Chef transforms local food into magic
Joyanne Pezzolo tantalizes taste buds
"Today I wanted to do something with tofu," says Joyanne Pezzolo, co-owner of Ravenous Cafe and Lounge in Healdsburg. She conjured up an Asian tofu salad with lemon grass served next to Chinese black rice cooked in coconut milk. She tossed and fried the tofu with cumin, coriander, cayenne and paprika. To stage the salad, she served it with curry-roasted winter squash, spinach, green beans and chopped onions with lime juice. Hungry yet?
"That looked really pretty on the plate—black, orange and green," she says. "I love color and texture in a dish, the different tastes you get in your mouth." For a sauce topping, she sauteed thinly sliced onions, garlic, and multi-colored peppers then added coconut milk. "I drizzled that over the whole thing."
Presentation becomes art. "I want the plate to look a certain way," Pezzolo says. "I don't want a lot of food. I want it beautiful and inviting."
Food and service came to Pezzolo early in life. Growing up in Wisconsin, she lived with her Swedish family on about 300 acres of farmland. "I have been cooking and baking since I was a little girl," she says. "I had to know how to make pie crusts and bread." The family had threshers, and she would help feed about a dozen men who harvested crops.
A 4-H club member then, she still proudly recites the pledge: head to clearer thinking; heart to greater loyalty; hands to larger service and health to better living. Pezzolo raised Shropshire lambs; she bottle-fed one named Andrew. A pet, Andrew would follow her around. When she moved to California, she tasted her first artichoke and avocado.
Along with her partner John Pezzolo, she opened Ravenous Cafe some 19 years ago in conjunction with a movie theater. Her daughter Jennifer makes bread and pastries for the original cafe. A larger restaurant, situated in an elegant historic house, opened nine years ago.
"It takes everything, as much as you want to give. It's all-consuming."
Pezzolo lived in San Francisco for 22 years. There she worked with chef Nancy Oakes, who now owns Boulevard restaurant near the Embarcadero. Pezzolo also worked for Golden Gate Yacht Club.
"It takes everything, as much as you want to give," Pezzolo says of the frenzied and exhausting business of owning a restaurant. "It's all-consuming." In summer with its outside seating area, Ravenous can feed nearly 175 folks.
She works the production line at lunch every day. "It keeps me in touch with employees," she says. "That's a challenging part of owning a restaurant," managing people as they wrestle with personal problems or agendas. She employs more than 20.
Pezzolo makes the lunch and dinner menu every day, and orders and prepares food. "The most fun is coming up with ideas for food I want to make," she says. "I have always been excited about it. I'm still passionate, and I love to experiment. There are so many things to cook and try." One of the most rewarding aspects is watching people savor dishes she invents. Food ideas frequently come to her in the middle of the night.
"The most fun is coming up with ideas for food. I love to experiment."
"As an owner you deal with breakdowns," Pezzolo says, and such snafus make her weary. "A stove doesn't work, or the walk-in cooler. Every day there is something." To keep perspective, she walks to work every morning. "I breathe, and look at the trees."
Small farms surround Healdsburg, and Pezzolo prefers fresh local produce. "That always makes me feel more creative," she says. "It was just picked from the farm—garlic and squashes." Having regular customers come frequently to enjoy her culinary magic has made for a career as long and satisfying as a six-course meal.
—James Dunn
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