Profiles in Foraging

Peko Peko’s Sylvan Brackett Cooks Japanese for Food & Wine

Brackett's dashi with crab and tofu.
Brackett’s dashi with crab and tofu. Photo: Fredrika Stjärne/Food & Wine

Chez Panisse family member — and former assistant to Ms. Waters — Sylvan Mishima Brackett, who lately has been operating his own Oakland-based catering concern, Peko Peko, gets a little national-magazine love this week as Food & Wine features a whole spread about his Cal-Japanese wizardry. They talk of the 40-minute detour he took to a friend’s backyard in Berkeley just to collect twelve perfect shoots of wild watercress for garnish, and of his “hyperseasonal dishes [served] on exquisite ceramics,” including dashi with tofu and Dungeness crab pulled directly out of the Bay by a fisherman friend. You could try to cook a meal like this, via the printed recipes, but clearly yours will be a poor imitation. [Food & Wine]

Peko Peko’s Sylvan Brackett Cooks Japanese for Food & Wine