escoffier questionnaire

The Escoffier Questionnaire: Chef Liza Hinman

By / Photography By | February 21, 2019
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THE SPINSTER SISTERS

Liza Hinman has such a grounded way about her that it is easy to overlook that she is really rather wildly accomplished. As chef-owner of Santa Rosa’s The Spinster Sisters and co-owner of The Astro Motel, which recently underwent a $10 million “midcentury cool” renovation, not to mention her roles in many other projects “in the planning phases,” you might expect to find her in a constant frenzied whirl—but you don’t. Her self-awareness feels kind and unguarded. Words I don’t oft en use to describe chefs.

A New Englander by birth, Hinman ended up at Gourmet magazine in the post-college ether of possibility. She says that while she was lit up by the food obsession at the office, she knew she didn’t want to spend years in a cubicle.

Using culinary school as a portal to the West Coast, she quickly became bewitched by the different “seasons,” and that lusty California produce. Hinman externed at Woodward’s Gardens, a tiny spot under the freeway in San Francisco’s Inner Mission, where she was able to work in creative collaboration with the owners, Dana Tommasino and Margie Conard, while her classmates toiled in larger kitchens, peeling onions. Then she jumped to Bizou, working for California Cuisine icon Loretta Keller. At Bizou, she met the man who would become her husband while she was contemplating a move back east, but decided to see if the relationship would stick. “It stuck.”

Early 2000s in the Bay Area, post-dotcom bust, was a time when restaurants were reconsidering the “super-fancy” model and the deconstructed boom was a thrill. Hinman worked in the electric heyday of Delfina until she “couldn’t work there anymore. That was my first time cooking until 1am every night. I loved it but it was so intense.”

Here is a moment in her biography when that wisdom of hers shines through: The intensity was too much, so she took time to gain perspective. Instead of forging on and burning out.

Ultimately, Hinman realized she was ready for a more pastoral pace, and she and her husband, Joseph Stewart, whose family owns Downtown Bakery in Healdsburg, made the move north. After some time in private catering, she met Dino Bugica, chef at the groundbreaking Santi in Geyserville. Ari Rosen (now chef/owner of Healdsburg’s Scopa and Campo Fina) was also then in the kitchen at Santi, and he and Bugica were looking for a pasta chef. Hinman had been on that beat at Delfina, so she came on board—and stayed for six years. After both Bugica and Rosen left to open their own restaurants, Hinman became the head chef at Santi. She says she still meets up with owner Franco Dunn of the now-closed Santi to work through “culinary puzzles” over a cappuccino. She says she found her voice there.

After Hinman’s son was born, she spent time teaching and cooking privately, working less and feeling into the role of mom and how it intersected with her life in the kitchen.

It was during this period that Rosen introduced her to Eric Anderson, a Sonoma County native and current New Yorker who was the owner of a building in Santa Rosa—and a vision. The building itself had good bones, though marred with a patina of efforts past: a hot tub dealer, a counseling center, a market. As for the vision, Anderson shared with Hinman that whenever he visited Santa Rosa, he would meet the most extraordinary people, but none of them seemed to know one another. He wanted to create a “third space” that would draw these folks into community.

Hinman started as a consultant on The Spinster Sisters project, but the idea kept getting richer and more involved until she was back in the kitchen, running a three-meal-a-day operation that gracefully transitions from one to the next. This is a magic trick.

Hinman is now the mother of three, a boy and twin girls. The opening of the hotel, the development of a commissary kitchen and other projects force Hinman to operate on multiple levels at once. The fastidious creativity of a chef, as well as the disciplined leadership of an entrepreneur.

Last year, she was selected to the inaugural class of the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, which also included Tanya Holland of Oakland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen. The experience was a boon intellectually and emotionally, says Hinman. “Even though [the Bay Area] is a welcoming environment for women in many ways, there are so many barriers to women succeeding in this business at a high level. Luckily, my husband was happy to make family his priority. Joe and I never envisioned that this is where we would end up, but he’s a great class mom. It’s worked. So far.”

There’s been ebb and flow in The Spinster Sisters’ trajectory, but seven years in, they’re busier than ever. Its “South A” neighborhood was a busy residential and commercial area until the freeway and the Santa Rosa Plaza cut it off from the rest of downtown. The city has been eager to encourage stability in the few blocks of storefronts left. “Instead of opening a place across town, my partners and I want to open something down the road.” Stay tuned for those developments… The Spinster Sisters always feels like a warm fire, the only business open as you drive down South A Street at night, ceiling-high windows glowing. And the food is good. It’s really, really good.

Edible Marin & Wine Country: What was the first meal you made that you were proud of ?
Liza Hinman: Filet with Bérnaise sauce and a twice-baked potato—all recipes from The Betty Crocker Cookbook. Very influential!

What was your favorite food as a kid?
Brownies from the box and pizza—still favorites today.

What food do you wish you loved?
Peppers. I am coming around to them as I explore the world of heirloom pepper varieties, but I have never enjoyed the flavor of a bell pepper.

What food do you love unreasonably much?
Noodles of all shapes and sizes: Italian pasta, Thai rice noodles, Chinese egg noodles, any and all dumplings.

What is the most difficult cooking technique to do well?
A perfectly poached egg is something that’s tricky to do well time after time. We poach a lot of eggs here, so we get tons of practice.

What are you exploring in your kitchen now?
Indian flavors—there are so many regional cuisines from within the country to study and explore.

What non-culinary influence inspires you?
I’m a huge fiction reader. I love to read novels that are set in other cultures. I often find myself picking up on the details, even small ones, of what the characters are eating and preparing, always on the lookout for tips and menu ideas.

What is your idea of a very healthy meal?
A perfectly roasted chicken, braised greens and white beans with lots of garlic and olive oil. Bonus—my kids will eat it, too!

What is your favorite ingredient?
Lemon juice balances everything.

What is your favorite hangover meal?
Back to noodles. A slightly spicy noodle soup is perfect for a hangover. If there’s an egg on top, even better!

What restaurant in the world are you most dying to try?
There are so many on my list, but at the top is The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine. I’ve spent summers in Maine my whole life and I really hope to get there someday.

What kitchen utensil is most indispensable to you?
A paring knife. I often give them to my cooks for Christmas because everyone should have one on them at all times.

Whom do you most like to cook for?
My family. My mom, dad and sisters. They live across the country, so I don’t get to do it often, but it’s such a joy when I can!

If you could do one other job, what would it be?
Research librarian. I was a history major in college and I loved hunting down information. I still use the skills in my work today when I am researching dishes and traditional cuisines from around the globe.

What is your favorite midnight snack?
Cereal and milk is so satisfying.

What most satisfies your sweet tooth?
Dark chocolate anything.

What would you eat at your last meal, if you could plan such a thing?
The most decadent sushi and dim sum feast ever.

What’s your favorite place to go (and what is your favorite thing to order) for …

… a splurge meal?
Hana Sushi for an omakase meal. Chef Ken is one of my heroes.

… breakfast?
Parish Café in Healdsburg. Their omelets (always substitute for grits) are so great.

… pastry?
A sticky bun warm from the oven at The Downtown Bakery in Healdsburg is unbeatable.

… a late night/after work meal?
If I could, it would be Thai food. But here in SoCo it’s more likely to be tacos or In-N-Out Burger.

… a cup of coffee?
Atlas coffee, here on South A Street

… a greasy spoon meal?
How about greasy spoon setting yet elevated food? Casino Bar and Grill in Bodega; I’ll take anything that Mark Malicki is cooking.

… groceries?
Oliver’s in Windsor

… kitchen equipment?
Kamei Housewares & Restaurant Supply in San Francisco

… ice cream?
My mother-in-law’s Meyer lemon ice cream at The Downtown Bakery.

… chocolate?
Healdsburg’s Volo Chocolate from Jeff and Susan Mall—the brown butter and roasted almond flavor is my hands-down favorite.

And lastly but not leastly … what is your favorite local wine or beer for the season?
Death and Taxes from Moonlight Brewing and, on chilly nights, delicious reds from either Peterson or Unti, both wineries in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley.

TheSpinsterSisters.com

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