Chez Panisse at 40

40 Years of Chez Panisse: The Power of Gathering by Alice Waters and Friends

It is a good thing Alice Waters decided to celebrate 40 years of Chez Panisse with this beautiful book. In words and pictures, it recounts the story of how a little restaurant on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley helped change the way people eat in the United States. Before the terms ‘locavore,’ ‘artisan’ and ‘seasonal’ became staples of restaurant menus, Ms. Waters and her collaborators prepared the freshest most local food they could find with simple precision. Chez Panisse borrowed from the food culture of Provence to create a place with a sense of community. Friends could gather at the restaurant for good simple food, good wine and great conversation. They could also revel in the artistry of beautifully illustrated menus, exquisitely prepared flower arrangements, and gleaming furnishings in the Arts and Crafts style.

‘40 Year of Chez Panisse’ celebrates the restaurant, Ms. Waters and her influences, and the power of collaboration. It is amazing to see how an idea became a movement. 

Library Building Boom in New Orleans

Congratulations to the people of New Orleans.  The city will open one library this week and three more within the next month. Click here to read the full story.  If you would like to support the New Orleans Public Library, please visit the Friends of the New Orleans Public Library or the New Orleans Public Library Foundation.

Jonathan Gold: LA Weekly to LA Times

The Great Gastronome of the West, Jonathon Gold, is the new restaurant critic for The Los Angeles Times. His new piece ‘Los Angeles’ reflections in a plate’ lightly traces the way  Susan Feniger and Sue Milliken (owners and chefs of Border Grill) incorporated the city’s great diversity into their menus at City Restaurant in the 1980’s. Gold’s best line sums up the true magic of Los Angeles:  “But this is Los Angeles, where you hear a hundred different languages on the streets and smell the cooking of a thousand different food cultures, a city so diverse that the study of postmodern urbanism is often called the L.A. School for short, …”

Here is the extensive archive of Jonathan Gold’s feature stories and reviews for LA Weekly.