwheat honey overtop and season with a large pinch of sea salt (such as fleur de sel or sel gris). Serve immediately while you repeat the process with the
remaining eggplant pieces.
