Clark Wolf

A food and hospitality consultant, Clark Wolf has advised a wide range of clients including restaurants, hotels, casinos, public institutions, and specialty food companies. Wolf was a far-sighted cheese purveyor in San Francisco when James Beard walked into his cheese shop one day. The meeting launched a friendship that lasted from the early 1980s until Beard's death in 1985. Encouraged by Beard to come to New York, Wolf made the move in 1982 when Barbara Kafka invited him to open her specialty shop, Star Spangled Foods. Although he kept a home in Northern California, Wolf has maintained a New York presence ever since. An enthusiastic supporter of and fundraiser for New York University's Food Studies program, Wolf created the popular Critical Topics series on food studies for the Fales Library. He is the author of the 2008 American Cheeses.

These interviews track his early years, his life in San Francisco, his first meeting with James Beard, his arrival in New York, his work as a food and restaurant consultant, and his longtime friendship with Beard.

People:
Baum, Joseph
Beard, James, 1903-1985
Burros, Marian Fox
Carroll, John
Cofacci, Gino
Cunningham, Marion
Gilder, Emily
Glaser, Milton
Grimes, William
Kafka, Barbara
Kump, Peter
Lewis, Bob
Mariani, John F.
Nestle, Marion
Phelps, Joseph
Reichl, Ruth
Rogers, Judy
Santo, Joseph
Spector, Stephen
Taylor, Marvin J.
Tower Jeremiah
Waters , Alice
Wolf, Clark

Organizations:
American Cheese Society
American Institute of Wine & Food
Arizona 266 (Restaurant)
Bloomingdale's (Firm)
Cook's Magazine
Loews Hotels
Markham (Restaurant)
New York University
Oakville Grocery
Sign of the Dove (Restaurant)
Yellowfingers (Restaurant)

Subjects:
Cheese
Cooking, American -- California style
Cooking, American -- History -- 20th century
Cooking -- Study and teaching
Food habits
Food industry and trade -- United States
Food service
Gastronomy
Homosexuality
Restaurants -- California -- San Francisco
Restaurant management
Restaurants -- New York (State) -- New York