Giramonti restaurant #1 of 2

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During World War II, Adriana Giramonti was stranded in a small Italian village near Monte Casino. Her memories of that time are with her still. The fear, the noise of combat, and, above all, the hunger, form a somber backdrop to her daily life and give impetus to her cooking. Unwillingly, she recalls the day when the German troops began their retreat, stripping the village of food and material.

"There was no food because we couldn't cultivate the fields. We were always hungry. That's one of the reasons I enjoy food now. I remember those days."

With her mother in Rome, Adriana learned how to feed large groups of people simply and well. One of five children, the young girl early acquired a familiarity with the Roman Markets and with recipes that were quick, yet wonderfully flavorful.

At the age of twenty-seven, she came to California, where she found work in a San Francisco Italian restaurant. In twenty years as a waitress, she picked up the essentials of restaurant cooking and operations, and she also married Nino, who has been a waiter in several San Francisco restaurants. Together they opened Giramonti Restaurant in 1977.

An excellent cook himself, Nino supervises Giramonti's two small dining rooms. He is a wine enthusiast particularly interested in matching his wife's cooking style with Italian and California wines.

The husband and wife have found an excellent balance in running what is essentially a very busy family restaurant, or trattoria.

It is an apt description. One wall is glass, giving a relaxing view of an inlet of San Francisco Bay backed by the green beauty of Mt. Tamalpais. The decor is eclectic, with an air of family enterprise in the still-life paintings by Adriana, the display of small decorative plates and molds, the patterned blue wallpaper, and the informal hospitality.

Since Italy is the wellspring of Adriana's creativity, Giramonti's menus bear the initials S.P.Q.R., the inscription seen throughout Rome on public works and municipal buildings. The letters represent a Latin motto translated roughly as "For the People of Rome," a phrase perfectly descriptive of Adriana's Roman culinary heritage and her cooking method, which is essentially home-style permeated by love and intelligent care.

"When we first opened, i was going to do just a few things very well, but the more I cooked, the more I remembered what my mother had taught me about putting together the right things, herbs, and other ingredients, with lots of love." Four items are essential to Adriana's cooking: chicken broth, occasionally mixed with beef stock; tomato sauce; a Roman-style brown gravy; and white wine. She also favors basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, and marjoram. Each day she makes fresh stocks to use in recipes for several pastas accompanied by a variety of meat and fish; for minestrone soup containing no tomatoes but generous amounts of fresh vegetables; for sauteed chicken; and, of course, for veal in several styles.

Adriana smiles self-indulgently when describing her fondness for veal. "I must say that I am very good with veal. I have invented many dishes with it." Her Veal Adriana is an excellent case in point, its piquant mustard and cream sauce is a precise counterpoint to the veal's delicate flavor.

To create a new recipe, Adriana needs only to recall her childhood years in Italy. "I remember what I ate as a child in Rome.

I picture myself in my grandparents' house with clouds of smoke in the kitchen and everyone cooking.

She is refreshingly enthusiastic about food and admits that her desire to cook has actually increased recently, as though the passage of years has heightened her appreciation for the fundamental goodness and pleasure of food. "Every day now I can create something new. I love to handle the food. I am more and more excited by food all the time."

Source: Great Chefs of San Francisco, Avon Books, 1984 Chef: Adriana Giramonti, Giramonti Restaurant, San Francisco, CA From: Rob Stewart Date: 09-12-94

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