Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse is one of the most celebrated restaurant brands in the world. However, this is not its only claim to fame. Chez Panisse is also regarded as the cradle of the exclusive culinary art of California.

Introduction :

The Chez Panisse is located in the Berkeley neighborhood in California. Locals casually and fondly call it the Gourmet Ghetto. Chez Panisse got its name from the founder's appreciation and admiration of the works of for Marcel Pagnol, a novelist, playwright, and filmmaker from France.

The Chez Panisse was founded by Alice Waters and Paul Aratow in an attempt to set up an authentic joint that serves up great French cuisine.

History of Chez Panisse :

Together with her partner, Waters set up the Chez Panisse in the year 1971. It started as an attempt to mix local ingredients and toss them up in the French cooking techniques. When she received praise fro her efforts, she decided to begin a larger market for her variety of food.

In her words, Chez Panisse was the result of mixing “French recipes and California ingredients”.

Since Waters was not ready to start off on her own, she ventured jointly into the setting up of the Chez Panisse with her partner Aratow.

Chez Panisse was set up in a Berkeley apartment house which was old. Aratow, who held 50% of the restaurant shares, took care of the technical side of the Restaurant. He renovated the apartment and converted it into a main dining hall and an upstairs coffee room. Then it was an inexpensive, fixed-price, with la carte menu.

Ranking of Chez Panisse :

With growing popularity, the stature of the restaurant underwent ocean change. Today the restaurant of Chez Panisse is among the top 20 restaurants in the world.