I am reminded of my big date, when I recently cleaned and washed Miners' Lettuce.

In the early 1970s I attended a casual soiree at the San Francisco Zen Center (relevant later) where I met an attractive woman and invited her to my house for dinner.  

I then asked around about who she was.  It turned out she was a rising star in the chef-restaurant world.  Her Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, was already globally famous.

The night of the dinner arrived and my solution to serving a famous chef was to collect local ingredients.  One dish was Miner’s Lettuce since it was Spring and growing nearby in San Francisco. I collected a separate salad of five local greens from the parklet next door. I drove out to get wild spinach from the point near Sutro Baths.

She was due at 7PM.  I started the main course and lit the hearth fire.  Then she phoned to say she would be two hours late, delayed by a wine sales rep.

When she finally arrived, everything was wilted and reheated.

When she saw the Miner’s Lettuce she expressed horror and shock.  She and her father had just lost $200,000 on a Central Valley farm trying to commercially grow Miner’s Lettuce and failed.

She later asked about the apple in my five layer dessert.  ‘Yes’ I had cut the apple on the same board that I had cut onions.

I fell asleep after this disaster and she left by herself. 

Years later, when I was the founder of Green’s Restaurant,  we sent Debbie Madison, our future first chef, to study for a year as a cook at Chez Panisse.  Debbie was a student at the Zen Center.