First off, set your alarm to call the restaurant exactly 30 days prior to the evening you which to dine. Make sure you take into account any time-zone changes, and call the very moment they open. Give them your credit card number, as they take a 25$ per person “deposit” – fully refundable IF you give 24 hour notice, BUT you need 48 hour notice if your reservation is for a Monday night. Got it? We followed these rules to a tee, and could only secure a 6pm table on a Saturday night.
Then, figure out how to get from downtown San Francisco to the restaurant. The 45 minute cab ride should only run you a mere 50$ each way. Pishaw.
Lastly, don’t expect to actually place an order. You get what you get. Be prepared to surrender to the kitchen. $95 US will get you four courses, but don’t be thinking you get to choose what you are going to eat.
Why? Why would you subject yourself to all of this?
Alice. Waters. Queen of local, organic and sustainable cuisine. That’s why.
I admit, I was skeptical. It all seemed like so much work, so much hype. I had actually strategically avoided going to Chez Panisse on all previous visits to San Francisco, but this time I was weak and was worn down. I was wrong. So very wrong. I fell for Alice and her benevolent dictatorship the moment I sat down in the super cosy, glowing space and I was served a glass of Prosecco with Blood Orange essence.
Our meal was spectacular. Steelhead trout carpaccio with fennel salad, salmon caviar and juicy beyond juicy Meyer lemon pulp. Simple, fresh, perfect. Butternut squash ravioli with decadent black truffles were rich, silken and scrumptious. Grilled Sonoma duck breast with parsnip blinis (more like clouds of fluffy parsnip) and warm chicory slaw. Kiwi, blood orange and coconut ice cream bombe – delicious if it was July, but an odd choice for January especially given Alice’s doctrine.
Service was impeccable. The open kitchen lively and the chefs welcoming to picture snapping guests. And wonder of wonders, wasn’t Alice at the table next to us enjoying a meal with friends. I guess after 30 years in business, you can relax and kick back in your own place and enjoy.
Alice Waters, an icon in the world of food – pioneer of sourcing local, seasonal ingredients through building partnerships with farmers. She brought awareness about farming techniques and heirloom varietals into the consciousness of chefs around the world. Thousands of children have benefited from her Edible Schoolyard Foundation – actually teaching children where food comes from and how to cook it. Alice has impacted American policy on food, nutrition and school lunches, and helped Michelle Obama plant the White House Garden. Don’t listen to Anthony Bourdain – he’s just bitter.
Alice Waters, proprietor of a magical restaurant. One that really and truly is worth jumping through hoops to get to, if not for the wonderful tastes, but merely for the chance to visit the heart of a project that blossomed into so much more than a restaurant.
