This past Wednesday, Dr. Robert Steinberg passed away after a long journey with cancer. He was a singular, kind, particular, brilliant person and I am a better man for having known him.
I was fortunate enough to work with Robert for nearly 5 years at Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. I had the adjoining office to his, and was further fortunate to feel and witness his passion for life and food, to hear his clear and articulate points of view, and to sometimes incur his ire.
He challenged me to be inquisitive and curious and to question the status quo. He helped me to become more compassionate and thoughtful in business dealings and life.
There are tributes to him online referring to his stubbornness (a trait we share) and his crankiness. He was those things to be sure. But to me Robert was mostly courageous.
He had the courage to do, investigate, and advocate for so many things that so many do not. He had the courage to say what needed to be said, popular or not. And he had the courage to both accept the things he was given and to pursue the things he wanted, and neither was a limiter of the other.
I remember Robert's face when he was tasting raw beans in his office. He tasted with care and inspection and thoroughness...searching through his senses with purpose. He would inundate his entire palate and scrunch his face and close his eyes tight. He was at once, sense and science. I have rarely seen someone apply so much analysis to such a breadth of sensation. When he was adamantly stating the need for certain flavors, or methods, or expenses it could read as stubbornness. But I think again that it was courage in his convictions and a deep belief that the finished product would be greater because of his holding so fast. I think of him as a purist about most things.
I want to memorialize some other things too. The seductive and exalted place that chocolate holds for most people mean that most of the focus on Robert now will fall on the chocolate company he co-founded and his visionary status in that arena. But there was so much more to him. Here are just a few of the other things that I loved and appreciated about Robert.
Robert's medical practice was in San Francisco during the rise of AIDS. His diagnosis led him to need to leave his practice. But in speaking about how difficult the decision was, there was no mention of financial or personal reasons. His concern was focussed on what it would mean to the patients that relied on him and trusted him. The breadth of his heart and selflessness were never more obvious to me than in that statement. And, in addition to that, even after selling his practice and retiring from medicine, he still worked every week that he was able, at the free clinic in SF.
In his younger days, he spent time as a stage actor. He knew how to speak for dramatic effect, and comedic effect. I enjoyed how he would let all the office staff have their banter, only to lie in wait and then lob in the perfect punctuation of mirth or wisdom. He loved a good conversation and would speak intelligently and expertly on a range of subjects which spoke to his towering intelligence. But he never talked over anyone. Every time I spoke with him one to one, I felt important and better off for having had the time with him. He was also a great listener, an involved storyteller, an avid reader and a brilliant writer. His mind was incredibly active and prolific, and his essays were masterworks to me.
Robert's love of food extended far beyond chocolate. He was involved in bringing the Slow Food movement to the Bay Area and was known to haunt the kitchens and pantries of many restaurants. And so far as I am aware, he was welcome in those normally cloistered environments because of who he was and how he was. He was a chef before he was a chocolatier, and his palate was beyond compare. But he was also a trained scientist, and his assessments, either positive or negative, were always unbiased and straight to the point. It is possible that his greatest pleasure was food done well enjoyed with others.
And Robert loved baseball. Being born in Boston, he of course loved the Red Sox. Today the Red Sox nation of fans are becoming ubiquitous and one can see Red Sox gear at National League games with no playoff implications. There are lots of "new" Red Sox fans. But Robert was a hometown, Beantown fan. When the Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, and finally, after so many agonizing attempts "reversed the curse", I only thought to send one email, to him. I am so happy that he saw them win.
Although many will likely only mention chocolate, it was only one small part of Robert's life.
I will always be thankful for the time that I spent with Robert, and for his sharing all the things he did.
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