06-09-2016
Part two of our interview with Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the United States, and often considered the creator of California cuisine. Yet for many years now Waters is also and most of all committed in interpreting and teaching an alternative and sustainable food philosophy
A few days ago we called Alice Waters, a real icon in American gastronomy, on the phone. We spoke with her about pizza and the many other Italian influences that over the years she interpreted in her cuisine. Of course we took the chance to discuss other topics too. Starting from the very California cuisine of which Alice Waters is considered the inventor and the most famous interpreter. What is California Cuisine then? Is it possible, 45 years after the opening of Chez Panisse, to indicate a precise style and an evolution? Is there a heritage of Waters’ work? The chef, an activist, author and vice president of Slow Food International, speaks of “philosophy” rather than “cuisine”. «This is what I believe I did: try to present an idea of food philosophy. I arrived in France when I was 19 and of course I immediately began to absorb the so-called slow food values. Every day, if not twice a day, I went to a different market and only found local products. I only ate living food, seasonal and absolutely local. And when I was away from Paris, I didn’t find the same things I ate in town. There was the food of Bretagne, of Provence». In which way did this influence you? The food culture I discovered in France was made of seasonality and local produce, but also of a direct connection between farmers and the table of people in town. It was made of small restaurants, of giving the right amount of time to each meal, made of beauty and traditions. I tried to take home all of this with me: I wanted to live like the French did, but I was in California.
The entrance of Alice Waters’ iconic restaurant
Alice Waters launched Edible Schoolyard, her project dedicated to food education in the school, back in 1996
Alice Waters with Massimo Bottura
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Journalist, based in Milan. At 8 years old, he received a Springsteen record as a gift, and nothing was the same since. Music and food are his passions. Author and broadcaster at Radio Popolare since 1997, since 2014 he became part of the staff of Identità Golose Instagram: @NiccoloVecchia