Dinner & A Book - Alice Waters - Chez Panisse

 In 1971 in a little known restaurant in Berkley, California, Chef Alice Waters changed the way we would forever look at food. Join me and my guest Mike Keen as we prepare food made with the freshest local ingredients and discuss Thomas McNamee's "Alice Waters -Chez Panisse" on Dinner and a Book

In 1971 Alice Waters, deeply influenced by a student year spent in France, opened Chez Panisse in Berkley, CA and our food was immediately changed for ever. In a culture of chicken a la king, apple-kraut pork bake and crème de menthe sherbet she introduced the idea of only the simplest, in season, freshest ingredients from local farmers. It was a food Revolution. Her first meal was a pared-down, menu of pate, duck with olives and a plum tart. Smart money would have bet on failure, and after 16 years, Chez Panisse finally made a profit. In the interim, a succession of cooks, who later became nationally known chefs, came and added their own special style. The resurgence of farmers' markets around the country owe her a debt of gratitude.The author, Thomas McNamee, loves Alice as did many men in her life. "How the slapdash, make-it-up-as-you-go-along little hangout and its harried chef became such icons is a story of adventure, unintended consequences, steel will, pure chance and unrealistic vision." If you have ever dined on a salad of baby lettuces topped with a button of warm, oozy goat cheese, you've felt the impact of Alice Waters. Now let's use some of our own local fresh ingredients as my guest, Mike Keen, professor of sociology at Indiana University in South Bend, and I discuss Thomas McNamee's Alice Waters - Chez Panisse.