Personalities

Ron Siegel

Ron's Links:

Michael Mina

Ron Siegel became interested in food at a young age, first working as a butcher and then in delis and restaurants in the Bay Area. That interest grew into passion and several years later Siegel enrolled in San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy. It was during this time that he met Michael Mina, who hired him as a line cook at Aqua in 1991. From there, Siegel worked in New York and San Francisco with some of the greatest chefs in the business including Daniel Boulud and later with Thomas Keller as his opening sous chef for the French Laundry. After over twenty years in the restaurant business, Ron Siegel has been executive chef for some of the finest restaurants in San Francisco.

Working with great chefs and living in San Francisco, Chef Siegel came to realize his passion for fruits and vegetables and the abundance of farms in the Bay Area. “Without the farms you would not be as connected to the food, there is something perfectly imperfect about nature - that blemished tomato with the most amazing flavor or the perfect peach or persimmon.”

Working with farmers has profoundly impacted him to the point of planting his own extensive garden. “Once you understand what it takes to grow a squash blossom, you have a great appreciation for it. When you see it in the market, you understand and connect to what it took to grow it. The farmer’s technique is a craft unto itself. Simplicity doesn’t mean easy. Learning how things grow, only makes the food better.”

Siegel’s newest venture, Parallel 37, inspired by the geographic latitude near San Francisco is a departure from fine dining to a less formal, more approachable restaurant experience. Seeking not overly-manipulated cuisine, Siegel creates simpler foods from local, handpicked ingredients allowing the flavors to speak for themselves.