The opening of Greens Restaurant on San Francisco Bay in 1979 forever changed the image and appreciation of vegetarian cooking in America. Known for a distinctive culinary style of celebrating vegetables, Greens produces ever-changing menus that are dedicated to the seasonal harvests of local farmers and the organic gardens of its farm, Green Gulch.
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With a panorama view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, and the Marina sea life, Greens Restaurant is a lively scene in a spacious warehouse where grand windows stretch floor-to-ceiling in the dining room. The restaurant, and private dining room, is adorned by colorful skies and the majestic changing scenes and sunset of the Pacific Ocean.
Originally opened as a part of the San Francisco Zen Center and inspired by the food and service offered at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the restaurant provided an opportunity for Zen students to extend their Buddhist practice into a workplace setting. For many years the only employees at Greens were Zen students. In the corner of the kitchen, on a spice shelf, sits a small altar to Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion, where it has remained lit since opening day.
“It is the restaurant that brought vegetarian cuisine out from sprout-infested health food stores and established it as a cuisine in America.” – The New York Times, 2007
