Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Straight from the Farm
177
Chez Panisse
Alice in Wonderland
Berkeley, California
It all started with Alice. The word “loca-
vore” hadn't been coined when free-spir-
ited Montessori teacher Alice Waters and
French lit professor Paul Aratow opened
this unassuming restaurant in countercul-
tural Berkeley in 1971. Having just returned
from a seminal year spent traveling around
France, Waters was infused with passion
about honest breads and market produce
and handmade cheeses. Chez Panisse
adopted a format that was radical for
America then: two seatings a night, serv-
ing a four-course set menu written anew
every morning according to what ingredi-
ents were best that day.
Over the next 30-plus years, Waters's
ideals transformed American gastronomy.
Any number of influential chefs—Jeremiah
Tower, Mark Miller, Paul Bertolli, Judy Rod-
gers, Deborah Madison, Jonathan Wax-
man—started their careers in Waters's
kitchen. What's more, by enthusiastically
promoting her handpicked network of
suppliers—mostly local farmers and
ranchers dedicated to sustainable agricul-
ture—Waters made concerns like Acme
Bakery and Niman Ranch into culinary
celebrities as well.
The restaurant is deliberately low key, a
wood-trimmed Arts-and-Crafts-style dining
