Chef Kelsie Kerr
Hummus takes a walk through the forest
Moving beyond Chez Panisse
Not long after graduating from CCSF CAHS, I spent just over a year working for Kelsie. I was struck by her sense of collaboration, the intent she puts into her work, her appreciation of the ingredients, her respect for the environment, and of course, her amazing palate. That experience informs my cooking and how I work with people to this day (if only I could have absorbed more of her calming energy…).
Kelsie’s food is cultured, in every meaning of the word. There is deep knowledge of techniques, flavors, and dishes. There is an appreciation of fermentation and its many applications. There is her seemingly innate ability to combine flavors and textures to make a thoughtful and delicious plate of food. And there is her love of the traditions and cultures that drives much of her work. She cooks the kinds of foods that are deeply sustaining to eat.
Entering Standard Fare, you are immediately within eye and earshot of the kitchen. Offering breakfast, lunch, and afternoon treats, much of the food is take out, yet people love to grab eat there at well. Thanks to the open kitchen design, there is no division between front of house and back of house. Rather, there is a shallow counter with stools that runs along the front window (if you choose the seat furthest in, Tiffany, the Pastry Chef will be working next to you, and you’ll have cooks working about 4 feet behind you). If the weather is nice, you can nab a seat on the cement retaining wall/bench in front of the shop.
The lunch menu is carefully curated, offering a special of the day, 2 sandwiches, a soup, a salad, a mezze hummus plate (she mentions “I never intended to become the House of Hummus”), and a few extras extra sides, plus an ever changing assortment of sweets.
The breakfast menu is equally thoughtful, including oatmeal, a biscuit sandwich, a yogurt parfait and a frittata, along with pastries.
While these menus may read as simple, look closer and you will see the thought and level of detail in every dish.
The frittatas are made in the style of a Spanish tortilla: lots of filling bound together with egg. The fillings change from day to day but often feature house pickled vegetables.
The oatmeal is a slow cooked mixture of stone-cut oats, millet, and amaranth, topped with a crunchy mix of toasted quinoa and seeds, served with butter and maple syrup.
The biscuit sandwich features herb butter, spring onions, slow-roasted tomatoes, soft-cooked egg, and greens. Perhaps you’d like to add some house-cured bacon?
The sandwiches are so good, a restaurant reviewer devoted over half a review to singing their praises. Those of you who have worked with me in the Chef’s Table will recognize that I have a similar obsession to making a delicious sandwich.
At Standard Fare, every element of a dish is thought out, with the focus on how ingredients can be most fully utilized and how their inherent deliciousness be highlighted and maximized.
The food looks appealing in a very organic way. One cook said that when they were first making the hummus plate, the direction given was to “make it look like the hummus took a walk through the forest.” You can check out the photo above to see for yourself.
Being in a kitchen again with Kelsie was a pleasure. While it was a physically different kitchen with a different routine, the atmosphere and approach to work was the same.
While a few folks arrive early to get a start on breakfast and prepping greens, the day fully kicks off with a menu meeting. The menu and associated prep list is reviewed with people generally self assigning tasks. Kelsie will give bits of direction and reference as needed. In the case of a yogurt sauce to pair with the crispy Petrale sole, she simply listed the ingredients she wanted included and said to call her over when we thought we had something tasty. Prep moves at a quick pace…lunchtime is around the corner. Just a few minutes before 11am, everything slows for a moment. Prep is done and the samples are ready to be tasted. The entire cooking staff tastes the special and each of the sandwiches. This is not just a quick bite swallowed down or a formality. This is careful reflection. Does the frilly red mustard greens add to the dish? Should we go with something else? A few pristine sprigs of cilantro replaces the mustard greens. What do you think about the Toma cheese in the vegetarian sandwich? Is it too much? Kelsie wants to take it out, but gets input from others. My first bite of the sandwich tasted great, but I take out the cheese and try it again. It’s better. The cheese is getting in the way and masking the flavors of the hummus, pesto and vegetables. The sandwich is now vegan and all the better for it.
As you look down the main worktable, prepped ingredients sit in containers ranging from typical hotel pans to repurposed Bellwether Farms 3.5lb ricotta tubs to locally made dishes from Jered Pottery. Kelsie is deeply passionate about reducing kitchen waste and will reuse items if possible. “2 ricotta containers worth” is a measurement in this kitchen. You won’t see much plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Instead, there are small stacks of lids for hotel pans and lexans.
As service starts, 2 people work the line and someone runs expo. Both the kitchen and counter staff will help run food as needed. Prep continues in the other parts of the kitchen. The sandwich bread (a lean, fermented wholegrain dough) is proofing. It will be patted out onto half sheet pans after the staff meal, then baked the following morning into a signature flatbread, ready to be split and filled.
In the early afternoon, someone will ask each of us what coffee drink we would like. Iced coffee one day, a latte the next. Another day I help make the chai concentrate, spiced with ginger and black pepper, so that becomes my choice. This little nicety is a good expression of Kelsie’s care for her staff. You will work hard, but it is appreciated.
The staff meal is made up of the bits and pieces left over from the day. Stools are pulled up around the main work table and containers and dishes are passed hand to hand. There is chatter and friendly teasing as the day winds down.
Around 4pm, the final details are wrapped up: the bread dough is portioned out, the oatmeal is put in the slower cooker, and tomorrow’s schedule is confirmed.
