Despite the snow, wind chill, icy sidewalks and what I’m convinced is a serious vitamin D deficiency, I wasn’t overwhelmed with thoughts of spring. That is, until I started reading Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee.
Reading about salads bursting with the freshest greens imaginable, carrots so perfect they need only be cooked in a bit of water, and bountiful gardens, dinner tables and, eventually, markets teeming with such ingredients had me swooning, and scowling at yet another bowl of bean soup.
But as I now know, farmers markets as I know them may not have existed if it weren’t for Waters and other members of the Chez Panisse extended family. Waters is often credited for much of the success of the Slow Food movement, as well as the rise of California or New American cuisine. Although, as McNamee points out, there are those who feel they deserve some of the credit, too.
And that’s just one of the juicy details – the gossip in the book is just as delicious as the occasional recipe. Like many other accounts of the restaurant industry, there are tales of sex and drugs along the way – the restaurant was started in Berkely, Calif., in the ’60s, after all.
Most fascinating is Waters’ development into an unlikely culinary hero. She is not a trained chef, uncertain in the kitchen and often at a loss for words, but she is completely committed to a very simple principle: food and the way it is grown has a profound effect on our lives and the environment as a whole.
Now in her sixties, Waters is a tireless advocate for organic and sustainable food practices and education. Her journey has been far from perfect but is completely inspiring. And Chez Panisse is just another reason I need to take that trip to California as soon as possible.
4 Comments
February 26, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hi, I happened upon your blog from thekitchen.com…Love it! I read this book recently and was fascinated with her story. Would love to have that much energy. I’ll visit your blog again.
December 30, 2008 at 10:15 am
This book simply wasn’t that good. I can’t see a non-Alice Waters acolyte really enjoying the book.
Obviously, the writer needed Waters’ support to write the book, but I thought the book was too fawning as a result.
December 31, 2008 at 4:12 am
[...] Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee – See my take on this book here. [...]
June 28, 2009 at 2:04 pm
[...] Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee – See my take on this book here. [...]