Calavera's Jessica Sackler on searches for dumplings & Dunkin' Donuts
Jessica Sackler started her career at ThinkFoodGroup and Coqueta before founding the buzzy Calavera in Oakland. Today, she runs the food & beverage operations at Williams Sonoma for Bon Appetit Management Company, and will also be helping develop several new projects with Bon Appetit, including the new Warriors arena in San Francisco.
Jessica Sackler (photo credit: Zagat)
Can I Speak to the Manager caught up with Jessica at Bellota to talk about authenticity, good cocktails, and her ideal San Francisco day off.
On HER IEAL DAY OFF:
I would get up and go to BodyRok. I really like taking classes with Jennifer or Claire on Sundays. Then my boyfriend and I pick a direction - North, South, or East - and head out to explore. We are lucky that it’s almost always convertible weather here. We rarely make plans, we’re just in search of an adventure and ideally a great meal - usually with wine.
In the afternoon, I’d go to Archimedes Banya. It's a Russian bathhouse and basically you go in and out of hot tubs, saunas, and cold plunges, and then drink kombucha on the roof. Then, I'd immediately take a nap.
For dinner, I’d probably want to go to one of my favorite SF restaurants - I’ll always love Nopalito for Mexican staples. I would get any of their sopes, corn, ceviche. I also love Heirloom in the Mission and newcomer The Morris both for excellent wine lists and food in unpretentious digs. At The Morris, I always get the foie gras dumplings.
ON AUTHENTICITY:
When it comes to food in general and the industry these days, I think I sometimes have a problem with the word “authentic”. What is authentic? Is it the food you ate growing up? Is it the food that actually is coming out of a particular region? Who’s to say any chef’s unique experience isn’t authentic to him or her?
ON HER FAVORITE "LOWBROW" JOINT:
One of my favorite “lowbrow” San Francisco joints is a pho place on Broadway called Vietnam Restaurant (now closed), and it’s one of the few late night places in SF. I also love Kingdom of Dumpling on Taraval for soup dumplings, an SF must. Basically any day that includes soup dumplings is a great day. Tip: it’s cash only.
MOre on dumplings:
The other day we walked to Dumpling Time, which was uniquely satisfying. We usually aren't ones to wait in line but decided to go for it and were so glad that we did. We got all we could eat for $40.
ON THE BEST BAY AREA BARS:
In terms of bars, like everyone else in this city, I love Trick Dog and ABV. I also love Third Rail in Dogpatch - I’d call it underrated because of its location, and it has fantastic owners who are super knowledgeable. And great beef jerky. In the East Bay, it’s hard to beat Prizefighter.
ON HER GO-TO DRINK:
On a tough day I’ll end up here at Bellota ordering a sherry. I have a personal connection to Cesar Florido in terms of my favorite sherry label, but my typical weekday drink is Campari & Soda.
ON FUSSY COFFEE ORDERs:
Funnily enough, I’m not much of a coffee snob. I’m an east coaster at heart and all I really want is a Dunkin Donuts iced hazelnut coffee.
ON "HIGHBROW" in sf:
I had a flawless meal at Californios last year. I can’t remember the details now (except for the stemware), but it flowed together beautifully and everything about the experience was impeccable.
ON SERVICE PET PEEVEs:
My biggest service pet peeve is not being acknowledged within 10 minutes of arriving somewhere. Or even 5. I get being busy, but just say hello. Nod your head.
Also, I hate being able to see the top of anyone’s socks underneath their pants. Your socks need to go up all the way or not at all.
On THE BEST app:
My favorite thing is this app called Pared. It helps you find backup staff for your restaurant if someone calls out sick (among other things). It has changed my life.
ON HER NEXT VACATION:
I’m hoping to either go to Azerbaijan or Machu Picchu on my next big trip. I need to visit a good friend in Dubai, but from there I'd love to check out Azerbaijan. I’ve heard the food scene there is very interesting.
ON HER LAST AWESOME VACATION:
My last vacation was a great trip to wine country in Germany with two girlfriends. We went to the Mosel and Nahe, which seemed to be a pretty unlikely destination for non-Germans. The B&Bs we stayed at all had this amazing breakfast - whole grain mustard, charcuterie, cheese, and pickled herring, the food of my childhood. It was fantastic. The best wine we tasted was a 2006 Selbach-Oster Graacher Himmelrich Auslese - beautiful vintage, honey and fruit. My favorite meal was a delicious bratwurst we ate at a spot on the Mosel River.
(opening photo credit: SF Chronicle)
