Book Review: Alice Waters & Chez Panisse

by Thomas McNamee. For me, this was a page turner and I took each opportunity, no matter how small, to read a few pages here or there. I love the idea of robust foods savored in the season of their prime and the benefits this model of consumption gives to the local grower. Among many, one of my favorite quotes by Alice Waters is “Food shouldn’t be fast, and it shouldn’t be cheap”. I’m a person who carries anxiety after reading a McDonald’s poster boasting an 89 cent hamburger. True, except for a few years in college when Taco Bell burritos were what my food budget could support, I’ve never been in a situation where I had to worry about sustenance for myself or a hurting hungry child. I know this isn’t the case around the world, or even in America, so I’m not one to castigate corporate agriculture and the role they can play in raising the standard of living in less fortunate situations. (and I’ll admit that I was a loyal employee of agri giant Cargill for 13 years.) In this story, I was thrilled to see that the Montessori way (sensory, experimentation, optimism, confidence) influenced Alice during the early days of Chez Panisse . I imagine her Edible Schoolyard project and the publicity associated with it will make a big imprint on the path to restoring the health of America’s youth. On a reverse note, the book doesn’t present her as a personality one would likely want to hang with for too long. Her story is littered with glimpses implying “control freak” as well as a pretension surrounding her talented taste buds. It’s mentioned more than once that others in her life handle her dirty work. But so it goes with many visionaries whose accomplishments are described using the word “revolution”. In her case, The Delicious Revolution.

One other point about the writing, there were many unfamiliar adjectives and verbs. I resorted to circling and consulting a dictionary in batches so as to not miss a message. But, if the words riposte, espalier, elegiac and depauperate are in your vocabulary, you shouldn’t have a problem.