Cindy Pawlcyn, a pioneer in the development of wine country cuisine, is the owner of Napa Valley’s legendary restaurant Mustards Grill. Since Mustards opened in 1983, Pawlcyn has been involved in the creation of many heralded restaurants in the greater San Francisco Bay Area including Fog City Diner, Bix, Roti, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, Go Fish, Cindy’s Waterfront at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Mustards Grill-SFO.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Pawlcyn grew up in an accomplished culinary family where garden fresh ingredients were an integral part of every meal and suppertime was always family time. “My parents raised me to appreciate good cooking,” she fondly says of her mother and father.
At 13, Pawlcyn was working at a local cooking school and equipment store and helping in her mother’s kitchen. She ran a catering business through high school, and went on to earn a degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She further augmented her formal training by taking courses at Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne in Paris.
Pawlcyn began her career in the kitchen of the Pump Room in Chicago. She went on to cook in various other esteemed restaurants in both Chicago and Minneapolis before moving to California in 1979 to take a job at McArthur Park in San Francisco. In her first experience in a Northern California kitchen, Pawlcyn gained valuable insights into the region’s unique food culture.
Pawlcyn entered Napa Valley’s burgeoning restaurant culture as the opening chef at Meadowood in St. Helena and from there joined Bruce LeFavour at his acclaimed Rose et LeFavour. Armed with extensive kitchen leadership and regional culinary expertise, she successfully launched Mustards Grill in 1983, her now landmark and legendary restaurant.
With over 40 years of experience working and living in the Napa Valley, Pawlycn remains intimately involved in the kitchen operations of Mustards Grill, which features its own culinary garden that supplements the locally sourced produce used in many of her dishes. Pawlcyn’s commitment to seasonal inspiration and the use of the region’s bountiful harvests continue to play a major role in the food coming out of her kitchen.
“My father had a green thumb and he taught me a lot about growing produce and instilled a love for fresh flavors,” she says. “Everywhere I have lived, I have had a garden, whether it was a window box of herbs when I lived in Chicago or the large garden at my house. I feel it’s important for freshness and flavor and it brings people closer to their food.”
