40 Years of Chez Panisse: The Power of Gathering

by Alice Waters, Michael Pollan (Afterword)

Chez Panisse opened its doors in 1971. Founded by Alice Waters, the restaurant is rooted in her conviction that the best-tasting food is organic, locally grown, and harvested in ecologically sound ways by people who are taking care of the land for future generations.  The quest for such ingredients has always determined the restaurant’s cuisine, and, over the course of forty years, Chez Panisse has helped create a community of local farmers and ranchers whose dedication to sustainable agriculture assures the restaurant a steady supply of fresh and pure ingredients.
 
In Forty Years of Chez Panisse: The Power of Gathering, Alice takes readers on her journey from the humble and visionary beginnings of the restaurant, through its rise and the acclaim, to the Café and the influential Chez Panisse Foundation. Organized by decade, the book includes a wealth of archival material and photographs—menus; invitations; pictures of Alice at the restaurant and around the world, with those who have passed through her life—and interviews from public figures and cooks who have been inspired by or mentored at the restaurant.
 
This tribute to the delicious food revolution that began with Alice Waters and Chez Panisse is an important work for anyone who cares about food, sustainability, and the powerful legacy that Alice has built.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Memoir, Cooking, Biography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Alice Waters is a chef, author, food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995 she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for a free school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school.

She has been Vice President of Slow Food International since 2002. She conceived and helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project in 2003, and the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome in 2007.

Her honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007; the Harvard Medical School’s Global Environmental Citizen Award, which she shared with Kofi Annan in 2008; and her induction into the French Legion of Honor in 2010. In 2015 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is a political act, and that the table is a powerful means to social justice and positive change.

Alice is the author of fifteen books, including New York Times bestsellers The Art of Simple Food I & II and The Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea.

Reviews

[Janine Kearns]

I listened to this audiobook and it was amazing. If you like the style of reporting commonly used by NPR, you will love it too. Not only did Alice Waters narrate a good portion of the book, but scores of others chimed in with their perspective and recollections. Music was carefully chosen to accompany the various segments. And the icing on the cake, was that this is a topic near and dear to me ... local foods over agri-business production of food. Local farmers, butchers, foragers, wine makers and more. This was delightful.

[Debbi]

I listened to the audiobook and was charmed by much of the production. There is a fantastic background soundtrack and testimonials from a host of food celebrities who have been a part of Chez Panisse as diners, friends and workers. This isn't really about restaurant life, it is more of an homage to Alice Waters and a farm to table food movement. Having owned a restaurant in Los Angeles in the 80's with a similar philosophy I know how difficult and complex the restaurant business can be. sometimes it's terrible and everything goes wrong and then there are days that are amazing. This is a book about those days. It's kind of a fairy tale, it's self congratulatory, but at times nostalgic and worth a visit.

[Bev]

This was a book club selection and it seems a rather odd one, since it's more a browsing book than a reading book, but having lived in Berkeley when Alice Waters was first starting Chez Panisse and having been part of some of the campus goings-on at the time, I found it a nice trip down memory lane. In truth, it becomes too "in-group" for me after awhile. Too many chefs, too many foods I'd never heard of, too many things that were obviously written to include all of her friends, but of little interest to the folks who can't afford to eat at her very expensive restaurant...and whose unsophisticated palate probably wouldn't enjoy it even if they could afford to eat there.

[Brian]

(4.5) Portrait of the Chez Panisse Family

Mary-Beth and I love returning to Chez Panisse at least once a year on our anniversary. We always marvel at the freshness, the beauty, the flavors of what we encounter. This book gives us some of the history (haven't read the restaurant's official biography yet), the behind-the-scenes at CP and the events that Alice ropes her colleagues into. Pretty fun stuff, you can tell they work hard but love what they do.

I was more interested in the restaurant and its employees than the sustainable food initiatives and events (I still think there's something wrong about people flying from all over the world to pat themselves on the back for eating local), though there certainly is a steady stream of celebrities in the book.

Other interesting notes: Melina, Mary-Beth's college roommate, makes 3 photographic appearances in the book (I certainly didn't know that was coming...all of a sudden I said, "I know her!" and then twice more). She ran the sustainable food project at Yale for a while--actually not sure what she's doing now.

And the afterword by MIchael Pollan...at least it was short and sweet...and not as overdone and arrogant as much of his writing. I think he chose his topic well: that what Chez Panisse is all about is finding beauty and taste in ingredients and letting them shine.

Thanks to the Muchmores for the gift! :)

[Rebecca]

Interesting coffee table book. My mom LOVES this restaurant so everytime we are in San Francisco, somehow we always end up here, even though it's kind of a pain in the ass to get to from my sisters place in town. Worth it? Meh. I am not a foodie and in a city like SF were new great stuff is popping up all the time, I'd much rather try something new then continue to eat at the same place every time. One that is a pain in the ass to get to, to boot! But outside of my personal choices, this book was okay. Very interesting past and will be interesting to see where it goes in the future. Typical East Coast liberal elite-ism but in Berkley. Meh. I am just never on board with stuff like that, even though I am sort of a hypocrite for saying it.

[Joanna]

I listened to the book on Audible. Turned out to be an abridged edition, and no pictures, not even a PDF version to accompany. The pictures were referred to in the telling of the story, so I missed them. Other than that complaint, I enjoyed learning about the history of Chez Panisse, and the other projects of Alice Waters, especially Edible Schoolyard and Slow Food. I ate there in 1988 with Bob, who as a chef was so excited to go there. It was a Mecca then, and remains one today. The book is written, and narrated, by not only Alice Waters, but by many people - chefs, farmers, vintners, foodies and other friends- who have been part of the restaurant and it's spinoff projects. It is nicely produced with music and sound. But now I want to get a hard copy to see the pictures.

[Sherri]

This is a beautiful book. I loved the photos and the stories that accompanied them. If you have any interest in Alice Waters,20th century food history, or the slow food movement, you need to read this. I have a deeper appreciation for her, and a visit to Chez Panisse has moved to the top of my bucket list.

[Cherie]

B Not what I was looking for, but still interesting. I thought this was 40 years of the best Chez Panisse recipes, but it was looking at the history of the restaurant, the movement and communities it created. Really interesting, but wish there were some yummy recipes too!

[Amanda]

Fascinating. I loved the different perspectives.

[Catherine Dover Stetson]

This is a wonderful book for all the foodies in the world. Great pictures and a history of cuisine in America for the last 40 years.

[Mary]

David Lebovitz recommends

[Suzanne]

I love this book. It makes me want to have a farm and a restaurant just like Chez Panisse. I'm adding it to my coffee table so that I can open it and get lost in the pictures.

[Phyllis Jennings]

Beautiful book- it reminded me of what it was like to be young and open and full of fun!

[Holly]

loved this history from my hero - the originator of the whole food movement

[Leslie]

Look for audio version, reviewed in the "New Yorker."

[Miranda]

Jealous of Alice's life but inspired by her work. It also made me want to read like every cookbook Chez Panisse has ever put out.

[Jane]

It was an interesting, informal history of the development of the restaurant and the changes in food in America. From the growth of farmers markets to the improvement of college food, the memoir took me back in time. I particularly loved the development of the Edible Schoolyard.

[Kim Scharf]

Great read, love all the accompanying pictures.

[PS]

Anything about Chez Panisse is fascinating. I only hope that I will be able to have a great meal there someday soon.