Ron Siegel (born 1966) is an American chef who formerly worked in San Francisco. In August 2012, it was announced he was joining San Francisco restaurant, Michael Mina,[1] as executive chef. He had been Chef of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, taking over for Chef Sylvain Portray in 2004. Siegel is perhaps best known for his 1998 appearance on Iron Chef, becoming the first ever U.S. citizen to win in Kitchen Stadium.[2] His cooking style is known for blending haute French cuisine with subtle Japanese touches.[3]

Ron Siegel
Born (1966-08-12) August 12, 1966 (age 57)[citation needed]
EducationCalifornia Culinary Academy
Culinary career
Cooking styleFrench

History edit

Ron Siegel was born on August 12, 1966, in Manhattan.[citation needed] He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with his family at the age of 7.[citation needed] Siegel attended Palo Alto High School.[4] Siegel broke into the culinary world at the age of 16 working as a butcher in Palo Alto, California, at a local grocery store.[5]

Siegel enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.[5] In 1991 went to work as a line cook at Aqua Restaurant, a seafood restaurant in San Francisco. His first mentor was the chef at Aqua, George Morrone.[5]

In 1993, Siegel moved to New York to work at Daniel, and returned a year later to work at The French Laundry in Yountville, California, as an opening sous-chef to Thomas Keller.[6][7] In 1996, Siegel left The French Laundry to become Chef of Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco, which specialized in a fusion of French and California cuisine. In 1999, while he was the executive chef of Charles Nob Hill, Siegel was selected as one of Food & Wine Magazine's 10 "Best New Chefs in America."[8] In 2001, Siegel left Charles Nob Hill to become executive chef of Masa's of San Francisco. Siegel remained at Masa's until June 2004 when he took over the Dining Room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel,[9] where he focused on French cuisine with a Japanese influence. The name of his venture at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, "Parallel 37", was inspired by the geographic latitude near San Francisco.[10] In 2012, Siegel left Parallel 37 to become the executive chef at Michael Mina.[11]

During 2016, he was the executive chef and partner of Rancho Nicasio in Nicasio, California.[12][13][14] In April 2017, Siegel announced he was opening Madcap in San Anselmo, California in the summer of 2017.[15] In 2023, Madcap given a Michelin Star, it was the only restaurant in Marin, California to earn a Star.[16]

Iron Chef edit

In 1998, Siegel travelled to Japan to appear as the second U.S. born challenger on the popular TV show Iron Chef (after chef Patrick Clark in October 1997), with help from then-mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown[17] who asked for FujiTV (owner and producer of Iron Chef) to accept Siegel as a challenger. Siegel faced Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai in a battle using the theme ingredient lobster. Siegel produced five dishes:[18]

  1. Egg Royale
  2. Lobster Cream Soup with scallops and truffles
  3. California Salad with lobster, basil oil, tomato concasséed and avocado
  4. Lobster ravioli with sweet corn sauce
  5. Lobster and foie gras in fig sauce

In the end, Siegel swept Sakai 4–0.[19]

References edit

  1. ^ "Bread & Butter: San Anselmo's Siegel joins Mina at his SF restauarnt". 29 August 2012.
  2. ^ "San Anselmo's Madcap honored with Michelin star again – Marin Independent Journal". 2023-08-03. Archived from the original on 2023-08-03. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  3. ^ Mobil's Review of the Dining Room Restaurant
  4. ^ "Take Five With Chef Ron Siegel, On the 10th Anniversary of His Historic "Iron Chef" Triumph". Food Gal. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  5. ^ a b c Morgan, Miriam (1999-05-12). "Stars: These Young Chefs Shine Brightly / Ron Siegel". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  6. ^ Carson, L. Pierce (28 May 2012). "Yountville's Thomas Keller mentors a passel of top chefs". Napa Valley Publishing. Napa Valley Register. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  7. ^ Jung, Carolyn (2013). San Francisco Chef's Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the City by the Bay. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 125. ISBN 9781493007103. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Food & Wine selects 1999's best new chefs". Cable News Network. CNN International edition. 7 April 1999.
  9. ^ Sens, Josh (13 February 2012). "The Ritz reroutes". Modern Luxury. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Chef Ron Siegel Brings His 20 Years of Bay Area Experience to Parallel 37". 7x7. Natalie Wages. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Food".
  12. ^ Fritsche, Sarah (12 February 2016). "Ron Siegel taking over the kitchen at Marin roadhouse Rancho Nicasio". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  13. ^ Bauer, Michael (3 June 2016). "Star chef lights up Rancho Nicasio". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  14. ^ "12 Questions for Ron Siegel - Marin Magazine - June 2016 - Marin County, California". www.marinmagazine.com. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  15. ^ Phillips, Justin (24 April 2017). "Ron Siegel to open Madcap in Marin". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  16. ^ "San Anselmo's Madcap honored with Michelin star again – Marin Independent Journal". 2023-08-03. Archived from the original on 2023-08-03. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  17. ^ Jackson, Brooke (19 January 2016). "Bread & Butter: Marin chefs Ron Siegel and Michael Mina to part ways". Digital First Media. Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  18. ^ Lucchesi, Paolo (15 September 2011). "Watch Ron Siegel's famous Iron Chef Japan appearance". Inside Scoop SF. Hearst Communications Inc. SFGate. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  19. ^ Templer, Robert (3 September 1999). "'Iron Chef' Fans Hunger for More As Japan Cooking Show Wraps Up". Dow Jones & Company, Inc. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2016.