Seasons of Greens
Reviewed by Kristina Sepetys
Katie Reicher (right), current chef at Greens, has a new cookbook, Season of Greens. Images courtesy of Weldon Owen are used here with permission
It’s almost impossible to think about vegetarian food in San Francisco without envisioning Greens, a destination restaurant that set a standard for plant-based dining when it opened its iconic walnut doors at Fort Mason in 1979. Forged in partnership with the San Francisco Zen Center, the place exudes a deep-rooted mindfulness, from its serene atmosphere to its imaginative, seasonally driven cuisine. Much of the kitchen’s produce comes from Green Gulch Farm Zen Center to the north in Marin County. The soaring space with high ceilings, sweeping mullioned windows, and postcard views of the Marina, San Francisco Bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge contribute to a memorable dining experience.
The vision for the women-led restaurant, established by founding chef Deborah Madison, has been championed through the decades by a line of remarkable talent including Annie Sommerville, Denise St. Onge, and most recently, Katie Reicher. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Reicher took the reins in 2020, infusing meals with a personal style that turns toward the bold, diverse flavors of global cuisine.
The first recipe Reicher created for Greens, a roasted carrot hummus with a sun-dried tomato harissa sauce, appears in her new cookbook, Seasons of Greens (Weldon Owen, 2025). Organized by dish type, the book features over 120 satisfying, comforting, plant-centric recipes, many brought to appetizing life by Berkeley photographer Erin Scott, who captures the texture, vibrancy, and spirit of the ingredients and finished plates as well as the views in and around the restaurant space. As Reicher says in the introduction, “We are ever inspired by the extraordinary land that is right outside our dining room windows, and our ever-changing menus reflect that.”
Recipes are labeled by season but invite swaps to adapt to what’s available or to suit special diets. Many recipes are vegan, relying on tofu, legumes, and nuts for protein, but dairy is also included as an option. Brief essays sprinkled throughout the book explore seasonality, sustainability, and various native ingredients like nettles and black walnuts. In her essay titled “The Deep Fryer Debate,” Reicher explains how she broke through the restaurant’s legacy resistance to frying as a technique to add delectable dishes like golden-fried yuca (recipe included).
The cookbook is a collection of dishes that sound familiar, deeply satisfying, and a little bit special. Think rich, creamy grits crowned with Creole-style mushrooms; saffron risotto layered with the tang of goat cheese, silky eggplant, and the briny bite of olives. A dish of tender asparagus with cannellini beans is dressed in a tarragon vinaigrette and brightened by pickled mustard seeds. Golden, crisp-edged brown sugar cookies have their sweetness deepened by the nutty warmth of sesame oil and whole seeds.
Restaurant cookbooks can be fussy and intimidating with hard-to-find ingredients, elaborate prep, or techniques better suited to a professional kitchen. Seasons of Greens is none of these things. While some recipes lend themselves to more leisurely weekend cooking, many come together easily on a weeknight. It’s the kind of book that invites you to start at page one and keep going.
A beautifully crafted book, Seasons of Greens is equally at home in a working kitchen or wrapped as a gift. Much like a meal at Greens itself, it’s perfect for birthdays or special occasions but still part of a daily culture that celebrates the vibrance of foods that spring from rich earth.
