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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006 |
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Jesse CoolNurturing People and the Planet |
Environmentalism came as naturally to Jesse Cool as the food with which she communicates her causes and passions. Authenticity and organics were part of her being, before they were buzzwords. Raised in a Jewish-Italian family in Western Pennsylvania, her father owned a grocery store, bought local produce and had a significant organic garden at home. “I learned to eat real food that tasted delicious; we knew where it came from and who produced it.” |
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These were certainly the roots of her acclaimed support of organic farmers and locally grown foods; however, her culinary creativity and desire to nourish and nurture herself and others with healthy, safe foods came from the women in her family, as she explains: “I was a lucky girl because the mothers and grandmothers let me watch them cook and I learned to love the ceremony and deliciousness of food on every level.”
We’re really the fortunate ones because for thirty years, Cool has shared her knowledge and convictions through six cookbooks, national magazine articles, talks, classes, and the everyday experience a San Francisco Bay Area diner has if they frequent one of the highly-successful restaurants of her CoolEatz group - Cool Café, Flea Street Café, and jZcool Eatery, and CoolEatz Catering in Northern California. (www.cooleatz.com).
Noted for its delicious and beautiful food, the CoolEatz group has won awards for their efforts in environmental sustainability and consciousness. They compost about 90% of their waste and use as many organic foods, wines and spirits as possible; support local products, know where our food comes from and who produces it. And exclusively use compostable to-go packaging, “no matter the cost.”
To maintain quality and honesty in every aspect of this sustainable business, they created what Cool calls, "keepers of the gate." They include managers who pass along information to staff and customers, as well as keepers in the companies with whom she conducts business. These are individuals who they check in with to ensure that the ingredients they buy are indeed what they say it is...organic, local, sustainable; and that animal and seafood is grown or harvested with complete care on all aspects. “It is imperative and a wonderful, enriching part of who we are and gives an otherwise challenging workplace....the restaurant and catering business, more meaning.”
When not at the helm of her business, Cool extends her desire to educate through a large “Seeds of Change” flavor garden - which was recently featured in Sunset Magazine. Created on Open Space behind her home, the garden is where – through a project with the department of education at Stanford University, she is a Visiting Scholar and - with a team of others - teaches elementary school teachers how to use a garden in their curriculum. They plant seeds, compost, harvest, and then cook in her kitchen. “For me, even greater than regular cooking classes, or even kids classes, watching these young teachers create curriculum for math, biology, history via the garden is magical.”
The most rewarding aspect of her work, besides her effusive pride in her staff and their ability to “spread the essence of what organic-minded, healthy, beautiful food can bring to people,” is where the organic movement is today: “I suppose as silly as it sounds, I’m honored that I got to live long enough to see this remarkable shift in attitude about organic and local and what healthy food means to both our personal well being and the well being of the planet. We can make a difference.”
Cool is humbled by her success which she emphatically shares with her “remarkable team” from the dishwasher to the manager, and she adds, of course, the customer. After decades of hard work, she now genuinely finds joy in her role in creating meaningful food. She is quick to note that, “Of course, when we started, we just did it because my dad taught me that you had to be honest about what you do, and with food as our product, that meant organic and clean food. For me, there was no other choice.”
