Traci Des Jardins

Not many chefs can hunt their food...but then again Traci Des Jardins isn’t your average chef. 

Born to farmers in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Traci’s family encouraged her to forage and hunt at an early age, inspiring a lifelong devotion to sustainable, locally sourced produce. The child of French Acadian and Mexican parents, Traci’s unique cultural roots informed her culinary passions. Here’s a chef who waxed poetic about how to knead cookie dough at 4, a woman whose earliest memories include making flour tortillas from scratch with her grandmother. 

A two-time James Beard winner, Traci owns six different restaurants across California including the highly acclaimed French-Californian restaurant Jardinière. Many of her eateries feature Mexican soul food including San Francisco’s Mejita (“little one”) taqueria as well as School Night SF, a Mexican-Peruvian inspired cocktail bar. Chef Traci relishes a good challenge, and has such as competed in a variety of cooking competitions from Top Chef to beating the legendary Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. She’s also an avid philanthropist and community activist. From serving as a member of the La Cocina business incubator to working with organizations like Citymeals On-Wheels, Traci’s passionate for giving back to the community is her greatest source of pride. 

Traci’s ambition knows no bounds. She’s a femme fatale that never shies away from a challenge, a proud mother in a male-dominated industry who isn’t afraid to put family first. She’s on a mission to elevate culinary excellence in the US, and we can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

“I’ve never thought of being a female as an impediment. I went out and took what I wanted.”

- Traci

6 Questions with Traci Des Jardins

How did life on a farm influence your approach to cooking?

I think it's important that people have a connection to the life given for the steak that's on your plate. One of my favorite questions is, if you had to kill what you eat, what would you eat? Could you kill a cow? A pig? It's not easy and I don't think it should be easy. I think people should really think about that.

Tell us a little about your favorite things to eat. 

I'm an American, trained in French cooking, and half-Mexican by descent. Mexican food is my soul food, plus I'm a California native and the history of the Spanish here is undeniable. I just love Spanish cuisine. I like to grill on live fire when I’m at home. I like little birds. I’m probably obsessed with the quails that we get, the Wolf Ranch quails. My favorite is probably grilled quails and some kind of salad.

Is there a certain recipe that has a special place in your heart? 

My grandmother would put bacon fat, lard in a tub in the sink. She’d use that to make tortillas every day. I started making them with her when I was five. My grandfather made me a rolling pin from a broomstick that fit my hands. We used to eat them with just butter and salt. Eating one still brings me right back to my grandmother’s kitchen in a heartbeat. 

What are some of your favorite places in the Bay Area?

In terms of neighborhoods, I love the Mission. I’m kind of an offbeat location kind of person. It’s my favorite neighborhood by far. I love going to eat at Saison. I love Foreign Cinema. I love lofty, warehouse spaces like that. I’d also just love to do something there because I love the community, and I love the idea of supporting industry there. 

What keeps you motivated?

It’s always the people. Those people can be your guests or those people can be your staff. It’s a people business and when everything is singing, you have happy people around you.

What causes are near and dear to you?

The thing I love most is the ability to leverage my so-called celebrity for greater good and philanthropy, and to be able to raise money for causes I believe in. That’s really meaningful to me. That’s my silver lining.