You follow?

The Genesis: “Where did he come from? Where did he go? Who dressed this salad? Cheese Fantastico.

I was one of the lucky ones. To grow up in a family where eating delicious food was a fairly important part of keeping morale high. It was ludicrous thinking to us all that food was just some kinda gut fuel or feces in waiting. Flavor need be present at all family meals; a vegetable or salad of sorts and some kind of protein and starch. That said, with two working parents, and two busy commuting grandparents, hauling their asses to and fro between San Francisco and Castro Valley to nurture two moderately spoiled brother and sister, there was not always time for scratch cooking. And you know what, we were all okay with that, because Bernstein’s had our back. In a time before there were 14 kinds of Caesar dressings and a dozens of varieties of French/Italian vinaigrettes, there existed Cheese Fantastico, my Grandfather’s (referred to as Yeh Yeh) dressing of choice. He was my hero, and if my hero only wanted to eat his leafy greens with one of Bernstein’s finest, then I followed suit. Salty, acidic, peppery, and yes, cheesy. This vinaigrette got me excited to eat my greens and taught me something important; Like breaking bread, the gesture of sharing the simplest of salads, with people you truly cherish will always beat the fancy and the fussy.