Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/599676
f a l l / w i n t e r 2 0 1 5 | 5 5 I ARRIVED AT COI IN SAN FRANCISCO, PHOTOGRAPHER IN TOW, and stepped into the cool calm interior that feels impossibly chic and infinitely welcoming in the same breath; organic yet manicured, hushed but warm. This is the domain of Chef Daniel Patterson, the dynamic powerhouse behind the Michelin two- star establishment, opened in 2006. We have an hour to try to capture as much of this experience as we can. (For those of you wondering, Coi is pronounced "quoi" and means "tranquil" in Old French.) A quick greeting . . . and with that, we are off and running. As we jump from one shot to the next—from the restaurant's foyer to its rooftop greenhouse and back to the sedate dining room— Chef Patterson proceeds to run me through my paces, lobbing banter and quips back at me and cracking his sideways, boyish smile whenever he senses he's dodged answering a question that might be deemed too "easy." Humble people are hard to interview; add to this the fact that Daniel Patterson is mega- talented, maddeningly smart, and has a wry and biting sense of humor, and I was in for quite the afternoon. The Early Years When asked how he got into cooking (at the tender age of 14, at "a time when being a cook was not a really valued position," Patterson reminisces), he freely admits, "There wasn't a cultural reason," i.e., his parents weren't chefs, and there wasn't some overarching culinary vein in his family, "I just loved the way a kitchen ran and I found I had an aptitude and a passion for it." One often hears the term "self-taught" bandied about, but Patterson is truly just that, eschewing a formal education for hands-on experience, although he did dabble in college at Duke University before withdrawing and PHOTOS: MAREN CARUSO, COURTESY OF COI: STORIES AND RECIPES (PHAIDON, 2013) In addition to creating dishes that are visually appealing and palate- transforming, Patterson is noted for his use of aroma in his cooking and has partnered with perfumer Mandy Aftel (see page 50 for our story on Mandy) to accentuate the relationship between smell and taste in his cuisine at Coi. Top to bottom: beets, berga- mot, mints, wildflowers; chilled spiced ratatouille soup with nepitella and cilantro; poached and grilled lamb, chard leaves and stems, garum, and rosemary. 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