Q&A …

… A Conversation with Lena Herzog — Music & Literature.

Music & Literature found photographer Lena Herzog early on a February morning at a San Francisco landmark, the Renaissance Forge. The venue, on a gritty South-of-Market alley, is a marvel: the cavernous dark interior looks like a modern alchemist's lab, with a large open kitchen, cooking utensils, and pots hanging from the ceiling. Jars of herbs and spices line the walls. They share space with red-hot forges, wrought iron, sheets of metal, and iron rods. Blacksmith, hunter, and master chef Angelo Garro, the Sicilian proprietor, is a personal friend of Lena and her husband, the filmmaker Werner Herzog. Angelo is in the kitchen area as we speak—and generously prepares us for our conversation with two perfect cappucini and shortbread fashioned into serrated circles, decorated with a sprig of rosemary. Lena and I talk at the long wooden table, the venue for so many legendary dinners.