Cindy Pawlcyn facts for kids
Cynthia Pawlcyn (born in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a famous American chef and cookbook author. She is well-known for the restaurants she opened in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Napa Valley between 1983 and 2008. Cindy Pawlcyn was one of the first chefs to use local and sustainable meats and vegetables in her restaurants. In 2009, she appeared on the first season of Bravo’s "Top Chef: Masters," a popular cooking show.
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About Cindy Pawlcyn
Cindy Pawlcyn was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father, Stephen Pawlcyn, was an immigrant from Russia who started a potato chip company and loved food. Her mother, Dorothy, had German and Norwegian family roots. Cindy grew up in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
Early Life and Training
Cindy started working in a cooking school in Minneapolis when she was just 13 years old. While she was still in high school, she even ran her own catering business! She later earned a degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. To learn even more, she took classes at famous cooking schools like Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne in Paris. After her training, she worked at The Pump Room in Chicago. In 1980, she moved to California to work at MacArthur Park. She then became the opening chef at Meadowood in St. Helena, California and worked with Bruce LeFavour at Rose et LaFavour.
Her Home and Cookbook Collection
Cindy Pawlcyn's home in the hills above the Napa Valley was featured in a magazine in 2009. It had a large garden where she grew fruits and vegetables, a swimming pool, and even a ceramic studio. Her kitchen was the biggest room in her house, and the counters were a bit lower than usual because she is 5 feet 2 inches tall. She loves cookbooks and has a huge collection of thousands of them! Sadly, her home and her amazing library of about 3,800 cookbooks were destroyed in the 2020 Glass Fire in Napa County. But she is now rebuilding her collection, and people from all over Northern California are helping her by bringing her cookbooks from their own homes.
Cindy Pawlcyn's Restaurants
Food critic Eric Asimov once wrote that Cindy Pawlcyn is great at creating popular restaurants with tasty, comforting food and a bit of fun.
Mustards Grill, Yountville
Mustards Grill opened in 1983 in Yountville. It was named after the wild mustard flowers that grow in the wine country every year. This restaurant became famous for serving high-quality, French-trained chef food in a relaxed setting.
Fog City Diner, San Francisco
In 1985, Cindy Pawlcyn opened the Fog City Diner in San Francisco. This restaurant became very well-known because it served critically acclaimed food in a building that looked like a cool Airstream trailer. Visa even filmed an advertisement about the Fog City Diner!
Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, St. Helena
This restaurant opened in 2003 and was first called Miramonte. But within a year, Pawlcyn changed its name to Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen.
Other Restaurants
Cindy Pawlcyn also helped open several other restaurants, including Tra Vigne, Brix, Roti (opened in 1993), Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse, and Rio Grill. Today, she still owns and runs Mustards Grill and Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen.
Cookbooks by Cindy Pawlcyn
Cindy Pawlcyn has written several popular cookbooks:
- "Fog City Diner Cookbook," published in 1993
- "Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook," published in 2001. This book won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best American Cookbook in 2002!
- "Big Small Plates," published in 2006
- "Appetizers," published in 2009
Awards and Honors
Cindy Pawlcyn has received many awards for her culinary work:
- She won the James Beard Foundation Award in 2002 for Best American Cookbook for her "Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook."
- She has been nominated twice for a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in California.
- She received the Robert Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence.
- She also earned the Fine Beverage and Food Federation's Career Achievement Award.
