A four-time BEST Of the North Bay winner for Best Catering Service, Bruce Riezenman is proprietor of both Park Avenue Catering and Sonoma’s Park 121 restaurant. It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree (pun intended): “I grew up in a restaurant family,” he says. “My mom and dad owned delicatessens and luncheonettes in New York City, as did my grandfather. I used to work for my dad on weekends and holidays, baking muffins and helping out a bit in the kitchen. My mom did everything she could to discourage me from going into the business, so I didn’t pursue it when I was younger.
“I went to the state university of New York at Buffalo to study chemistry and electrical engineering, but after three years, I discovered my passion for food, wine and cooking. So instead, I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1979.”
What did you do professionally before you started Park Avenue Catering?
I’ve been a business owner from the time I was 27 years old. I’ve been an owner or partner in five restaurants (including my current Park 121) and the catering company, which I’ve had since 1989.
Tell us about your new restaurant.
Park 121 is a casual dining restaurant featuring local and seasonal foods—what I call “clean, thoughtful cuisine,” meaning foods I like to eat, prepared in a thoughtful way. It’s in Cornerstone Gardens [across from Gloria Ferrer winery], which has interesting shops, art, a few tasting rooms and garden installations from some of the world’s leading landscape architects. I’m very lucky to have found this place.
Describe one of your happiest life moments.
I take pleasure in life every day, so to call something one of my happiest life moments isn’t easy. However, a couple of times each year I find myself driving through Russian River Valley at around 5:30 or 6 a.m., when the sun is rising and the fog is burning off. It’s so beautiful that even after all these years of living here in Sonoma County, I feel myself bursting with joy.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
It would turn more slowly so there would be more time in the day to do all the things I want to do in my life.
What food do you eat almost every day?
Bittersweet chocolate chopped directly from a big bar. It has to be thin, but not too thin, so it has the characteristic crack of well-tempered chocolate when you bite into it. The size and shape of a small skipping stone is about perfect. A few pieces are all I need.
What’s one thing you’d really like to learn how to do?
I’m a sailor and used to race regularly on the Bay. I keep a boat in Sausalito and try to sail at least once a week. My goal is to become an excellent sailor/skipper and to be able to sail under difficult conditions anywhere in the world.
What’s your favorite holiday tradition? What meaning does it have for you?
Lighting the Menorah during Chanukah. I grew up doing it, and my kids all experienced this when they were growing up. While I’m not a religious person in the usual sense of the word, I’ve always found special meaning in this symbolic gesture. Even now that my kids are grown and no longer live with me, I’ll quietly light the candles on my own if no one else is home. The meaning for me—and what I taught my children—is to appreciate the freedom we have here to express our beliefs. I used to explain to my kids that there are many places where you can’t show your beliefs without fear of reprisal.
What’s your most prized or sentimental possession?
I don’t place a lot of value on my possessions, however I do have a set of two well-worn wooden-handled steak knives from the old Fournou’s Ovens in San Francisco. They’re at least 30 years old and they belonged to a good friend of mine who died young of liver cancer. They were given to me by his mom soon after he passed, and they hold fond memories for me. I keep them sharp and often think about what Tommy would be like at 56 and the difference he would have made in this world.
If you were given $5,000 to spend in one store in the world, where would you do your shopping?
I’d make it an amazing meal with great wines. Exactly where in the world I would do this, I’m not sure. But if you’re offering, I’ll give it some more thought.
If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only have one thing with you, what would it be?
The woman I love.
