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Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric,
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Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution Paperback - 2008

by Thomas McNamee

McNamee was selected by Waters to document her story and was given exclusive access to her and her closest friends, to the Chez Panisse archives, and to private collections and memorabilia in order to tell the inside story behind the restaurant that changed American cooking.


Summary

The first authorized biography of "the mother of American cooking" (The New York Times)

This adventurous book charts the origins of the local "market cooking" culture that we all savor today. When Francophile Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971, few Americans were familiar with goat cheese, cappuccino, or mesclun. But it wasn't long before Waters and her motley coterie of dreamers inspired a new culinary standard incorporating ethics, politics, and the conviction that the best-grown food is also the tastiest. Based on unprecedented access to Waters and her inner circle, this is a truly delicious rags-to-riches saga.

From the publisher

The first authorized biography of "the mother of American cooking" (The New York Times) This adventurous book charts the origins of the local "market cooking" culture that we all savor today. When Francophile Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971, few Americans were familiar with goat cheese, cappuccino, or mesclun. But it wasn't long before Waters and her motley coterie of dreamers inspired a new culinary standard incorporating ethics, politics, and the conviction that the best-grown food is also the tastiest. Based on unprecedented access to Waters and her inner circle, this is a truly delicious rags-to-riches saga.

Details

  • Title Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution
  • Author Thomas McNamee
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 400
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, New York
  • Date February 26, 2008
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780143113089 / 0143113089
  • Weight 0.78 lbs (0.35 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.44 x 5.54 x 0.85 in (21.44 x 14.07 x 2.16 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 21st Century
    • Chronological Period: 1950-1999
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
  • Library of Congress subjects Chez Panisse, Restaurateurs - United States
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

"Charming. . . . What [McNamee] does beautifully is capture the spirit of the restaurant and its spiritual growth, as well as its place in American culture."
-Los Angeles Times

"McNamee, an erudite journalist, essayist, poet, and literary critic, paints a particularly vivid picture of this enfant terrible of the kitchen."
-San Francisco Chronicle

"A wonderfully entertaining, gossipy glimpse inside a kitchen that continues to surprise and delight."
-The Seattle Times

"A rounded and convincing portrait of a controversial figure in American cooking."
-Saveur

"Careering, chaotic, and ultimately inspiring . . . McNamee's clear-eyed assessment avoids the usual platitudes about California cuisine and shows how one individual with an understanding of food can carve out a personal identity and at the same time make culinary history."
-The New York Times Book Review

Citations

  • New York Times Book Review, 03/30/2008, Page 28

About the author

Thomas McNamee is an American author who writes about culinary history, natural history, and conservation. His credits include four nonfiction books on natural history, two culinary biographies (Alice Waters and Chez Panisse and The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat), and one novel, A Story of Deep Delight. He lives in San Francisco, California.
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