90 AUGUST 2020
CHEF TRACI DES JARDINS exhales into her blow poke, and flames
lick the bottoms of achiote-marinated quail. She’s bent over
the firepit outside her cabin. If Des Jardins were anywhere else,
she’d be wearing an apron over her jeans and button-down. But
up here, it’s no frills.
Des Jardins comes to Shaver Lake, her “happy place,” for
fishing, waterskiing, and cooking outside. The town is about
60 miles south of Yosemite. It’s a scenic, hour-long drive from
Fresno, past farmland and fig trees, up through the mountains
and into the Sierra National Forest, where aspen and oak trees
line the winding roads. The wildflowers up here haven’t been
bulldozed, and the osprey nests remain untouched. Des Jardins
says, “I can never get sick of being here.”
Des Jardins, a 1995 Food & Wine Best New Chef, is a partner
in three San Francisco restaurants, The Commissary, Arguello,
and Public House, as well as a bar, School Night. Last year, she
closed her flagship restaurant, Jardinière, which opened in 1997.
Jardinière was the first fine-dining restaurant in Hayes Valley
and both a culinary destination and a community hub; locals
often stopped in for a bite before heading across the street to
the opera or ballet.Although Des Jardins became known for her Bay Area spins on
classic French food, her decision to move away from fine dining
was partly motivated by her passion for Mexican cooking. Des
Jardins grew up in the San Joaquin Valley; her father is of French
Acadian descent, and her mother’s family is from Sonora, in
northwestern Mexico. Des Jardins learned how to make tortillas
with her grandmother at age four, and she has traveled through-
out Mexico to learn more about this part of her heritage.
Tonight, Des Jardins is cooking a summer feast that reflects
her roots as well as her style, which edges toward casual and
communal when she’s in Shaver Lake. There are dishes like
chile-dusted corn, salsa macha, and trout aguachile. Des Jardins
has been hosting friends here since she bought the cabin from
her parents in 1998. Tonight, many of those friends, who have
become Shaver Lake regulars, are gathered for dinner on the
front porch. They’re sipping verbena-infused tequila and tonics
while Linus, Des Jardins’ family’s dog, runs around the table.
There’s Mary Sue Milliken, co-owner of Border Grill in Los
Angeles, and Loretta Keller, chef at Seaglass Restaurant in San
Francisco, who have cooked with Des Jardins everywhere from
Mexico to Mongolia. Kate Arding has flown in from Hudson,IT’S A WARM AUGUST EVENING INSHAVER LAKE, CALIFORNIA, AND THEAIR SMELLS OF CHILES AND PINE.FOOD STYLING: CARRIE PURCELL; PROP STYLING: MIKHAEL ROMAIN