Chez Panisse
Ann says
All my life my mom has been making, slow, real, natural and seasonal food. That was a lot of adjectives. But it’s true! I have gotten a lot of my food sensibilities from her. I have taken it a tad further in that I don’t eat animals that have been raised in such a way that they have had an unhappy life, like normally raised pork, beef, chicken, and everything else. I absolutely do not eat veal or foie gras. My appetite is killed at the thought that what I am about to eat freely has been force fed most of it’s life. But I digress.
Abe and I recently made a trip to California to visit his friends and sisters. It was a great trip and everyone was super cool. We even got a beer bread recipe from Abe’s friend Lizza. She was a rad lady.
But I must say that by far the part of the trip I was most excited about was Chez Panisse. Another influence from my mom, she has a couple of Alice Waters’ cookbooks and the recipes inside have always been simple and are most delicious when you use the recipes with ingredients that are in season and can be gotten at their best and freshest from local farmers’ markets and coops. Most of her recipes only have 5 or 6 ingredients, and are as healthy as you like. Her food is all at the same time light, healthy, comforting, indulgent, and damn tasty. If I were to compare the French Laundry and Chez Panisse, which would be silly because the two strive towards different outcomes, I would have to say that each makes equally exceptional food, but that Che Panisse is more accessible and lighter, which i prefer. The two restaurants styles really do represent the different food sensibilities of Abe and I. Abe is more meticulous, likes more meat, and enjoys luxury far more than I do. I enjoy healthier, simpler, and more seasonal food than Abe. we both fully enjoy and appreciate the other’s tastes, but we are what we are…
Walking into Chez Panisse was both like stepping into a gloriously shfancy-pants place and like walking into your favorite weeknight spot. Probably because it is both to many people. Downstairs is the “restaurant” where each night’s 4 course menu is different and you simply sit down and choose a wine, which is what Abe and I did. Upstairs is a loud, jam packed room called the “cafe” where you can order many of the things served downstairs, including old classics of Alice Waters’. We were seated in what has to be one of the warmest rooms I have ever been in, not in temperature, but in atmosphere. The dark caramel wood of the old building coupled with glowing sconces and ceiling lamps with copper everywhere else enveloped us and welcomed us for what was to come.
Unfortunately, you won’t get to see what came. We both left our cameras in the car. Could have gone back for them, but well, I decided I just wanted to savor everything and not worry about taking good pictures of all my food. I’m glad I made that decision but of course regret not being able to share the beauty of the food with you.
We had a fantastic menu. My favorite thing was the salad of fresh greens, yellow tomatoes and orange chery tomatoes that I actually liked (I kind of hate fresh tomatoes) and slow roasted salmon. I thought that when my mom pan fried salmon to perfection that I had found my favorite way to eat the pink-fleshed fish, but oh how wrong I was. It simply melted away in sweet meaty flavor in my mouth. Combined with a light and delicious lemon vinaigrette I could not have been happier. Everything was local and organic if possible. The bread and butter were amazing. Everyone was so friendly. I will be returning to that place, yes sir. Nothing was rushed. The kitchen itself opened straight into the dining room, so we were able to watch everyone cooking. If you imagine a restaurant kitchen as a crazy, loud place, you won’t find that at Chez Panisse. Quietly, clamly moving about the kitchen, everyone seemed to know exactly what they needed to do and how to do it without needed to hollar at anyone else about it. It probably helps to have a no-choices menu on board, although I do think they cooked for the cafe upstairs as well.
Abe says
Well, I was never really any good at sports, but I dropped the ball. Not only did I forget my camera, but Ann passed me this entry weeks ago and the whole thing is no longer all that recent.
Chez Panisse was outstanding. The food was lovely; the lamb was buttery, the salmon exquisite. The sommelier was probably the best waiter I’ve had the pleasure of being served by. By the end of the third course, most of half a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in, I’d declined a glass of Vouvray mentioning my lack of sobriety. When he returned he not only had our desserts but also 1 oz pour of Vouvray for me. Awesome.
Taking back about a glass of the red wine also allowed me to learn that, even when drunk in a hurry out of a hotel disposable plastic cup, delicious wine still tastes delicious.
Most importantly however, after the tomatoes in the salmon, it’s so much easier to convince Ann to try fresh tomatoes.
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