Chez Panisse is a Berkeley,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, restaurant, known as one of the originators of California cuisine and the farm-to-table movement, opened and owned by

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, food writer, and author. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for ...

. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has developed a supply network of direct relationships with local farmers, ranchers and dairies. The main restaurant, located downstairs, serves a set menu that changes daily and reflects the season's produce. An upstairs cafe offers an a la carte menu at lower prices.

History

The restaurateur, author, and food activist

opened Chez Panisse in 1971 with the film producer Paul Aratow, then a professor of

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

at the University of California, Berkeley. It is named for a character in

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (, also ; ; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the . Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's ...

's .''Alice Waters & Chez Panisse'', Thomas McNamee, The Penguin Press, 2007. They set up the restaurant and its menu on the principle that it was of primary importance to use food that was fresh and in season, grown locally, organically and

sustainably Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. They deemphasized low prices and making available a variety of products unrelated to the season of the year, which is incompatible with growing food locally. Because the ingredients were procured locally in California, the food to some degree took on a very Californian character, hence helping create California cuisine. Victoria Wise was the first chef. Waters and the restaurant began building up their network of local producers. Many of these local farmers, ranchers, and dairies continue to provide the restaurant with the majority of its ingredients today. This approach was extremely innovative. Later chefs de cuisine were Jeremiah Tower and Paul Bertolli and Jean-Pierre Moulle. The building was remodeled twice following fires in 1982 and 2013.

Influences

The culinary influences for Chez Panisse were largely French, inspired by the 1920s cookbook of French ''cuisine bourgeoise'', '' La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange''. This book has been translated into English by Paul Aratow, who was also the first chef de cuisine at Chez Panisse. Waters, who had been an exchange student in France in the early 1960s, was influenced by French food-related values and customs, including buying local produce and frugality in avoiding waste. Other influences included vineyard owners Lulu and Lucien Peyraud and the writings of Richard Olney and

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

Critical reception

In 2001, ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

'' magazine named Chez Panisse the Best Restaurant in America. From 2002 to 2008 it was ranked by ''Restaurant'' magazine as one of the top 50 restaurants in the world and was ranked number 12 in 2003.

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

awarded the restaurant a one-star rating in its guide to San Francisco Bay Area dining from 2006 through 2009, but the restaurant lost its star in 2010. In 2007, Alice Waters won Restaurant Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award, and was cited as one of the most influential figures in American cooking over the past 50 years.

Culinary innovations

* Farm-to-table and California cuisine. * '' California-style pizza'', baked in an in-house pizza oven and topped with a variety of local ingredients, was created at the cafe in 1980. * ''Goat Cheese Salad'': first offered in the late 1970s, the salad contains rounds of chèvre marinated in olive oil and herbs, coated in bread crumbs, and baked, served with lightly dressed mesclun. * ''In-house carbonated tap water'': this filtered version of the East Bay Municipal Utility District offering first replaced conventional bottled water at the restaurant in summer 2006.

Artwork and branding

Berkeley designer and printmaker

David Lance Goines David Lance Goines (May 29, 1945 – February 19, 2023), was an American artist, calligrapher, printmaker, typographer, printing entrepreneur, and author. He was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, the oldest of eight children. His father was a civil eng ...

has illustrated many of the Chez Panisse posters and defined the visual brand in the 1970s and 1980s. The aesthetic for the brand was influenced by

Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

and the German

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

movement (German: Jugendstil). Patricia Curtan has been the designer and artist of many of the menus and some of the cookbooks for Chez Panisse, which were created as linocut prints. Curtan published the book ''Menus for Chez Panisse'' (2011).

Notable alumni

References

External links

*
The Green Gourmets: The Evolution of Chez Panisse

Guide to the Chez Panisse Records
The Bancroft Library {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California Companies based in Berkeley, California Restaurants in Berkeley, California Restaurants established in 1971 Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area Culture of Berkeley, California 1971 establishments in California James Beard Foundation Award winners