Regional Oral History Office University of California the Bancroft Library Berkeley, California
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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Narsai David: An Oral History . Interviews conducted by Victor Geraci in 2011-2012 Copyright © 2013 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Narsai David, dated March 20, 2013. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Narsai David, “Narsai David: An Oral History” conducted by Victor Geraci 2011-2012, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2013. iii Narsai David: restaurateur, caterer, specialty food purveyor, vintner, food and wine critic, author, radio and TV chef, early pioneer of California cuisine, and an advocate for the Berkeley Repertory Theater, the Assyrian Aid Society, and numerous other causes. iv v Narsai David cooking at home, in his wine cellar, and seated during the interview sessions. Photographs by Vic Geraci. vi vii Table of Contents—Narsai David Interview 1: June 30, 2011 [Audiofile 1] 1 Assyrian heritage and parents’ migration to America from Iran and Turkey to avoid persecution of Christians during the World War I years — Settle in Chicago as Persian rug merchant — Parents marry in South Bend, Indiana, outside Chicago where Narsai David was born — 1940s family migrates to Turlock, California to an Assyrian community — Visiting ancestral lands in 1974 — Daily life in Chicago and Turlock — Learning to cook at home — Religious community — Early education — Life in a farming community — First restaurant job in high school — University of California, Berkeley, for college years and works at Hy’s Drive-in and Mel’s Drive-in — At Cal lived in Cloyne Court co-op and worked as kitchen supervisor [Audiofile 2] 17 Co-op life at Cal — Funding college education and butcher shop work — Raising brothers and mother remarries — Cal education — Religious life in the Assyrian Church — Learning foodways at home — Mad scientist chefs — Problems of feeding a hungry world Interview 2: July 12, 2011 [Audiofile 3] 29 Years in school at Cal — Startup business making Southern Belle dolls — Partner in plastics business — Printing business — Working at the Berkeley Pot Luck restaurant, Ed Brown, Hank Rubin — Time in the Army Reserve — Pot Luck restaurant and a California wine list — George Linton wine importer — Berkeley Wine and Food Society — Pot Luck Monday Night Dinners — Berkeley as a launching pad for fine cuisine — Fledgling California Wine Industry — “Parkerization” of wine [Audiofile 4] 45 Dick Graff, Andre Tchelistcheff, UC Davis, and making great California wine — — Artistry of winemaking — Ronald Avery, wine négociant — Making a great California food and wine tradition — Pot Luck Monday Night Dinners — Kitchen waste — Mary Risley and food runners — Food sustainability — Meeting wife, Veni, at Pot Luck — Married 1964 — 1970 leaves Pot Luck and builds his own catering and restaurant business viii Interview 3: July 20, 2011 [Audiofile 5] 60 Garlic comes of age and fresh produce — Salvaged redwood tank for restaurant — Martin Metal artwork — Designing the restaurant and restaurant supplies — Catering Bill Graham events — Getting the restaurant “Narsai’s” going — Running the restaurant, wait staff, cooking staff, chef — Building a wine business and cellar — Corkage fees — Peet’s Coffee and Bay Area coffee traditions — Bay Area bread making — Bread and dessert making — Acme Bread company and Steve Sullivan — Chef Robert Boyle — Jeremiah Tower and Stars restaurant — Staff pay [Audiofile 6] 79 Restaurant staffing — Staff mentored includes Robert Boyle, Christopher Lee — Pop-up markets — Catering for Bill Graham — Monday Night Dinners — Dinner at Narsai’s cookbook with Doris Muscatine — California cuisine — Wine Spectator Award — Restaurant wine cellar — Restaurant mailer — Narsai’s Market Hall — Scharffenberger — Catering for royalty Interview 4: July 26, 2011 [Audiofile 7] 95 Wine merchant and restaurant sales — D’Agostini wine — Extensive wine cellar — Pot Luck Monday Night Dinners — Wine pricing — Narsai’s Restaurant physical descriptions, staff, and menus — Narsai’s Monday Night Dinners — Narsai’s Market — “Over Easy” television show — KCBS Radio show — Channel 5, KPIX, CBS station cooking segments [Audiofile 8] 111 Role of food and wine writers in sales — I. Magnin restaurant —Cook Off America, PBS show — Belle Rhodes and Cecilia Chiang — Carl Sontheimer and Cuisinart — Cecilia Chiang and Danny Kaye — Specialty foods —Dijon mustard — Catering for Harry See — French traditional cooking — Narsai’s Napa and Conn Valley vineyards — Los Angeles County Fair Wine Judging Interview 5: August 2, 2011 [Audiofile 9] 129 Joins AFTRA — Rise of the celebrity chef — James Beard, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Craig Claiborne — “Green Grocer” Joe Carcione — Cooking gas-less beans — Talk radio KCBS “Saturday Kitchen” — “Narsai and Company” talk show — Wine Spectator — Julia Child — Cooking and serving soufflé — ix Evolution of California cuisine — Modern “precious” cuisine — Mexican cooking, chicken mole, Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy — Carol Field and Italian cooking — Scientific cooking in modern cookbooks — Cooking and social media — Triple Rock Brewery — Berkeley’s “gourmet ghetto” — Berkeley as a breeding ground for California cuisine [Audiofile 10] 146 California cuisine and wine — California geography and agriculture — Farmer’s market movement — Need for agribusiness — Sustainable and organic farming — Biodynamic farming — Marion Nestle — Fish farming — Mushroom farms — Contract farming a la Alice Waters — “Locavore” — Cooking schools Interview 6: August 30, 2011 [Audiofile 11] 162 News articles — Fundraising — KCBS “Saturday Kitchen” — Front house chefs — Characteristics of celebrity chefs — Joseph Phelps and wine — Bulk and cheap wines, “Two Buck Chuck” — Wine quality, aging wine, wine collecting, wine trends — Cakebread Cellars — Food and wine parings — Roadside fresh fruits and vegetables — Berkeley Fellows dinners — Bill Graham rock n roll catering — Berkeley Rep — “Toast to the Arts” — Philanthropic work, City of Hope, Berkeley Rep, Taylor Family Foundation, Mendocino Hospital Foundation [Audiofile 12] 180 Berkeley Symphony Orchestra fundraiser — Bear Valley Music Festival — CCSF hotel and restaurant fundraiser and board service — Culinary training — Government food policies and regulations — Agribusiness practices — Feeding a hungry world — Problems with “locavores,” sustainability, and organic foodways — The food pyramid — Obesity and moderation in food and wine — Consumable income and foodways — Healthy eating habits — Oils and salts — The Menu — Bay Area restaurants — Restaurant ambience — Trends such as small plates, specials, rising food and wine prices Interview 7: September 27, 2011 [Audiofile 13] 197 Fresh Maine lobster — Opening of Narsai’s — Art in the restaurant — Various types of chefs — San Francisco Chronicle column “California Cuisine” — Restaurant clientele — Discusses various scrapbook items — Various philanthropic endeavors — Berkeley Arts and Crafts Co-op — Mary Risley and food runners — Alameda County Meals on Wheels — Work with the Assyrian Aid Society x [Audiofile 14] 215 Assyrian Aid Society work continued Interview 8: October 4, 2011 [Audiofile 15] 220 Narsai’s Market — “Waste not want not” — Tastings: olive oil, chocolate, wine, cheese — Semifreddi’s bakery — Shelf-stable packaged foods — Favorite Bay Area eateries — Restaurant popularity and longevity — Chez Panisse — Pickles [Audiofile 16] 236 Napa and St. Helena vineyards and wine making — UC Davis AXR1 clone problems — Pope Valley vineyard permitting, development, and planting problems — Conn Valley real estate